Grand Canyon South Rim Air and Ground Tour from Las Vegas

Posted By : flibbidyjib
Flew with this airline over the canyon back in 2004 and now again in 2024 this time with our older teens and we all LOVED the experience!
Thankfully we had a relatively smooth flight (I remember our first being lumpy lol) but both ways were pleasant. The headphones with light music and commentary (in different languages too) help ease the hour away, but the views are just amazing!
Felt totally safe and happy.

highly recommend to visit (in my opinion) the best views from South Rim @ Grand Canyon National Park but also to see everything along the way as you fly over so many parts. it was cool to see the light change on the way home as sun starting to set. You see blues/greys/oranges and reds. No photos can ever do the sights your eyes see justice.

we team the flight with a hummer tour, lunch and transportation from Vegas to Boulder City Airport all booker via Papillon - 5star - recommend the full day tour.
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Posted On : 2024-04-14 11:54:24

Posted By : Travel37819759774
Absolutely awful experience!!! We found part way through our tour that an electrical fault would not allow us to land in the Grand Canyon and get what we were most excited to do!
The customer service could not help us at all with a refund that would satisfy our disappointment for not stopping and seeing the Grand Canyon. We had paid for an experience to land and celebrate with photos and champagne on the ground and we got none of it!
Stay away and avoid the risk of utmost disappointment!
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Posted On : 2023-12-17 14:52:00

Posted By : Tickleish
Our time was brought forward to a 6.00am start rather than 11.00am. In hindsight, great move as it reached 120oc that day.
Shuttle
Pick up from hostel was on time and great.
Checkin at boulder city airport, easy.

Eric, our pilot from BC to GC was great, super flight both there and back and seeing the Hoover dam, Mojave desert and gran canyon, awesome.

At BC airport we was met by a young fella, who showed us a safety video.
Then we sat there for 50minutes with no communication as to when we go in the helicopter.
Eventually we climbed on the helicopter and flew down to the canyon floor. Our pilot (Dave) was awesome, really knowledgeable and friendly.
We then jumped on the boat where Jay, the skipper took the us up the Colorado river, nice guy informative and fun. At the end he did slow 360 of the river so we could video, nice touch.
Back on the helicopter to BC where the young fella met us.
He drove us to the skywalk, we had VIP tickets which took us to the front of the queue.
However, due to sitting around for 50mins we didn’t have time to do the skywalk as we wanted to get to Guano point as well.

All in all, super trip $1000 (US) well spent.
Only negative was the young fella attitude and the sitting about which cost us the skywalk!!
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Posted On : 2023-07-02 22:30:50

Posted By : P3861TImaxn
We like the nature So this was a right options for us And we are really glad for this So we thanks..
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Posted On : 2023-06-14 06:15:57

Posted By : Paul M
Unfortunately our tour never got off the ground.
Things started badly when the bus didn't pick us up from our hotel even though I rang and confirmed pick up time and location the day before. We were told by the transfer manager or (driver) to go to a nearby hotel as traffic was too busy to return. We did this but still no bus. When I rang the Airline again i was told to get a cab and get there ASAP.
We arrived at the airport well before the 9.15 supposed departure and nothing was happening. We were given the sticker indicating our flight and then others started arriving. About 9.30 the other tour left but there was no sign of another airplane!
We were told at about 9.45 the airplane had a technical problem with the communications equipment and would be 20 minutes. After 10.30 we were told that the flight was cancelled and they would organise a bus to return us to our hotel. Around 11.00 the bus returned us and about 5 others who were also booked.
The airline reimbursed me for our taxi fare when I requested it. My copy of the agreement cancellation clearly shows where we should have been picked up.
Waste of half a day and also the main reason for our short stopover in Las Vegas!
We booked about 3 weeks before the tour date.
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Posted On : 2023-05-31 23:22:16

Posted By : iShrek5
I purchased the Grand Canyon Air Tour Deluxe with Hummer and Helicopter upgrades from Papillon for a "Prime Time Tour" which included pickup from my Las Vegas hotel, the flight from Boulder City to Grand Canyon National Park where I was transferred to Buck Wild for the Hummer tour and then finally to Papillon for the helicopter portion of my tour. I had assumed the tour I purchased was all operated by Papillon and not 3 individual companies, but overall it was a great tour with a couple of little things that made me deduct a point.

On their website, they suggest booking a tour like this as early in your trip as possible and now I know exactly why. The bus to take me to Boulder City airport was scheduled to pick me up from my hotel (The Venetian) at 7:25am on Sunday May 1. While waiting I received a phone call informing me that my tour was cancelled as it was too windy to fly and I was asked if they could reschedule me for Monday May 2. Having paid a non-refundable fee of $834us for this tour, I had no choice but to accept the rescheduled tour even though it conflicted with the opening day of the trade show I was attending in Las Vegas.

I had paid extra for a "Prime Time" tour, but the rescheduled tour was not a the "prime time" time and I was not offered a discount or refund for this which was a little dissappointing. I had also opted to pay the additional fee of $15 for a "window seat". I'm not sure what this was actually supposed to be for as all seats on the plane are window seats; Unless this was meant to be the seat beside the pilot, which I did not get.

Upon boarding the plane for the flight from Boulder City to GCNP, our pilot , Holly, told us to set the headsets to channel 2 for the in-flight commentary. I don't know if they were all the same or not, but channel 2 in my seat gave me a non-english commentary. I tried the other channels and managed to find English on channel 1. Sadly I almost missed seeing the Hoover Dam because I couldn't understand whatever language was being broadcast on the other channels.

When we landed at GCNP airport our group was transferred to "Buck Wild Hummer Tours" for the hummer portion of the tour. It was my first trip to the Grand Canyon and our tour guide Trey made it a memorable one. Trey knows the area very well and provided great insight into the things we saw along the way, as well as the stories that go along with the 4 photo op stops that we made on the tour, each giving us a unique view of various parts of the canyon.
It would have been nice to make a stop at the Visitor Center in the Grand Canyon National Park. Trey did mention that it's a busy place and of course it contains a gift shop. A stop here, even for half an hour would have made this a perfect tour for me.

As the package I purchased included a helicopter tour of the South & North Rim, I was taken direclty back to the airport after leaving GCNP, whereas the rest of the group was taken to Buck Wild's office in Tusayan where they have their own gift shop as well as a Native American trading post which would have been nice to see. I didn't realize that by adding the helicopter tour to my package I would miss out on all of the gift shops.

The helicopter portion of the tour was great. I'd never been in a helicopter before, so it was a unique experience and the views of the canyon were incredible. It would have been nice to have more commentary and/or comments from the pilot as we flew over the canyon, but overall it was a great experience. I did ask at checkin if the front seat of the helicopter was available, but what I didn't know was that the plane and helicopter were operated by separate companies, asking about the helicopter at the Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines check-in was pointless and since there wasn't a separate check-in for the helicopter, I missed out on the opportunity to sit up front next to the pilot.

For the return flight from GCNP Airport to Boulder City, I was unable to find English commentary on any of the radio channels. Sigh...

Overall it was a great tour, but I think I should have been offered a refund for the non-existant "Window Seat" I paid for, as well as the premium I paid for the "Prime Time" tour when my tour got rescheduled.
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Posted On : 2022-05-17 15:40:31

Posted By : sarahbarron1
I was extremely disappointed - angry actually; that we were not made aware that an hour half of our trip would be wasted sitting around because of other people and our time cut short in the park.

We were told our flight would be leaving at around 09.00 and we were delayed by half an hour because of 2 Australian women being late to the airport which meant it was actually 09.30 before we departed.

We spent less than hour half in the park with only 2 stops because the guide said she was ‘conscious’ of a flight time !

It was then we learnt we were returned to the airport because the same women were participating in a helicopter ride.

We were offered to wait at the airport or go to town for 15 minutes !!!

Quite what their idea of a town is, significantly differs from mine.

We were left there for more like 40 minutes (25 of those sat waiting as we were told we’d get 15 minutes) before being returned to the airport - where low and behold the helicopter was returning. Very well orchestrated indeed.

I did not except the cost of the trip to last 1 1/2 hours in the park because the majority of the group were at the mercy of two passengers who delayed us initially and then enjoyed themselves while we were forced to wait around.

Extremely poor. Please ensure you make people who book this trip aware of this as it is totally unacceptable.
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Posted On : 2022-05-04 16:47:32

Posted By : donfenix
We booked this tour as a family of 4, my wife and I, plus our 2 daughters, 11 and 7. This review is just about the flight portion. I have a detailed and separate review for the excellent ground portion with Buck Wild Hummer tour. We were picked up from our hotel perfectly on-time and got to the Boulder City Municipal Airport. The facility is modern and clean. The cafe inside the airport was closed, I assume for Covid precautions. Our flight had a delay but it was taken into consideration for the tour as a whole and it did not affect the time we spent at Grand Canyon. Our flight was in a 9-passenger Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (there were only 6 passengers including us). It featured windows for everyone and comfortable leather seats. Our Captain was a kind, unobtrusive, focused, and professional lady who first gave us an excellent aerial view of the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead before heading to GCN in Tusayan. She performed very smooth landings on both legs of the flight. All in all, it was the most efficient way to see the South Rim in less than one day with time to spare in the late afternoon and evening after the hotel drop off. If you have a free morning and afternoon in Vegas and $500 available in your budget, this is a highly recommended and unforgettable tour experiencing one of the most awe-inspiring natural wonders on the face of the earth.
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Posted On : 2021-08-29 17:33:22

Posted By : David G
Bus tour to the West Rim from Las Vegas was a fantastic value. Great driver and everything was like clockwork. It's a 3-hour drive each way and you pass through a Joshua Forest and by the Hoover dam. There was no stop to actually take pictures of the damn or the forest. They keep moving. I would highly recommend this tour if you've never seen the Grand Canyon and you're on a tight budget.
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Posted On : 2021-07-27 09:33:42

Posted By : Andrew_L
A few disappointments:
- The plane ride to Grand Canyon was on a rather old Cesna
- Tour said 3 viewpoints but we only stopped at Mather and Bright Angel.
- The bus guide in the Grand Canyon was a nice elderly gentleman but definitely was not a professional.
- The website approximated the tour duration (including pickup from & drop off to hotel in Vegas) at 9.5 hours but the actual tour of Grand Canyon is no longer than 2.5 hours


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Posted On : 2020-01-05 23:40:21