Basic or Deluxe Bottom-Landing Tour?
This Explainer Helps You Decide
Which Champagne Picnic Tour to Try.
The bottom-landing picnic tour is the #1 most-popular Grand Canyon helicopter tour we offer. Not only is it priced right, but it's the only one that lands at the bottom. What follows is a quick breakdown between the basic and deluxe version of this tour, which should help you decide which one is best for you.
Both these tours fly the same flight path except that the deluxe starts from the Vegas Strip while the economy flies from Boulder City, a Las Vegas suburb that takes about 30 minutes to reach from The Strip. Once in the air, you'll fly over Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, the Mojave Desert and Grand Cliffs Wash.
Godzilla & Friends
Then it's a slow and steady descent into the Canyon using the Colorado River as a guide. Frankly, I find this the most exciting part of the tour. In total, you'll descend about 3,500 feet into the Canyon. The views are absolutely stunning. First thing that pops into mind is Jurassic Park because the place looks absolutely prehistoric (fact: the oldest part of the rock bottom is 1.84 billion years old and you'll be walking on top of that!).
Both tours land at our private landing pads. Once you deplane, you'll see a number of picnic benches. I'd estimate they're about 250 yards from the banks of the Colorado River. Your pilot will exit the aircraft first and pull out the ice chest from a side locker under the door of the helicopter. Keep an eye on that. It contains the food (cheese, crackers, fruit, etc.) and libations (Champagne, soda and bottled water).
Total time at the bottom is about 30-plus minutes (we usually exceed that), which is plenty of time to gnosh, take selfies and explore. The pilot will let you know when it's time to board, and once you're buckled up and lifting off, you'll really appreciate how deep into the Canyon you were. Oh, fun fact: less than 5 percent of the visitors to the National Park make it to the bottom.
The flight out takes you into a side canyon that hosts the Grand Canyon Skywalk, the all-glass, cantilevered platform bridge that let's visitors walk 70 feet past the Canyon's edge until they're suspended some 4,000 feet over the bottom. At this time, there are no bottom-landing picic tours that include the Skywalk and as far as I can tell there are no plans to include it. There is a top-bottom tour that includes the Skywalk but it's super limited and is one of our most expensive options.
Tours include free hotel transfers. However, if you go deluxe, it's via a stretch limo, whereas the economy uses a Sprinter van. Moreover, the deluxe includes an extended tour from the top of the Vegas Strip (Stratosphere Tower) to the bottom (Mandalay Bay) before landing. The economy tour, because it departs from our Boulder City terminal, lands at that particular terminal wherein the Sprinter van takes you back to your hotel.
Top Choppers
Both picnic tour options ONLY use the EcoStar 130, which is the most modern helicopter flying air tours today. The EC-130 is 20% bigger than conventional helicopters and features a 180-degree wraparound windshield and glass doors. It's climate-controlled (AC and heat) and is equipped with six bucket seats for passengers that are set up stadium-style. Each passenger gets their own headset and can communicate directly with the pilot and fellow passengers. The pilot will also narrate the trip via this system. Foreign guests can request narration in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, etc.
The Wrap UP
For obvious reasons, the deluxe option is more expensive than the budget option. From my perspective, both versions of this tour are a GREAT option. There's even a sunset deluxe option but it's super limited and departs once a day so, just like the all tours in this category, I strongly recommend you try to RSVP any of these tours as far in advance as you reasonably can. Go here to securely book these tours:
Economy Botton-Landing Tour ### Deluxe Botton-Landing Tour ### Sunset Botton-Landing Tour ###
### Sunset Botton-Landing Tour ###
Make it a GRAND day!
