Frequently asked questions

Choose your tour and select Book now to see available dates and times, then pay securely in our booking system. Prefer to talk? Call us at (760) 528-8676.

As soon as you complete checkout online. You'll get a confirmation email straight away. If you book by phone, it's confirmed once payment is complete.

Every tour is priced per guest, with a two-guest minimum. The helicopter seats three, so the third seat may be booked by another guest unless you make it private. Learn to Fly is priced per student, and one guest rides free. Flying solo? You can book any tour at the two-guest rate.

Yes. Make it private: the whole helicopter for your group, with the third seat 25% off. It starts from $547 on the Pop-Up Flight, and you choose it when you book. It isn't offered on Learn to Fly, which already covers one student plus a guest.

Children under two (0 to 23 months) fly free on an adult's lap. Everyone two and older needs a ticket and their own seat, and every passenger counts toward the flight's weight and balance.

Get in touch and we'll arrange it. Tell us the experience and the occasion and we'll take it from there.

You can cancel up to 24 hours before your flight. Cancellations within 24 hours of departure are non-refundable.

If we cancel because of the weather, you get a full refund or a new date, whichever you prefer.

There is no minimum age. Guests two and older need a ticket; children under two (0 to 23 months) fly free on an adult's lap.

Atlantic Aviation FBO, the private terminal at Palm Springs International Airport (PSP), 145 N Gene Autry Trail. It's minutes from downtown Palm Springs and easy to reach from anywhere in the valley. Every tour and charter leaves from and returns there.

Flight times run from 10 minutes for the Pop-Up Flight to an hour for the Grand tours, and they include slow passes over the sights. On the shorter tours you can upgrade at checkout: Highlights to the Grand Tour for +$500 per guest, Golden Hour or First Light to their Grand versions for +$500 per guest, and the Desert Rider from 45 to 60 minutes for +$250 per guest.

Departure times follow a seasonal schedule set around sunrise and sunset. We confirm your exact time when you book.

The routes on this site are what we plan to fly, and they're the reason each tour exists. Your pilot may adjust for weather, air traffic or other conditions on the day. Safety sets the route, always.

No. Every tour is a continuous flight from Palm Springs and back.

If conditions aren't right to fly, we'll reschedule you or refund you. We'd rather move your flight than fly it in weather that spoils the view.

It varies by tour and by leg. On the Desert Rider Grand, Keys View sits at about 5,200 feet, roughly a mile above the valley floor, so that pass is the highest of any tour. Over Joshua Tree National Park we stay at least 2,000 feet above the ground, as the park asks of all aircraft. Your pilot sets altitude for the conditions and the airspace.

Yes. Learn to Fly starts with 60 minutes of ground school, where you plan your own route with the pilot, then you take the controls for 30 minutes. It's $899 per student, and one guest can ride along free.

Please check in 30 minutes before your flight at Atlantic Aviation FBO, Palm Springs International Airport, 145 N Gene Autry Trail. That leaves time for check-in and your safety briefing without rushing.

Sunglasses and a phone or camera. In the cooler months, a light layer. Cabin space is tight, so leave large bags in the car or at the terminal.

Comfortable clothes and closed-toe shoes, and a warm layer for sunrise flights.

Yes, and you'll want to. Phones and cameras are welcome. We ask that you keep straps and lanyards secured and hold nothing out of the aircraft.

Yes: 299 lb per passenger. The weight you give us needs to include everything you're bringing aboard, such as clothes, shoes and cameras. Every flight is planned around weight and balance, so we ask for each passenger's weight when you book.

Your pilot assigns seats to balance the aircraft. Every seat is a window seat: one up front beside the pilot and two behind. Tell us if anyone in your party has a preference and we'll do our best.

Generally yes. Tell us about anyone in your party with mobility needs or medical concerns and we'll talk it through before you book.

From Palm Springs we fly to 53 destinations with published prices, from Big Bear and Temecula to Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Santa Barbara and Scottsdale. If your destination isn't listed, ask. If we can land there, we can quote it.

Prices are published for 53 destinations, from $400 for the short hop to La Quinta and Indian Wells to $5,600 for Scottsdale. Each price is for the whole helicopter, up to three passengers, and includes its flight home. Waiting time, overnights and landing fees are quoted on top.

Yes, in either direction. A one-way drop-off costs the published price, because that already includes the helicopter's flight home, and a one-way pickup from any listed destination to Palm Springs costs the same. For a same-day return, waiting time is added.

The sooner the better, especially around Coachella, Stagecoach, the BNP Paribas Open and the winter season. We'll always tell you honestly what's still available.

Sometimes. It depends on the site, the permissions and the conditions. Tell us where you're headed and we'll find out what's possible, or send us a special request.

Yes. Tell us the group size and the schedule and we'll build the flying around it. Festival transfers, golf ball drops, aerial photo and film, utility and forestry work go through our special requests page.