When deciding to take a Grand Canyon helicopter tour, you\’ll have to choose between air tours and landing tours. There are benefits to both. To help you navigate the differences, here are a few tips.

First, you need to know from whence you are departing. There are two locations: Las Vegas and South Rim. Flights depart daily from both locales, with Vegas helicopters going to the West Rim and South Rim choppers doing the South.

(If you want to visit the South Rim from Las Vegas, I recommend you consider the 60-minute direct flight by plane to Grand Canyon airport. This tour can also be upgraded to include a helicopter ride).

Las Vegas

There are air and landing tours available from Vegas. They both follow the same flight path over Lake Mead and Hoover Dam before entering Grand Canyon airspace. Here, air tours will circle through it while landing tours will go to the top or the bottom.

Bottom landing flights typically come with a Champagne picnic. In fact, there\’s one that can be extended to include a Colorado River boat ride. I personally find that particular tour an incredible value and readily recommend it.

The tour that lands on top typically includes VIP passes to the internationally famous Grand Canyon Skywalk. Also known as the glass bridge, the Skywalk lets travelers walk about 70 feet over the edge until they are standing a whopping 4,000 feet over the bottom.

South Rim

Please note that South Rim helicopters are not allowed to fly below the rim and land. This is because it\’s banned by the National Park Service (NPS) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). As such, your helicopter options are air only.

There are two air only tours from which to choose. The first is a 30-minute flight from the South Rim to the North Rim and back. The other is a 50-minute adventure that does the same thing as the \”30\” plus everything up to the Park\’s eastern border. I prefer the later because when completed you\’ll have seen up to 75 percent of the Park.

Helicopters

Companies use a number of helicopters to shuttle folks to the canyon. Most of the cheap air-only tours use the Bell Ranger or the AStar. These choppers are OK and safe. However, for the best experience, I recommend getting a tour that uses the EcoStar 130 and here\’s why:

First, the EcoStar\’s cabin is 25 percent larger. It\’s also configured for theater-style seating so every seat is the best in the house. Further, this aircraft is equipped with a 180-degree wraparound windshield that offers incredible panoramas.

EcoStars are used on nearly all deluxe air-only tours and on all standard and deluxe landing tours. Indeed, you\’ll pay a bit more but from personal experience I find the EcoStar offers a vastly superior experience. In the end, it depends on availability and your travel budget.

Conclusion

I hope this article about types of Grand Canyon helicopter tours proved useful as you decide which tour to take. Basically, there are air-only and landing tours. From Las Vegas, you get to pick between both. From South Rim, the only option is air-only. Further, consider buying a deluxe tour because they use the EcoStar 130 helicopter, which is vastly superior to others currently used on tours to the Canyon. Take these tips into consideration and you\’ll get the flight of your dreams.

The author is a Grand Canyon expert and recommends going here for the best South Rim helicopter tours and here for ones that depart from Las Vegas: http://www.grandcanyonhelicopters.org/las-vegas/

The author is a Grand Canyon expert and recommends going here for the best South Rim helicopter tours and here for ones that depart from Las Vegas: http://www.grandcanyonhelicopters.org/las-vegas/

Author Bio: The author is a Grand Canyon expert and recommends going here for the best South Rim helicopter tours and here for ones that depart from Las Vegas: http://www.grandcanyonhelicopters.org/las-vegas/

Category: Travel
Keywords: South Rim helicopter