Trip was very rushed, they seemed in a hurry to get you on helicopter and get you off to get the next people on. You are not allowed to take bags on board and they make you put in a locker then charge you 2 dollars for the privilege. The sights were good. The pilot did not have much personally, and never really spoke much. The trip would have been better at night with all the lights. Good trip but not great.
Great flight around NYC! Professional company looking after your safety whilst friendly informative tour seeing sights from up above. Thankfully it was a good clear day when we took our first helicopter flight. Lovely smooth ride. Make sure you read the small print and take required paperwork. Enjoy!
A helicopter tour is a great way to see a number of attractions quickly, but I do not think it is an activity that we will do again. There was nothing done in error by the staff, but I think expectations were much higher than reality. Some notes/advice for future guests
- The customer service team is very friendly and accommodating due to rainy weather on our tour date, they quickly rescheduled our tour to the following day.
- The front desk staff are very friendly, and get you suited up quickly and ready to go. Please do your best to arrive early as requested so as to not hold up the entire group. Also know that you cannot take backpacks or purses with you on the helicopter lockers are available to rent at the Helipad so bring some dollar bills.
- To balance the helicopter, my son age 7 had to sit in a middle seat. He told me after the flight that he could barely see out of the windows, so while it was exciting to ride in a helicopter, he saw none of the attractions besides the Statue of Liberty. For him to see the sites was my main reason for booking this activity, so unfortunately this missed the mark.
- I'm not sure that they minded, but a couple in our group got split up he was in the back, she was seated in front. If you want to sit with each other, you may want to request this prior to booking. Also note that you will be grouped with strangers, unless you book the entire flight of six yourself.
- We booked the Grand Island Tour, which while a longer ride, does not include many additional attractions. We got an extended flight over water while listening to background music. I think the mid-tier option may be the best bang for your buck.
- When boarding we were told that we would be able to speak to each other, but the headphones and microphones did not seem to work during our trip.
- I'm not sure if it's normal, but our pilot did not speak to us at all during the tour the only information was provided by the pre-recorded messaging as we passe each attraction. This led to a lot of dead air see note above about the background music. It would have been nice to get some local information or additional commentary during this time.
So overall, there was nothing done wrong, as noted there were just some areas of expectation that fell a little short.