Las Vegas to Grand Canyone airplane trip

Dutchman

Dutchman

Dutchman

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Forgive me for another vegas related post, I know there are tons of vegas related posts and I've pretty much read the lot but I'm after a bit more specific info relating to airplane tours of the grand canyon.

We are going to Vegas in April and I'd like to book an airplane trip to the Grand Canyon, my wife is a keen photographer and nature lover so I know she will love this. I have looked into a lot of different sites and reviews, especially on tripadvisor, and the more I read the more confused I get about who to book with and what trip to book.
Now from what I've read so far people recommend going to the south rim as that is the real grand canyon. And from what I can gather airplane tours are the way to go to get to the south rim. Sounds simple and there's a lot of places that do the trips but I read a couple of good reviews followed by a very poor one about how you can't see much on the trip and it was a waste of money. Considering they are not cheap I'd hate to have to spend around $700 for something that is disappointing.

So far I've been leaning towards one of these two trips :
http://www.grandcanyonairlines.com/tours/las-vegas-nv/grand-voyager-tour
http://www.scenic.com/scenic/show_package.aspx?package_id=267&lang=en-US#

So if anyone has been on an airplane tour and can offer some insight into their experience and what I should look for/avoid that would be great. Any thoughts/help welcome, thanks.
 
i haven't done an airplane trip, instead i drove there and spent the whole day there walking to different sites along the south rim and even down for a short while, and i cannot imagine doing it any other way. an airplane trip just seems to silly, you'll see some great sites but it'll be so quick, when you could easily spend 30 minutes just sat staring from each single angle, and there is so many great locations at the grand canyon.

my suggestion is have a serious rethink and consider driving there one day, takes a good few hours, staying the night, then get there early morn and stay until at least sunset and watch the sun disappear over the canyon, and then stay another night and then drive back the next day whilst visiting hover dam on the way. can't see that costing any where close to $700.

if you really want to fly, then go by helicopter as atleast you'd be able to land and see the canyon from where it needs to be seen which is from the bottom, and you'll get 30 minutes or whatever to explore.
 
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Thanks for the reply, unfortunately we are only there for 4 days so driving and staying overnight isn't really an option.
I have thought about a helicopter trip but I've read quite a lot of tripadvisor reviews for different companies that have turned me against it as you could end up saddled in the middle in the back of the helicopter with a poor view, and knowing my luck that is exactly where we will end up and instead of enjoying the sights I'll have to listen to an unhappy wife.
The airplane tours to the south rim do land and you get taken with a coach to a few viewing points, no idea whether that is nice or not though ?
 
I did a lot of research into this for my trip a few years ago. What I found at the time was that there are actually only two companies who offer plane trips to the Canyon. Everyone else is just reselling the service of either of these two companies.

One works out of North Las Vegas Airport - Vision Airways - the other from further out of Las Vegas. I picked a company reselling the Vision Airways product.

It was perfect. There was a courtesy shuttle from the strip to the airport but I just drove. Free parking. Plane left at 11am or so. 35 minutes later we landed at Grand Canyon Airport. Onto a big coach with an eccentric guide who dropped us at two viewpoints to look around. Then back to the airport, back in the air and back on the strip for about 15:30.

I cannot remember how much it cost but I don't think it was more than £100ish per person at the time.

For me it was perfect. Once you've stood looking at the Canyon for 15 minutes unless you are going to do something bonkers like a 2 day trek to the bottom you've pretty much seen it, ticked the box, job done so the fact you get about 45ish minutes in total to look at the Canyon isn't really a problem.
 
Thanks Fox. Interesting about the reselling of service, makes me wonder about the 2 I've linked to as their planes seem quite similar so probably the same company doing the flight.
How was the flight, was there a lot to see or was it just really a way of getting there ? The two I've been looking at both promote the fact that their airplanes have bigger windows fitted to allow you to see more of the scenery and for me a big part of the experience will be seeing stuff from the air.
 
The plane was a Dornier 328 (They also has a 228).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_328

The flight was very bumpy, but there was absolutely loads to see out of the window. You got fantastic views of Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam and the rugged landscape of Arizona. Never a dull moment.


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http://www.grandcanyontourcompany.com/airsouth.html

We did the above tour whilst in Vegas and both thought it was really good. I was also under the impression that the helicopter trips don't take you to the 'real' Grand Canyon.

Got to take photos from the cockpit of the plane, check out all the dials and talk to the pilots on the way to the Grand Canyon. Proper excited kid moment.
 
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Listen to Fox.

I went with Papillon who were very good but a little more expensive.

The shuttle ride to the plane was longer as it was in Boulder outside of Vegas. Otherwise the trip was the same, except that we also took a chopper from S. Rim Airport over the Canyon. Amazing and well worth it in my eyes as I'll likely only go to the Canyon once in my life.
 
Good post op, I have exact same question as I too am going in April for days, I thought for a minute I posted this in my sleep. I want to go in a helicopter though if I'm honest, sounds a bit boring in a plane and some of the tours say the back seats are higher and all have the same view :-/
 
Rodneypooleg said:
Good post op, I have exact same question as I too am going in April for days, I thought for a minute I posted this in my sleep. I want to go in a helicopter though if I'm honest, sounds a bit boring in a plane and some of the tours say the back seats are higher and all have the same view :-/
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The plane gets you there - it isn't there for you to see the Canyon from really. Then you get to experience the Canyon right up close. Although the views on the way are great it isn't a sightseeing flight.
 
Rodneypooleg said:
Good post op, I have exact same question as I too am going in April for days, I thought for a minute I posted this in my sleep. I want to go in a helicopter though if I'm honest, sounds a bit boring in a plane and some of the tours say the back seats are higher and all have the same view :-/
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As we have posted in other threads you CANNOT get a Helicopter from vegas to the South Rim, it's to the crappy W. Rim ripoff. Please bare this in mind.

Itinerary
1. Get picked up by minivan from your hotel and driven to Boulder/N.Vegas airport.
2. Get plane (flying over Hoover Dam) to S. Rim Airport.

Optional - Go to Helicopter at S. Rim Airport and take a flight over the S. Rim to N. Rim..... AMAZEBALLS!

3. Back/still at airport get onto a minivan and get taken to 1/2 viewpoints, munch your provided lunch, take millions of photos etc.
4. Get back on bus and go back to S. Rim Airport.
5. Flight back to Boulder/N.Vegas.
6. Back to hotel for gambling, drinking and Vegas shenanigans!
 
ste2005 said:
I know flying isnt my cup of tea. So we went with this company
http://pinkjeeptours.com/las-vegas/our-tours/

Picked us up at 8am, and we were back for around 8pm ish. Lots to see stopped at all the touristy bits, but it was really fun, we had a great time.
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You didn't see the Grand Canyon you saw a tourist rap on a side canyon.

We went a few years ago an considered all the options of differnt locations and transportation. In the end we opted to rent a car and drive to the south rim stopping over night at a local hotel, for me this is the only way to do it as you get to take you time and enjoy all sorts of look out points that the bus tours miss and you also get to be in the park for sunset/sunrise when all the coach trips and plane drop ins are back in Vegas. The Grand Canyon is truly breath taking and for me you need more than half an hour to get to grips with the scale of the thing. The added advantage of driving and stopping over is that we were there for two days which made up for the hazy visibility on day one as day two was much clearer. Driving also lets you stop off and get up close and personal with the Hoover dam which is a stunning piece of engineering and also allows a side trip to Sliegman the town pixar based Radiator Springs on!
 
Lucero said:
Could you not do a chopper flight instead? They get to drop in / out of the canyon a lot easier.
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You need to have a read up, a chopper CANNOT land in what people thing is the Canyon (South Rim viewpoints etc).

Those trips are tarted up as Grand Canyon trips but are actually to the West Rim which is much smaller, less impressive and the skywalk thing is on Indian grounds and a complete rip off (no taking your own pictures, have to buy theirs etc).

Avoid!
 
When we went to Vegas we were advised not to prebook the trips but to go to a few of the stalls on the strip and haggle to get a good price. We got a plane from the north airport and then a helicopter down into the Canyon followed by a boat trip and then back by helicopter to the rim for lunch before getting the plane back. Was a good trip. Plane was a King Air and I managed to bag a seat up front next to the pilot :)
 
Took the tour below when I was there in September. It was excellent, the flight is with vision airlines and the plane lands on a muddy strip in the middle of nowhere. We then took an ATV tour to the North Rim stopping and checking out various sites/views on the way. The Guides were very knowledgeable and pointed out things of interest etc.

The main reason for this choice was that its away from all the tourists, It was very personal with only 8 of us in total (that was with 2 guides) and you are not rushed. Got to spend a good 45 mins at the rim and took a little hike around the area to one of the smaller canyons.

Then back to the ranch for some food.

http://www.viator.com/tours/Las-Veg...10-Deluxe-Air-and-Ground-Tour/d684-3511_A0014

Flight back had some turbulence but this didn't really bother me, watching other people scream and death grip the seats was comedy gold.
 
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