Question of the Week: “What is your best Las Vegas Grand Canyon Tour?”

Jul 28

Question of the Week: “What is your best Las Vegas Grand Canyon Tour?”

Good morning friends, and what a beautiful morning it is ~ Hopefully most of you are planning to take your Grand Canyon air tours this morning as this afternoon is expected to bring more monsoon rainstorms. Over the weekend, the rain got so bad that it washed out the road to the Grand Canyon Skywalk! A rare occurrence, to be sure, but hey, we’ve said all along that you shouldn’t drive that road unless you a. have the right vehicle (i.e., SUV with a high clearance and preferably not a rental) and/or b. absolutely no other alternative.

On our last post, we discussed the absolute best Grand Canyon tour, the Canyon River Adventure. Reaction to the post was divided into two distinct camps: 1. “sign me up” and 2. “the trip sounds great, it really does, but we’re going to Las Vegas and we just can’t spare the time to come over to the South Rim to do the Canyon River Adventure.” Which leads to this week’s Question of the Week:

Q. “What is your best Las Vegas Grand Canyon Tour?”

A. “The Canyon Escapes Helicopter Tour.”

Mind you, coming up with the answer did take a bit of deliberation because statistically, the Grand Voyager Tour is our most popular Las Vegas Grand Canyon tour. But when you weigh all Las Vegas Grand Canyon touring options by the criteria applied to the Canyon River Adventure – comprehensiveness, ease of accessibility, and value – the Canyon Escapes helicopter tour, for now, comes out the winner.

Let’s break it down:

Comprehensiveness: having been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon the hard way, it still blows my mind that you can do all this in less than 2 hours on the Canyon Escapes tour. Check it Hoover Dam from a Las Vegas helicopter out: after getting picked up at your hotel and being transported to the Boulder City Municipal Airport, you’ll board a state-of-the-art Eco-Star EC130 helicopter. You’ll fly over Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the Western Rim of the Grand Canyon. Since you’ll be in a helicopter instead of a plane, you get to fly a bit lower, giving you a “close encounter” with these majestic landmarks. Then, time for a change of direction as your chopper descends 4,000 feet all the way to the very bottom of the Grand Canyon! You’ll touch down near the bank of the mighty Colorado River where you’ll enjoy a light picnic meal (cheese, crackers, fruit, beverages) under and authentic Indian “ramada.” You’ll have about 30 minutes on the canyon floor to walk around, take pictures and explore before re-boarding your helicopter for the return flight to the Boulder City Airport and shuttle transport back to your hotel (complimentary pickup and dropoff is offered to most major hotels on the Strip and Downtown). Talk about the ultimate “bada-boom bada-bing” – on the Canyon Escapes you will do what was once considered impossible: get to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back by lunchtime! Tour time from take-off to landing is 1 hour and 45 minutes; time for the whole experience from hotel to hotel is about 4 hours.

Ease of accessibility: This is truly where the Canyon Escapes trumped the Grand Voyager. Now the Grand Voyager is a great tour, however, it involves a little hiking: when you chopper to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, you have to descend a rocky, unpaved trail (photo on left) and 2-3 flights of stairs from the helipad to the boat dock. After the pontoon boat ride is over, you then have to ascend the same staircase and trail. It’s equivalent to about 5-6 flights of stairs. It’s manageable for most people in good health, but maybe not so for your grandparents, very young children, someone with bad knees or anyone who’s sensitive to extreme heat (gotta remember, it’s flippin’ HOT at the bottom of the canyon most of the time!). The Canyon Escapes doesn’t involve any strenuous activity – once you land at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, you’re on a fairly flat, level surface and that’s where you stay. Since you’re on the canyon floor for only about 30 minutes, it’s less likely that you’ll become overheated or dehydrated (especially since plenty of water is provided). Also, because there is no pontoon boat component to the Canyon Escapes tour, no stair/trail climbing is involved, which makes this tour appropriate for just about all ages and physical fitness levels.

Value: although the Grand Voyager tour is a great value at $309 inclusive per adult, the value of the Canyon Escapes is An Eco-Star helicopter at the bottom of the Grand Canyon beyond great – right now, it borders on sheer insanity! Logistically, the Canyon Escapes is exactly the same tour as the Grand Celebration, but as indicated previously, it takes place aboard the newer, fancier Eco-Star EC-130 helicopters (photo on right). These helicopters – built specifically for sightseeing and nothing else – are highly advanced in comparison to the standard Bell Helicopters: bigger seats (and they all face forward), 25% more cabin space, larger windows, and a “fenestron” or “fan” tail rotor which substantially reduces noise output, which pleases our friends with the Hualapai Tribe and National Park Service. Normally, upgrading to the Canyon Escapes and the Eco-Star helicopter would run $50-60 per person more than the Grand Celebration with Bell heli service. But right now, GrandCanyon.com is offering the Canyon Escapes and the Eco-Star upgrade for just $289 inclusive per adult – just $10 more per person than the Grand Celebration! That’s literally a “giant step” up in comfort for a “baby step” up in price!

Not only is the Canyon Escapes the ultimate “bada-boom bada-bing,” right now, it’s also the ultimate bargain! But ultimately it won’t last forever, so make your reservations today for the ultimate Las Vegas Grand Canyon experience, the Canyon Escapes Helicopter tour