soaring adventures of america, inc.
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soaring adventures of america, inc.印象
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The poor rating is only because this balloon ride adventure failed before it even got off the ground. The Balloon ride was planned as a birthday celebration surprise, but it quickly got so complicated that the recipient (me) found out about it before it could even be booked.Soaring Adventures of America is a national firm that does multiple thousands of balloon rides annually all across the US. They also do glider rides and have an excellent safety record in both areas. The flights themselves take about three hours, including the inflation process, and at the end there is a champagne toast. I have no problem with the ride part.Here's how it works and didn't work out for us:You call the 800 number listed on the website and the call is answered by the national reservations office in Wilton, CT. They act almost like a clearing house. They send you a numbered pre-paid ticket by UPS or Priority Mail envelope so there is a postage charge. For the two of us, that was about $350. The amount also includes a service charge of approx. $7. Neither it nor the p/h charges are refundable, and one's major credit card is billed immediately.The UPS/PM packet includes your ticket and number, and a listing of over 200 balloon and glider flight firms across the country, also listing the airports from which they depart. The ticket is good for 15 months from the day of purchase. It is up to you to choose the firm you wish to fly with and the airport location. You deal with the firm directly arranging your own flight according to their pilot's schedules. In our area, they suspend flight operations over the summer. There are other reasons why they might cancel your flight, such as windy weather or sudden storms. This is for obvious safety reasons. You need to arrive at the departure airport or preset meeting place quite early, so if you are not nearby, an overnight stay locally might be necessary.The date we wanted was not able to work for the company we choose. And the optional dates they offered us before the seasonal shutdown couldn't work for us. This meant that they would keep our prepaid ticket on file for 60 days before refunding it. (This is where the $7 service charge comes in). This is fair, I guess, but we decided that we didn't care to have our money tied up like this for that long. I called and was able to arrange a refund which will not include the service charge or the postage and handling.We did not care for the charge going onto the credit card well before we were able to fly and for the company holding our money in this manner. They were cheerful about the refund and we are awaiting it to show up on the credit card statement.Since we did not understand how this all worked until we got well into the process, I felt that the procedures should have been more clearly explained, hence this review. Our experience does not mean that we will not attempt a flight again, but now we will know to ask about the billing process and other details that were over-looked before. Probably the largest reason why we were disappointed is that we did not do our homework before we tried this. We will know better next time.There are weight restrictions, health warnings, and age requirements that must be met before flying, and everyone must sign a responsibility waiver. The flights are out over the wilderness areas, so there are no restroom facilities once the balloon takes off. Take care of this while at the airport. Bring a camera. It is not cold during the flight, since the balloon flies with the wind. And the burners can act to warm the gondola, so dress accordingly with durable footwear. Sunrise and sunset flights are offered. Space fills fast and while couple flights are available for special romantic reasons, they do cost much more. Normally there can be between four and ten persons in a gondola at one time.
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BEWARE!!!!! Soaring Adventures of America Inc. will gladly take you money up front and in return will give you a voucher with a list of local hot air balloon pilots which will take your voucher to schedule you but then consistently reschedule your date. They use excuses like, “the wind is not right”….. “it’s to cloudy”….. & “the landing sight is wet”…I’ve been waiting for my balloon ride for 3 years… There is no accountability or protection to the customer. They take your money, then forget about you and give you the “run around” when you try to get refunded. IF YOU PURCHASE FROM SOARING ADVENTURES OF AMERICA YOU RISK LOOSEING YOU MONEY!!!!! BEWARE, BEWARE, BEWARE!!!!
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Here's how it works: you pay for a balloon ride through the main website and then you can reserve a balloon ride in many parts of the country through their (franchise?) alliances with other pilots. We contacted the Shrewsbury, MA pilot in early June and he said Labor Day Weekend was wide open, so we picked a Sunday afternoon. I then called back a few days later with a question, and his wife called back. She said her husband, the pilot, had not put us on the calendar for that Sunday, and sorry, but they can't do that day. (Glad I called!) (I suspect they got invited to a party and it was a better offer.) When I said I was confused and asked why the pilot said the weekend was "wide open," she said, "well, he's a man, you know men." Right. So. Fast forward to moving the reservation to last Friday afternoon of Labor Day Weekend instead, and lo and behold the flight gets cancelled for wind -- the pilot called stating that the wind was going to progressively pick up between take off and landing, and it wasn't safe. We checked the weather and it went from 5 to 6 mph, same direction, during the time frame of the flight. That was the prediction -- a whopping increase of 1 mph. The wind actually died down. We have since heard that it has taken others 9-12 months of tries and retries to fly with this pilot. While we were warned the flight could be cancelled for wind/safety reasons, and were prepared for that, we also checked the weather and sorry, but it just didn't add up. You draw your own conclusions.
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If you are a person who likes a solid plan before spending your money, do not tie up your money with this company. After calling the base office in CT about five times to answer every question I had, I was still weary about paying $400 for my boyfriend and I to book a hot air balloon ride, but we were excited and willing to take full advantage of the refund (which we did).Soaring Adventures will not release the names of any pilots until you have paid in full and you receive their package in the mail a week or so later, so it is possible that even though there is a pilot near you, your flight could not work out for many reasons. These reasons could be that the pilot does not fly in the summer, the pilot only flies on weekdays, the pilot doesn't take reservations except for a month in advance, and of course things such as the weather play a huge role. The Houston location does not fly on the weekends which was not compatible with my boyfriend and I's schedule, the next nearest place was 150 miles away. I was so eager to hop on the hot air balloon that I called that place and three others in the Dallas Fort Worth area and all were booked through the next two months. It was impossible to find a place that had openings. Soaring Adventures had told me that booking a week or two in advance would guarantee me and my guest on a ride.If you are like myself and nervous about putting your hard earned money into an iffy experience, don't go through this company. It is impossible to plan when you are going to actually get your hot air balloon ride and it is disappointing when the gift you got for someone does not come the way you expect it to. My boyfriend and I are currently calling for a refund because we could not find a date even in December when booking in August. If you are looking to go hot air ballooning, I suggest going directly to a pilot, NOT through an outsourcing company like this. The process after payment was anything but easy.
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With weather in November you never know, but we continued until we got it done. A birthday gift for my wife and an item to cross off her bucket list. Pilot was very friendly and personable as well as informative. We both had a wonderful ride and are considering doing it again.
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On Dec 4, 2014 you gave us this review: 5.0 /5My wife and myself had a very nice adventure with the Glider ride in Florida on a very short notice when we returned from a cruise. They worked us in for the same day and we had a great time. It was her first time in a glider, but I was on a flight about 35 years ago in England. We both had about 30 minutes of gliding time. We are both satisfied and have also taken the Hot Air balloon ride in Missouri about 3 years ago. It was very nice.
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I have been waiting for two years for my trip. There is always an excuse to not fly, the weather, the time, the month, etc. Every single first of the month I am calling making the appointment and nothing happens. The name of the pilot is Rowdy Smith and he doesn't even pick up his phone anymore. I might try the refund way but I highly doubt that they will respond. Basically I feel that I lost $300.00 of my hard earned money. Don't try this people.
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It was a wonderful experience, from the first phone call I made to the ride itself, and the followup mailing to me of a beautiful paperweight. Thank you for an awesome ride!! My husband and I really enjoyed it. Sky Adventures in Oxford, Michigan. The owner was our pilot, first rate!! Champaign toast completed the fun.
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This was a Mother's Day gift (purchased off of Groupon) from my husband. We winter in Arizona and chose Sedona due to the beautiful Red Rock scenery. First mistake, did not read reviews for Soaring Adventures and AZ Balloon Works, SEDONA. When making the reservation, I did ask as to departure area and was told somewhere between Sedona and Cottonwood. Cottonwood is 20 miles south of Sedona, and assumed we would still be within a close proximity of the beautiful Red Rock. Wrong. We were taken even further south of Cottonwood by approximately 3-5 miles for the launch. At launch time, as we headed even further south, we looked approximately 25 miles to the north and witnessed 3 balloons taking off from near the beautiful Sedona Red Rock area, which we could not see with clarity. As in a previous advisor report, we did not get as high as had imagined but we do understand elevation reached is determined by winds and our morning had very little. We maxed 2000-3000'. Our pilot was knowledgeable of the area but I grew weary of his ale drinking tales. Guess I will have to keep this one in my bucket list. For $50 to $75 more we could have been up up and away in the Beautiful Sedona Red Rock Area. You do get what you pay for.