V-Flyer

Toss up which one to do, drive to West Rim and do the Sky Bridge or do one of the 45 minute helicopter trips over the canyon and back to LV.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Miopyk[8D]

Do the helicopter trip but take one that descends into the canyon and lands.You can't take cameras etc onto the skybridge (which has put me off going when we go to Las Vegas again in August). Great views from the air are IMHO much better than sitting in a car for hours.If you have a look there are quite a few threads about helicopter trips to the canyon.
DL

Easy.
Maverick helicopters.
One of the best things I have ever done.

We used Sundance Helicopters, had a great tour which also included landing in the Canyon where we had lunch with Champagne. Highly recommended.

Hi Miopyk

It's a no brainer for me, don't waste your time and money on the sky bridge (and I talk from personal experience!)...

Grab a helicopter trip whatever it costs, truely awesome. Just make sure they actually fly down into the canyon and not just over it...and take in Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam en-route!

Enjoy!
Marc

Thanks Guys, helicopter it is. I'll check out your recommendations.

Miopyk[8D]

just did maverick 2 days back, flew past the skybridge, looks very unimpressive compared to the views you'll be taking in on the chopper.. You'll get the hoover dam and lake mead as well.

Sorry, you CAN'T TAKE CAMERAS ONTO THE SKYBRIDGE?


Is this the only tourist 'attraction' in the world where cameras are NOT allowed??? [:0]

Apparently you are not allowed to take any personal items with you in case you 'drop then over or on it'. You also have to wear shoe covers and at $30 a pop for 10 minutes it's steep. That's after you rent a locker, paid $20 to park after a 14 mile gravel road, then pay to have your photo taken.

A quick Google points to it being umm heap big unimpressive rip-off.

Skybridge

There's increasing numbers of 'attractions' wher cameras aren't allowed for 'safety' reasons...

Umm.. in Melbourne OZ, the 'Edge' at Skydeck88.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb.
Closer to home, Roslin chapel has banned cameras!

I've been looking with interest at this thread as I too am Las Vegas bound in a couple of weeks. I've been looking at the Maverick website and wonder which trip you would recommend?

Originally posted by McCoy
There's increasing numbers of 'attractions' wher cameras aren't allowed for 'safety' reasons...

Umm.. in Melbourne OZ, the 'Edge' at Skydeck88.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb.
Closer to home, Roslin chapel has banned cameras!

OK, the harbour bridge I can see, but the chapel!!!

I wish they would just admit it's so they can sell postcards.

OK I've looked at all the options I can find and in short want to book with an operator direct rather that through a 3rd party.

The choice I've found is Maverick, Papillon, HeliUSA and LV Helicopter. Price wise Papillon seem to be more than $100 per person cheaper than than the others so I'm thinking of going with them. Maverick are comparitively expensive and as there is 4 us going they would need to be $400+ better than the competition for me to choose them.

Miopyk[8D]

Have you tried Sundance?

Just coming back to the tourist attraction camera thing.... I was told off by a security guard for taking a photo inside The Alamo, San Antonio. I asked him why but he replied 'Those are the rules, no pictures'........

Where is Ozzy Osbourne when you need him!

Marc

Originally posted by miopyk
OK I've looked at all the options I can find and in short want to book with an operator direct rather that through a 3rd party.

The choice I've found is Maverick, Papillon, HeliUSA and LV Helicopter. Price wise Papillon seem to be more than $100 per person cheaper than than the others so I'm thinking of going with them. Maverick are comparitively expensive and as there is 4 us going they would need to be $400+ better than the competition for me to choose them.

Miopyk[8D]

I have used Papillon - and the recommended tour of flight over the lake, the dam and then landing on the floor of the canyon. It was awesome.

My tip is to check sunset hours and go late in the day just prior to dusk, two things make this worthwhile: I find the late afternoon light in the canyon really brings out the colours, and the return flight to LAS (they take off and land from an outer part of the airport) brings you down the strip as all the lights are coming one - which is just ace and another great camera opportunity.

Two years ago this was about $300 a head - I think they call it the grand sunset tour.

Originally posted by DragonLady
Have you tried Sundance?

Yes, sorry I did check them out.

Papillon are doing the land in the Canyon trip for a quoted $274 each which works out substantially better value than the rest I've looked at unless they are being cheeky and haven't added all the taxes and fees to this price.

Miopyk [8D]

We took the first flight of the day with Sundance (and were the first helicopter to land down in the canyon).The heat wasn't oppressive (July will be hot!!!) and we had the place to ourselves for a good while.Because we were back early it didn't feel like we'd lost out on any time.Whilst I'd love to see the strip at night from above(Slinky's tip) I'd prefer to be out early (less possibility of knock on problems too). Any reason for not wanting to book through a 3rd party? I saved lots of money this way (knowing that I'd have the same package as buying from Sundance direct even down to the included limo pick up. A proper stretched one at that).
DL

Originally posted by DragonLady
We took the first flight of the day with Sundance (and were the first helicopter to land down in the canyon).The heat wasn't oppressive (July will be hot!!!) and we had the place to ourselves for a good while.Because we were back early it didn't feel like we'd lost out on any time.Whilst I'd love to see the strip at night from above(Slinky's tip) I'd prefer to be out early (less possibility of knock on problems too). Any reason for not wanting to book through a 3rd party? I saved lots of money this way (knowing that I'd have the same package as buying from Sundance direct even down to the included limo pick up. A proper stretched one at that).
DL

I normally like to book this kind of thing direct in case anything goes wrong then you know who you're dealing with and can get things dealt with directly. 3rd parties bring an opportunity for the supplier to argue responsibility etc.

If you don't mind me asking who did you book with DL.

Miopyk[8D]

I booked at the tour stand outside the fashion show mall (we were there for a week so I wasn't too worried about not getting what I wanted time wise as we had a bit of flexibility)but had done my homework before getting to Vegas and knew who I wanted to use and the specific trip I wanted .The tour agent was able to book the tour direct with Sundance (with me listening to the conversation)there and then.Saved me a lot of money.Tour was exactly the same as the other passengers in our helicopter (who'd all payed considerably more).
DL

If the savings are that good locally I think we might wait to book anything until we get there.

Thanks for the advice.

Miopyk[8D]

Originally posted by miopyk
If the savings are that good locally I think we might wait to book anything until we get there.

Thanks for the advice.

Miopyk[8D]

There's lots of competition for your business so have a look around. I'd try asking (nicely[;)]) for an extra discount as there'll be four of you.Also make sure that whoever you use that they don't split you up onto separate helicopters.Our 4 fellow travellers were split up from their 2 friends as the friends were too heavy (apparently)for them all to travel together [:0]. They did however get to meet up on the landing site.

Originally posted by DragonLady
I booked at the tour stand outside the fashion show mall (we were there for a week so I wasn't too worried about not getting what I wanted time wise as we had a bit of flexibility)but had done my homework before getting to Vegas and knew who I wanted to use and the specific trip I wanted .The tour agent was able to book the tour direct with Sundance (with me listening to the conversation)there and then.Saved me a lot of money.Tour was exactly the same as the other passengers in our helicopter (who'd all payed considerably more).
DL

Oh dear! I'd made a reservation with Maverick before seeing this. Since then I've been scoping the various tours and found that Allvegastours and Viator offer similar, if not identical tours much cheaper. Given that I'm only going to be in LV for two whole days I'm thinking about cancelling and going with either one. As far as I can see the difference is that the tour is pre-paid, which is OK as far as I'm concerned. It means it will be on this month's credit card statement whereas the rest of the trip will be on next months. How reliable are either of these companies?

Originally posted by honey lamb

Originally posted by DragonLady
I booked at the tour stand outside the fashion show mall (we were there for a week so I wasn't too worried about not getting what I wanted time wise as we had a bit of flexibility)but had done my homework before getting to Vegas and knew who I wanted to use and the specific trip I wanted .The tour agent was able to book the tour direct with Sundance (with me listening to the conversation)there and then.Saved me a lot of money.Tour was exactly the same as the other passengers in our helicopter (who'd all payed considerably more).
DL

Oh dear! I'd made a reservation with Maverick before seeing this. Since then I've been scoping the various tours and found that Allvegastours and Viator offer similar, if not identical tours much cheaper. Given that I'm only going to be in LV for two whole days I'm thinking about cancelling and going with either one. As far as I can see the difference is that the tour is pre-paid, which is OK as far as I'm concerned. It means it will be on this month's credit card statement whereas the rest of the trip will be on next months. How reliable are either of these companies?

I looked at both companies (approx 20 months ago) and they both seem to be operational still with good (self-reported) feedback.I got the trips cheaper still in Vegas but I had plenty of time to be flexible with (unlike you HL). If you can cancel (without penalty) it's worth considering -the tour will be the same (just e mail the companies and ask who the trip operator will be )before you commit to anything.
DL

Aaah! I knew I could rely on you, DL. Thank you very much [y]