Las Vegas helicopter tours

How long you spend in the air

Listing times include hotel pickup, check-in, the drive to Boulder City and time on the ground, so the air time is often a fraction of the number. The split below uses the operators' own figures.

Maverick's Indian Territory tour lands twice: about 30 minutes at the canyon-floor site, then a 10-minute hop up to the rim for about 2.5 hours at Eagle Point and Guano Point, about 4.5 hours in all, from $739. The canyon flights from all three main operators route over Hoover Dam and Lake Mead on the way out, and Maverick's and 5 Star's come back over the Strip.

What each tour on sale includes

Listing titles don't say whether a tour lands, where it takes off or whether the Skywalk is in the price. Each row below is from the tour's own GetYourGuide listing.

Two rows are Maverick products at Maverick's own prices: the Skywalk Express is its Skywalk Odyssey, and the Grand Canyon West Helicopter Tour is its Western Journey. Neither GetYourGuide listing includes a hotel transfer or gratuities. You get yourself to Maverick's terminal at 6075 S Las Vegas Blvd and check in 45 minutes before departure. The Western Journey listing also excludes Skywalk admission, which Maverick sells as a $40 add-on when you book direct. The 5 Star air-only tour lists a 90-minute flight, while 5 Star's own page for what looks like the same route says 85.

The Strip night flight

Maverick, Papillon and 5 Star all fly it, for 10 to 15 minutes, along the Strip on a route set in a Letter of Agreement administered by the FAA's Las Vegas tower. That agreement isn't published. A Strip tour chief pilot told FOX5 in 2025 that it sets the exact route for about a dozen organizations, and that Maverick and Papillon fly a different route from his company's. So read "directly over the Strip" in a listing as a sales line; "along the Strip" is accurate. Maverick's page names the Bellagio, Sphere, Wynn, Caesars Palace, the High Roller, Allegiant Stadium, the STRAT, Circa and Fremont Street on its route, and says routes may change due to weather.

Maverick's own site listed its Strip flight from $139 on October 17, 2026. The same flight, with the same terminal and copy, was $99 on GetYourGuide, with 2,011 reviews at 4.7 stars; GetYourGuide notes that prices may vary. There's no hotel transfer: you get yourself to Maverick's terminal at 6075 S Las Vegas Blvd and check in at least 30 minutes before the flight. Flights need at least four passengers.

Papillon's Strip Highlights is from $99 without transfers and $129 with limo transfers; with the limo, pickup is about 60 minutes before departure and the whole thing takes about 1.5 hours hotel to hotel. Papillon's front-seat upgrade is $30 per person, charged only if it's confirmed at check-in. 5 Star's flight is 12 minutes from $99, with $35 off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and a $110 dinner add-on; you drive or take a rideshare to its heliport on Haven Street.

The drawback: you're in the air for 10 to 15 minutes, and you don't choose your seat. Maverick assigns seats at check-in for weight and balance, and its helicopters carry up to six guests, so the flight is private only if you buy every seat. GetYourGuide's review summary for the Maverick flight says some travelers felt the seat allocation and the route limited views from the right side. The airspace is also at its busiest around sunset, when the Grand Canyon tours are coming back.

There's also a night flight with a Neon Museum tour, which adds hotel pickup, a guided Boneyard walk and the "Brilliant!" show, about 3.5 hours with at most eight people. I'd be cautious with it: the listing doesn't name the helicopter operator, its rating is 4.4 from 36 reviews with a guide sub-rating of 3.8, and the newest reviews visible on the check date were from 2024.

Where the canyon flights go

Every Grand Canyon helicopter tour that leaves from Las Vegas flies to Grand Canyon West, sometimes called the West Rim, on the sovereign land of the Hualapai Tribe. The National Park Service says the Skywalk there is "outside of Grand Canyon National Park." Roundups that call these flights over the national park or the South Rim are wrong. The South Rim is about 250 miles and five hours by road from Grand Canyon West, and its helicopter tours leave from the South Rim itself: Maverick's, about 45 minutes from $399, departs from Grand Canyon National Park Airport in Arizona.

Grand Canyon West is about 122 miles from central Las Vegas by the Park Service's count, close enough that a helicopter gets you there, onto the Skywalk and back in under three hours. The Grand Canyon tours from Las Vegas guide compares the two rims, and the Skywalk guide covers the passes and rules on the ground. The rim runs on Arizona time, an hour ahead of Las Vegas from November 1, 2026 to March 14, 2027 and the same the rest of the year.

Landing or air only

Air-only tours are the cheaper way in. Papillon's Golden Eagle is about 70 minutes in the air and 3.5 to 4 hours hotel to hotel. 5 Star's Falcon Flight is 85 minutes and about 3.5 hours, covering about 15 miles above and below the West Rim and 120 miles in all; a landing on it is a paid upgrade.

A canyon-floor landing is the version most people picture. Maverick's Wind Dancer sets down on a private bluff about 3,500 feet below the rim and roughly 300 feet above the Colorado River, with champagne and light snacks, after about 45 minutes of flying each way. Papillon's Grand Celebration lands on a private plateau about 3,200 feet below the rim near the river, with champagne and a light picnic under a shade ramada. Either way you get about 30 minutes on the ground.

Maverick's Skywalk Odyssey (the Skywalk Express on GetYourGuide) lands on the rim at Grand Canyon West, not in the canyon, and includes expedited Skywalk entry and a photo. Maverick's page gives the ground time as about 45 minutes in one place and about 60 in another. Western Journey stays about 3 hours at the rim.

If you drive to Grand Canyon West yourself, the Hualapai Tribe sells its own Helicopter Pontoon package at the rim: a helicopter 3,500 feet down, a short pontoon ride on the Colorado and the flight back up, about 15 minutes of flying and 45 minutes in all, for $418 per person. Check in an hour before.

For the canyon floor, I'd book direct: Maverick's Wind Dancer or Papillon's Grand Celebration. Papillon's is $110 cheaper and leaves from Boulder City; Maverick's takes about 2 hours 20 minutes in all from its terminal by the airport. If the Skywalk matters more than the river, the Skywalk Express is the shortest day that gets you onto the glass.

The road-trip and airplane combinations

Two tours sold with "helicopter" in the title aren't helicopter flights from Las Vegas, and both say so. The Helicopter Landing Experience is a 10-hour day by SUV or van: pickup around 7am, a Hoover Dam photo stop, Eagle Point, Guano Point and lunch, then about 20 minutes on the canyon floor with 10 to 12 minutes in the helicopter each way, back around 5 to 5:30pm. The listing says: "This is not a flight from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon." It suits someone who wants the canyon floor without 90 minutes in a helicopter. The Skywalk is extra.

The Plane, Helicopter and Boat tour flies from Boulder City to Grand Canyon West by airplane, about 35 minutes each way. There a helicopter drops about 4,000 feet to the floor beside the river, you ride a pontoon for 15 to 20 minutes, and the helicopter brings you back up before a shuttle to Eagle and Guano Points. The Skywalk and a box lunch are an upgrade you add at booking. One reviewer says 3 of the 13 people on their trip had to buy a small bag at the terminal and leave their own behind.

Which operator

Maverick, Papillon and 5 Star are the three sightseeing operators to know. Sundance Helicopters, still listed by some aggregators and older blogs, says on its site that it no longer provides sightseeing tours. The three differ most on where they take off and how they handle weight.

Maverick weighs every guest at check-in and may deny boarding if the weight you gave was wrong. Between 250 and 299 lb, the 5 Star tour costs you an extra seat and the Maverick and Papillon tours don't.

Maverick takes children under 2 on a lap with proof of age, needs a seat for anyone 2 and over, and requires under-18s to fly with an adult. Papillon flies under-2s on a lap for free, requires under-15s to travel with an adult 18 or older, and has no maximum age. Maverick needs a physical REAL ID or passport from age 18, with no digital copies or photocopies; Papillon needs an original government ID from 16. Papillon and 5 Star ban selfie sticks and camera poles, and the Boulder City air tour on GetYourGuide also bans bags, tripods and drones. Papillon says a per-person fuel surcharge may apply if aviation fuel prices rise, and it doesn't publish an amount, so a fixed figure quoted elsewhere isn't Papillon's. On pregnancy, Maverick says to check with a doctor; Papillon has no helicopter restriction, but its airplane tours need a doctor's note signed within 3 days for the third trimester.

Where the flights leave from

You'll read that every tour leaves from the heliport in front of Harry Reid International Airport. Maverick and 5 Star do fly from heliports by the airport, but Papillon's Grand Canyon helicopter tours leave from Boulder City, about 30 minutes from Las Vegas, and so does the Boulder City air tour on GetYourGuide (Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines terminal, same 1265 Airport Rd address).

Papillon's and 5 Star's canyon tours include hotel pickup, and Papillon's pickups run 60 to 90 minutes before departure. The Maverick tours on GetYourGuide don't include a transfer: check in 45 minutes before a canyon flight and 30 before the Strip flight. Driving yourself to Boulder City for the air tour on GetYourGuide, arrive 45 minutes early.

Pack for the canyon, not the Strip. Papillon advises winter clothing for its landing tours from October to mid-March, and Maverick asks for closed-toe shoes because the landing sites are uneven. Maverick says backpacks aren't allowed at Grand Canyon West; Papillon will store large bags at its Boulder City or Las Vegas terminal if there's room.

Cancellations and weather

Booked direct with Maverick, nothing can be changed or cancelled within 72 hours and no-shows pay in full; cancel earlier and you get a credit or rebooking at Maverick's discretion, unless you bought its optional Flight Assurance, which moves the cutoff to 24 hours. Papillon lets you change or cancel without penalty up to 72 hours out, but refunds come as a credit voucher valid for one year, and nothing is refunded inside 72 hours unless you paid for its cancellation protection (cutoff 24 hours). Papillon's Super Saver fares are non-refundable, except that a weather cancellation gets a free reschedule or a full refund.

Booked on GetYourGuide, the listing sets the window: 3 days on the Maverick Strip flight and both Maverick canyon tours; 2 days on the 5 Star air tour and the road-trip landing tour; 24 hours on the Boulder City air tour, the plane-and-helicopter tour and the Neon Museum combination. The Maverick listings still ask you to reconfirm 72 hours ahead. Maverick says poor visibility or very high winds can cancel flights, and gives a reschedule or credit for those, with cash refunds at its discretion. If a canyon flight is the reason for your trip, I'd book it early in your stay so there's room to rebook.

Safety record

The National Transportation Safety Board has investigated several tour-helicopter accidents on these routes. These are its findings, not a rating of any company today.

On February 10, 2018, a Papillon EC130 crashed approaching the company's Quartermaster landing site on the south bank of the Colorado River near Grand Canyon West, killing five people and seriously injuring two. The NTSB's probable cause was a loss of tail rotor effectiveness, the pilot's loss of control and collision with terrain while approaching to land in gusting tailwinds, in an area of potential downdrafts and turbulence. It found no mechanical problems. The windsock showed winds of 15 knots or more. A summary of the NTSB docket by the safety site Aerossurance says Papillon then added a second windsock and a weather station at the site, increased GPS tracking from every 15 minutes to every 15 seconds, and finished fitting crash-resistant fuel systems in August 2018.

On December 7, 2011, a Sundance Helicopters AS350 on a twilight tour crashed about 14 miles east of Las Vegas, killing the pilot and four passengers; the NTSB blamed Sundance's inadequate maintenance, including a reused self-locking nut and a missing or improperly installed split pin. On August 10, 2001, a Papillon AS350 returning from a Quartermaster Canyon landing tour that began in Las Vegas crashed about 4 miles east of Meadview, Arizona, killing six; the NTSB found loss of control for undetermined reasons and noted high density altitude. On December 28, 2022, a Papillon EC130 lost yaw control while hover-taxiing at Boulder City Municipal Airport after a sightseeing flight, seriously injuring six people. The NTSB's public CAROL database can be searched by operator name.