SimonAndBaker.com
Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, NV 89109 USA
702.736.7243
Overall impression: We were pleasantly surprised by the staff’s professionalism and emphasis on safety. The tour was fun, worth the time and expense, especially for ecotourism oriented travelers visiting ‘Vegas.
Established: 1965
Company information: 277 employees; 34 Bell 206L, 206B, Bell 407, A-Star 350B, MD900 helicopters. They offer tours 364 days a year (closed for Christmas)
Memberships and Awards:T.O.P.S., HAI, NTA, ABA, TIA, RSA, USTA, American Academy of Hospitality Sciences Five Star Diamond Award (1999 and 2000)
Languages: All tours offer narratives in (11) languages including, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, French, Dutch, Cantonese, Mandarin, German, Korean and English
Tour: We were six passengers on a 1997 helicopter for the Grand Canyon Celebration Tour, which included aerial views of 400-foot deep Lake Mead, one of the largest man made lakes, and the Hoover dam. We made a brief stop to fuel the helicopter. The high point of the tour was breakfast at a small Papillon owned covered picnic area near the bottom of the Grand Canyon with a wonderful view of the Colorado River. It was great to stand near the bottom of the 277-mile long and 3,000 to 6,000 deep majestic Grand Canyon.
Duration: 3.5 hours (including hotel pick up)
Quality of tour: Excellent
Cost: The cost is reasonable for the value! Helicopters and pilots are expensive, and there are only 6 people on the tour.
Service: Excellent
Reservations required: Yes
Ease of making reservations: Excellent
Advantages: With 4 million passengers and 370,000 hours of flying time, Papillon has lots of experience. Professionalism, emphasis on safety, including survival equipment and nightly safety inspection of the helicopters, customer service. Our in-flight experience was noteworthy.
Challenges: It was difficult to communicate inside the helicopter. At times, I battled to hear the pilot’s comments because the background music was too loud.
Other: A van picked up and dropped off the six tour passengers at their respective hotels before and after the tour. We were late because of a change of time error. Though we were willing to take a taxi, as soon as we reached them, they came back to pick us up. Before our flight took off, they showed us a safety video and discussed safety precaution basics. The pilot was courteous and knowledgeable. He constantly checked to ensure all his passengers were comfortable and free of motion sickness. His flying was smooth. He seemed experienced and appeared to enjoy his job, flying the helicopter and sharing the pleasure of the Grand Canyon tour with us. Once they take off, someone keeps track of the helicopters while they are incommunicado at the bottom of the Canyon.
The wheelchair accessible terminal is capable of welcoming disabled passengers
Souvenir shop: A small souvenir shop in the lobby offers t-shirts, caps, aerial photos, a group photo taken by a photographer prior to departure and other trinkets.
Number of visits: One
Would you tour with them again/recommend it: Yes
Visit: August 2003
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