Gold Coast Hot Air Balloon Flight 1 Hour - BEST PRICE!

Posted By : 502michellet
My friend and I went on a morning flight booked through a “Red Balloon” voucher. This voucher was sold as “Hot Air Ballooning over the Gold Coast”, to a cost of almost $500. Red Balloon’s website advertises the following false statements as listed below:

- Hot air balloon flight over the Gold Coast
- Watch the sun reflect off the myriad of canals and waterways and view the surrounding forest-covered mountains of the Gold Coast hinterland on this spectacular hot air balloon ride.
- After the exhilaration of flying effortlessly above the Gold Coast skyline.

Having read the above statements online, one could expect to be floating over the Gold Coast during one of their flights, but after experiencing the reality, I am left feeling completely underwhelmed and frankly, defrauded.

Upon boarding the bus and finally departing close to 5:00am from the Italian Soccer Club, my friend and I had no idea we were about to embark on an hour plus bus ride out to Beaudesert. After a long bathroom break in Canungra, we continued on the bus ride and managed to catch the 6:18am sunrise, while still sitting on the bus, before eventually reaching a paddock in the country. By the time we got into the air at approximately 6:40am, it was well after the promised “sunrise” flight. I figured once we were up in the air, we must then make our way over to the Gold Coast and waterways (being my first time, obviously I had no indication of how long it would take to reach the coastline in a hot air balloon). After almost 60 minutes of floating above cow paddocks and farmland, it became apparent that we were not going any further, and then came down in a similar paddock shortly after. We landed in grass that was almost up to my chest, where we then had to assist in packing up the entire balloon and load it onto a truck. The pack up process took well over 30 minutes of standing in the long grass (I pitied the 90 year old woman celebrating her birthday at this moment). A glass of bubbly or a refreshment would have been a welcome addition, considering we were expected to stand in a paddock for 1/2 hour.

Finally we got back onto the bus, and started to make our way back to the Gold Coast, or so we thought. Our driver Gary, after about 15 minutes of driving, then shouted out that he “didn’t recognise any of these roads and could someone open Google Maps and see where we are”. I thought he must have been joking, but sadly he wasn’t. A few passengers, snickering, opened their phones to see we were headed north towards Jimboomba, and then had to navigate Gary over gravel roads to get us back towards Beaudesert. This added on an extra 30 minutes or so to our bus ride. Our bus was the last one to get back to the Soccer Club at 10:00am, by this time we were absolutely starving and feeling sick from being inside a bus on winding roads. We seated ourselves and then had to chase down a waitress to place our breakfast order which came out, cold and unappetising, at 10:30am. By this stage the whole experience had taken 6 hours (not the 4 as advertised on the website) so we managed a few bites of our meals and left.

I can’t express just how disappointed I was after the entire experience. It felt like a complete lie and I don’t think there was ever any intention of flying over the Gold Coast. My friend and I both live in Mudgeeraba, so seeing cows and farmland was hardly an experience for us. The weather was perfect, there was no wind in the morning, so they can’t use weather as an excuse, especially after reading review after review on TripAdvisor and Google, all the negative comments dating as far back as 2015, mentioning the long drive out to Beaudesert, floating over paddocks in the countryside, 2+ Hours travel time. Reading these comments further clarifies for me that this is obviously the reality of the tour.
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Posted On : 2021-07-08 01:00:09

Posted By : F5009VKnickf
Friendly approachable crew, knowledgeable and answered our questions during our flight. Weather was a bit hazy but that didn't take away from the flight experience.
Ticked off the bucket list, and will do this again in future with family.
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Posted On : 2020-11-19 21:50:02

Posted By : Jaffacake59
Wow - what else can I say? Everything from the knowledgeable driver to the amazing flight over the Gold Coast hinterland where we could see Brisbane and Surfers Paradise in the distance. It was unfortunate that the wind wouldn't allow for us to fly over the Gold Coast itself but you can't help the weather! We would seriously love to do this again and I would do so in a heartbeat. Thankyou for a great trip - it's worth getting up early for.
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Posted On : 2020-08-26 08:36:07

Posted By : 911xq
Very disappointed. It didn’t fly over Gold Coast. We only saw the countryside. It’s website doesn’t work well. No photos, no video. We cannot find the photos which were taken by the pilot on the website as promised by them. We don’t recommend it.
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Posted On : 2019-03-23 00:32:14

Posted By : kylebK1755HJ
After reading other reviews below, our issues were similar to the rest. Meeting at 3.30am to be driven very away from the Gold Coast, got in the air way after sunrise. Some decent views but only of the countryside, no sign of the coast. Very squashed in the baskets. We were dropped off, helped pack the balloon away and had another long drive back to Gold Coast. For something we were looking forward to so much, we left feeling bored and dissapointed
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Posted On : 2018-11-23 15:40:26

Posted By : prosperinit_84
Myself and my wife just came from balloon ride.

Booked this trip through experience OZ which had free upgrade to one hour. It was definitely cool to ride in a hot air balloon for a life time experience once... Actually it was mentioned as one hour ride. But we were down in 40 minutes

Also balloon was not taken to much hieghts as it was done by other. Moreover it didn't flew over Coast.

To be honest didn't find value for money.
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Posted On : 2018-05-03 18:53:59

Posted By : Sarahellisem
From the strict meeting time of 3:30am, be there or be left behind, to have the driver rock up at 3:30 am on the dot then to be driven to the middle of NOWHERE to wait for another 40 minutes to then drive an additional 30 minutes to board a SUNRISE balloon ride when the sun is already up (7:10am) by the time we were in the air! The whole experience was horrendous, from the lack of assistance to get into the balloon basket to the aggressive communication between the ground crew and the pilot in front of all guest and to top it off landing in a farm where we were clearly not welcome, the experience was one I would like to FORGET...! 3:30am and arriving back on the Gold Coast at 9:10am... Absolutely pathetic and I could not recommend your service in good conscience! Get it together balloon aloft.
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Posted On : 2017-12-10 06:09:28

Posted By : Nik2707
Hot Air Ballooning is pretty much on everyone's bucket list. We were really excited to finally experience it. However, as some of the previous reviews have mentioned (i should have read them, before paying so much money), they do NOT fly you over Gold Coast, no sign of water anywhere. It was a real disappointment. Plus, we read on the website that the balloon can go as high as 3000ft, but it was hovering around barely 1200ft! But the worst part of the whole experience was the helping with the packing and setting up of the balloon. I mean why?! That packing and setting up, lasted longer than the whole ride itself. We just wanted to get back home after the ride since we were up from 2.30am for the ride, instead of spending atleast an hour or two, packing up the balloon. Seriously, so disappointed. If it wasn't for the ride experience per se, i would be rating this overall experience terrible.
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Posted On : 2017-11-19 00:48:20

Posted By : Cathryn L
What a great way to start the weekend with a Hot Air Balloon Flight over the Gold Coast. Dean our pilot was good fun and informative. Up in the air for over one and a half hours and then back for a champagne breakfast. All the ground crew were great as well. Do yourself a favour and see the Gold Coast from the air. Certainly well worth the $$$.
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Posted On : 2017-07-21 20:31:36

Posted By : margj1
My husband and I have never been on a Hot Air Balloon ride and this year we decided to give it a try. We booked through Balloon Aloft Gold Coast and the booking was so easy to do. In fact so easy I gave it to my husband as a Christmas Present. We decided to stay the night before at the Mercure Resort where the bus picks up as you have to be ready by 3.30am.; However the bus picks up at other locations as well. We were greeted at 3.30am by Bill (a great guy) who gave us the paperwork to complete and then waited for Luke (who was driving our bus) to arrive to set off. There were a lot of people (2 bus loads) ballooning and our balloon was located near Jimboomba which meant a 55 minute drive to the site. The time flew in the darkness and before we knew it we were in a field with four beautiful balloons being inflated ready to fly. I was a bit nervous but nevertheless fascinated by how the balloons are inflated and by the time we were ready to climb in the basket I was actually quite excited. The Gent who flew us was great at his job but one thing I think I need to say is when they recommend a hat you need to take one! The burner is really hot and at one point I thought my brain was on fire!!! We lifted into the air and everyone in our balloon was in total silence at the awe of the experience as the sun rose and we welcomed the last day of 2016 floating over the beautiful valleys. We flew for around an hour and got to see kangaroos, marvel at the fantastic scenery and then (best of all) help the guys pack up the balloon in the end. Then it was off to the Mercure again for Champagne and a buffet breakfast with Bill and all the guys where we were presented with our flight certificates. Totally AWESOME!
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Posted On : 2016-12-31 00:25:34