NYC helicopter rides?
August 5, 2014 10:35 AM Subscribe
My lifelong New Yorker spouse would like to take a helicopter ride for his September birthday. Have any of you done this, and could recommend a company?
I've done this, and it was fun. The terminal down where the helipad is at is kind of lame though, about 5 or 6 companies are constantly hassling people getting off the train to come take a ride. They might even claim to be independent, but they always work for one single outfit.
I think the best approach, aside from maybe reading up to see if one company is the best is to go to the helipad ticket area and find the outfit with the soonest vacancy. I didn't realize this until I got to the ticket counter, but when I went I bought tickets with a company that couldn't fly us for almost two hours, while other ones there were ready to go on the next flight. It wasn't a super huge deal since I had a few days of vacation, but I wished I could have saved that time waiting around to see other things in NYC.
posted by mathowie at 11:46 AM on August 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
I think the best approach, aside from maybe reading up to see if one company is the best is to go to the helipad ticket area and find the outfit with the soonest vacancy. I didn't realize this until I got to the ticket counter, but when I went I bought tickets with a company that couldn't fly us for almost two hours, while other ones there were ready to go on the next flight. It wasn't a super huge deal since I had a few days of vacation, but I wished I could have saved that time waiting around to see other things in NYC.
posted by mathowie at 11:46 AM on August 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
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I don't remember the name of the company - it's been years - but I do have one piece of advice: ask if their helicopters sit everyone opposite each other (i.e. everyone gets a window) or next to each other (i.e. there are "middle" seats). Depending on your preference, you might get annoyed if you get split from your spouse or conversely if you have to give up the window seat to him/her.
Also, this is the type of thing that seems much longer than it is. Don't get upsold into a longer tour - a half hour is all you need!
posted by rada at 11:06 AM on August 5, 2014