Predictable and cheesy praps but am looking into a poss balloon ride for Mrs M (and me, of course, I wouldn't send her on her own!) for her birthday.
Anyone used anyone somewhere in the midlands? Peak district an obvious landscape but anywhere within good distance of Derby I guess...
Get the impression we're talking paying a good premium for an "exclusive" flight - any ways round that?
TIA as always!
I brought my father a ballon ride for his 65 last year. Got it through Virgin. We're in Northampton, but if you look at their website they have locations everywhere. I think they were average price too.
I wish I'd taken money with me as they hadn't filled the ballon and anyone wanting to get on could pay £50 in cash there and then and climb on-board!!
Only downside was that we had to re-book the flight 3 different times. The weather can play a massive factor so be prepared to find out it's cancelled the night before. You do have a year to use the voucher though and I'm sure from memory that after the second cancelation they offer you a refund if you want it.
From memory, the flight was around £150-£175. It's not "exclusive" in the sense that you're not on your own though. The basket held close to 25 people.
HTH
Interesting cheers! That's about what I thought I guess but wanted to hear other experiences... 25 people though, crikey.
Sparkyspice (think that is his user name) is a pilot not in Derby, but he could well know a company to recommend. Will point him at this thread. I do know that it won't be Virgin though!!!
Thanks Mr Bear
Virgin - Noooooooo!!!! Actually they aren't too bad, but your flight and the quality of your experience will depend upon the pilot and their crew - they have loads of pilots some OK, some good and I can't vouch for any in your area.
If you see "Go Ballooning" and you go with them (they area probably the cheapest) then good luck. Just like your bike - you get what you pay for!
Go with one of your local operators. I don't know of any to be able to recommend in your area, but if the website is proffesional and the pack that they send out is well done (not a peice of photo-copied A4!) then the company should be good. Attention to detail in these areas should follow on to their flying and customer services.
Yes t-obias, you might get cancelled but there's nothing that can be done about the weather - you may go on your first attempt, or it may take as many as 5/6 attempts. It's pot luck.
As far as a VIP flight is concerned, they are great fun. I fly a 16 man balloon and also a 2-man VIP balloon (that one is the most fun!) and if I could make a living out of the 2-man VIP balloon, I'd sell everything else!!! It just depends upon your budget. £130-£150 for a weekend evening flight is the going rate (pp) and £550+ for a VIP is normal.
Good luck! If you are stuck between a couple of different companies and you want some advice, just let me know!
My site is kentballooning.com
I was bought a balloon flight for a birthday. We ran out of fuel over Blackburn and ditched on waste ground in the middle of an Asian district.
Cheers Sparkyspice - I will bear all that in mind.
And bad luck Globalti; could have been worse, could have ditched in [insert reader's choice of town/city] 
We had one booked in the Peak District, after a load of (5 or 6) cancellations, then wife got pregnant, and they said you can't go, and you'll have to wait till next year, no refund. In the end we got money back minus 30 quid, and really had to argue with them to even get the refund, so check the refund policy. I wouldn't bother booking one if you have any kind of a life, so can't afford to waste a whole bunch of afternoon / evenings having to not go out in case they can fly.
Also, be aware some operators are more cavalier about the weather, so you may well find yourself cancelled, despite seeing balloons in the air.
Also, with the cancellation thing, at least with ours, it wasn't a matter of come back next week, they fill up the bookings, so you have to wait for other people who booked after you to fly. by the time we got the refund, it was something like 6 months after my wife's birthday when I'd originally booked.
That was from Ambergate BTW. I think it would be lovely if you actually got up, but the constant last minute cancellation means you waste a lot of evenings, which was a pain for us.
I think if I wanted to book something similar again, I'd go for a helicopter ride - a few companies doing those in the Peak, and somewhat less weather reliant.
I did feel that balloon operators whilst they all say they only fly in good weather, are far from up front about how often they are grounded, and quite how good the weather they rely upon is.
I used these for a flight over Windermere:
http://www.pendle-balloon-flights.co.uk/
Very good..but we were lucky and flew on our first booking. Very hands on too helping with inflating and deflating the balloon etc.
Watched many a balloon take off from the hurt arms at ambergate, couple of times while we were camping there. Gets you stunning views over the derwent valley. Although on the quieter summer evenings it never seems to get very far. Bro and Sis in law went in the ladybird from there and only ended up at shirland after a 2 or more hr flight!
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