Thank you so much to Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters. My friend and I did the Grand Celebration Tour to the Grand Canyon on May 22nd.
I read some mixed reviews about Papillon Tours on Tripadvisor and began the tour with an open mind. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the professionalism of the Papillon tour company - from the shuttle bus ride from our hotel to Boulder city to the amazing helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon. Everything ran efficiently and on time.
Be prepared for an early start to the tour, though. Even though the helicopter ride was scheduled between 9-10am, we were picked up at the hotel at 7.40am. This was to give enough time to pickup customers from the other hotels and the 30min drive to Boulder city. We had a short video orientation at Boulder city before the helicopter tour began.
Our helicopter pilot, Julie, was a wonderful and professional guide. The 35 min helicopter ride to the Canyon was very smooth (I expected some nausea, but was fine, even flying at 120mph!). We flew over the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. The views were amazing. It was a little overcast, but still spectacular. I was glad we did the early tour. Our pilot told us that the midday sun can be very hot, esp without cloud cover.
We each got our own lunch basket, which consisted of sandwiches, an apple, chips, soda, water and the champagne was served by our pilot. Our tour guide was very friendly and offered to take photos of us (and even posed in some photos with us). We had about 30mins in total from the time we arrived to dept back to Boulder city. A little short for me, as an avid amateur photographer.
I would highly recommend the Grand Celebration Tour to anyone visiting the Las Vegas area.
(Just another tip - for anyone interested in the outdoors and and getting away from the crowds in Vegas - take a drive to the Red Rock canyon. It's beautiful, only 10miles drive from the Strip. It only cost $5 for a 1 day pass. If you're into photography and on a budget, Red Rock is a must).