Adventureseeker0428
Jun 2021
Said sunrise hot air balloon ride. They make you shuttle over to a field which takes a while. They are so unorganized. Screaming at each other cursing the entire set up process. We all have to watch them set up the hot air balloons from 5:30am till 7:10am standing in the desert sun. While you wait the 2 hours while getting bombarded by a man selling a drone video footage experience of your hot air balloon ride. They could of easily started the setting up process before they got to us and had some of them stay back at the field with the set up baskets. They don’t provide you water or a breakfast sandwich as said online. Our pilot had 1 water bottle and said to us “we have to conserve it!!” Lol
The worst part is it’s advertised as an hour ride at least. We were in the sky for exactly 40 minutes. Totally blown. We watched other balloons in the sky fly an hour plus but our pilot just wanted to get the ride over with from the beginning. The pilot was really mean and not welcoming the entire ride. Just a mean sole.
There are so many other hot air balloon ride companies in Temecula right next to them that’ll actually do as advertised. This place is all about making more money. Stay away at all cost.
Одговор домаћина
Jun 2021
6/28/2021 OK. Let's start with meeting times and sunrise. In the United States, the FAA has a rule that says balloons cannot take off until after official sunrise and they must land by official sunset. No one is taking off before official sunrise. If you think you want to see the sunrise in the air in the balloon, we have a package called the "Dark into Daylight" flight where we use special lighting equipment and get permission to launch before sunrise. The meeting time for that package is 4 AM.
Are other balloons launching before we do? Yes, by intent. I've been flying since 1987 and I've learned a few things. We meet 45 minutes to an hour later than our competitors as a convenience to our customers. Would you rather meet at 4:30 AM? 5:00 AM? 5:30 AM? We meet at 5:30 AM. The other guys just have you get there earlier. The waiting time is the same for everyone. 5:30 AM is too early as it is!. Also, we want to have brightly lit colored balloons downwind in the background of our passenger's pictures. The guys who take off first get pictures of fewer balloons in the air. The pictures they do take of balloons are upwind as silhouettes or dark dots in the sun.
We don't know our launch site ahead of time because it depends on the wind and weather conditions that morning. We have to pick our launch site with our landing site in mind. This means knowing the actual weather conditions at check-in time. Usually, we are able to launch in the parking lot, but Sunday's heatwave meant we had to move everyone to a different launch site. Besides, many of our guests want to watch the process and take pictures in front of the balloons as they are being blown up. (Er, we call that inflating the balloon.)
Our website says "This early morning tour package includes a premium champagne, juice or mimosa toast, a selection of individually wrapped breakfast items, free digital souvenir pictures, complimentary celebratory banners, a commemorative flight certificate, and 2 for 1 wine tasting vouchers to local Temecula wineries (a $100 savings) and other discounts." - We have never offered a "breakfast sandwich".
We do recommend that you bring a hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, WATER, and something to take pictures with on your balloon ride. The pilot may have water on board for emergencies, but it is a balloon basket and the supply is limited. We do provide water when we land as part of our post-flight celebration, but at that point, most people want champagne instead.
The flight time of Eric's balloon ride was 49 minutes of movement according to the onboard GPS log. We tell our customer's that the ride is approximately an hour on our website. Eric assumed approximate means more than an hour. We aren't going to pass up our intended landing site to squeeze another 5 minutes of flight time in and end up landing in a bad spot. Eric's 40 minutes statement is just an exaggeration.
Two of our balloon pilots missed the field and ended up over grapevines. They had to fly much longer than an hour to try to get to a safe place to land. So yes, some balloons flew longer than an hour, but believe me it wasn't a good thing. (Especially after the NWS issued an extreme heat warning for that Sunday).
Regarding your pilot, I am balancing your perceived interaction with him against other guests that flew with him that day. They seemed to have a good time and his reported tips that morning was the highest of our 4 balloons that flew. If everyone in your balloon had a bad time, I think it would have been reflected in the tip count.
Military Mike is a former naval aviator. You can take Michael out of the military, but you can't take the military out of Michael. He is also a very skilled and safe pilot and the only one of the 4 pilots that landed in the exact field we called before we took off. (Me included - and I am the sponsored race pilot of the group!)
That being said, Michael is direct and assertive and doesn't suffer fools much. Some people mix with him like oil and water. So I take your point about Military Mike. I'll speak to him about it. I'm sorry if you two didn't mix well.
Pro tip: Don't threaten to write bad reviews if you aren't going to get your refund demands met. That is a poor form of extortion. It will shut people down and make them defensive. Start with this is what happened and what can you do for me about it?
Pilot Denni - the celebrity balloonist