High 5 Ballooning

I have a *lot* to say about my High 5 experience — I’m torn between giving it 1 star and giving it 5 stars, so I’ll explain why it deserves one of each, and how you might ensure your experience is a 5-​star one and not a 1-​star one.
Why 1 star?
–I received a ticket for 2 people at the end of October as a wedding present from a friend. He’d initially bought the experience for himself back in June, and the ticket has a one year expiration on it. I would’ve loved to take a fall flight, but by the time we got it, if we wanted to ensure non-​freezing temps, we booked for May. I asked Tony then on the phone what would happen if we had to cancel for the weather and reschedule, and he said not to worry about it, we would deal with it then if it became an issue.
–Our first flight was canceled because of weather, and the only weekend dates that Tony still had available were in July — past the expiration date of the ticket. He claimed we’d already had the ticket for a year (I clarified that in fact, we’d only had it 7 months, but he was non-​plussed), and we’d need to book inside the year. My husband and I live in Boston, and they only have sunrise flights, so this involved changing airbnb rentals (and because airbnb makes you cancel in 24 hours but your flight you only find out about under 12 hours ahead, you wind up having paid for the airbnb anyway), and more importantly, after having taken so many days off for our wedding and our honeymoon, my husband has almost no time left to take off of work. I begged that Tony would make an exception and allow us to do it on a weekend — we’d followed the rules and booked within the coupon’s time, and we were being canceled on because of weather — we should be treated as people who were still playing within the rules, and were also trying to book in a timely manner. No dice.
–Left stranded with little options, we booked for a Tuesday morning and kept our fingers crossed that we’d be able to take flight, because if we didn’t, we had no more opportunities to fly before our expiration. My husband lost a half day, which when you’re building back from nothing, amounts to quite a bit — especially with many summer plans now in the works.
–I did some researching on BBB and found that gift certificate law in NH requires a company to take gift certificates for 5 years when they cost over $ 100 and under $ 1000. It is unlawful to put these «tickets,» which in reality are treated as gift certificates, with an expiration of under 5 years. Tony told me that «he’s seen his pilots still take tickets after the expiration date for people who have been canceled on 3−5x before, but not for people who have been canceled on just 1x.» First off, *Tony is the pilot.* He was talking about what *he* will or won’t do, in the third person. This, to me, appears to be just straight-​up bad business policy. If customers played by the rules but you needed to cancel on them because of weather, their payment is not suddenly worth less, nor should their time be valued less. We didn’t even have a coupon, this was an amount paid in full. It is ridiculous in a business impacted by weather to treat your customers who are in tough spots with their availability to confine them to a year only, regardless of what happens with the weather.
Why 5 stars?
–The flight itself was incredible. Tony explained everything as it was happening, flew us up and down and you just felt like you were floating. I have a mild fear of heights but a huge fear of falling, and I was certain I would be terrified — there was nothing even to convince myself not to be terrified of — we moved with the wind, so a sense of height was totally gone, it just felt like you were part of the landscape, and it didn’t feel like you were teetering above the planet. Just stable and marvelous.
TL;DR —
–If you want to go for a hot air ballon flight, the experience is fantastic — you feel safe the whole time, even with a fear of heights/​falling. Just make sure that you book the experience soon after you purchase the tickets, so that you have as much time as possible to make up the flight within the 1-​year window. This is not a certificate to be held on to.
Tony, your flight was magical, your crew fantastic, and I had an amazing time. The only thing keeping you from a 5 star rating on this website is your stubbornness regarding your 1-​year limit — while the purchase functions as a ticket, at its core it is a gift certificate to an experience, not a ticket for a specific date. It should follow NH law pertaining to gift certificates in this price range, which should remain good for 5 years — especially when you’re dealing in a business that involves frequent cancelations. Write in any extenuating rules you want about only being good for weekdays after a year, but don’t be vague about what will and won’t work out, because it leaves your customers with a very sour taste after a very otherwise sweet experience.

This was an amazing experience! Thanks to Tony and his great staff, I had a very special send off from New Hampshire. Tony is really adept, polite and funny. We skimmed over a beautiful pond and could see the coast and the Boston skyline, it was a truly beautiful experience! I highly recommend!

I bought the tickets for my fiancé’s birthday. We booked the trip but it got cancelled due weather reasons. 9 months later we finally got the perfect weather day and we could fly.
The experience is AMAZING!
Worth the wait and every penny we put in this adventure. Tony is very funny and friendly and his crew are very cooperative. Everybody is engaged to make your trip a great time.
I absolutely recommend High 5 Balloning!
The picnic afterwards is just the perfect way to finish the day. Love it!
Thanks everyone for making my fiancé and I super happy on that memorable day.

I would HIGHLY recommend High 5 Ballooning! Tony and his crew make you feel like family, he’s very knowledgeable & explains everything step by step (what will happen, what to expect, etc.). Once you’re done, he will pop a bottle of champagne and celebrate with you.
You should definitely book your adventure with them, you won’t regret it!
(It is quite unfortunate to read that other people haven’t had the same experience I had.)

It took me four hours to drive up here. When I made reservations about a month ago I asked tony how I should confirm my reservation. He told me to reserve online and call the evening before to confirm that I’m coming. He even took my credit card info to hold $ 400 just in case I don’t keep the end of my promise. We even spoke in detail of what things there are to do locally. Well, I called tonight and they lost our reservation, there’s nothing they can do. He said he’ll ask other pilots for availability for the sunset ride but the chances are near to null. I’ll post back to let u guys know what tony will do for this ruined vacation, but so far: buyers beware!!! U can book with this company, they’ll loose your reservation and that’s the end to that.

Not only was it a fun ride and had a great time, but Tony was very professional and knowledgeable on hot air balloons and the history behind them. His crew was very friendly and courteous. The scenery was amazing and the landing was soft and smooth. We were one of three balloons and I must say even though Tony spoke highly of the other balloon companies, my wife and I felt that we had a cleaner, more organized flight. Tony has all the latest upgrades to his basket and it was just walking into a nice clean balloon, rather than climbing into an old dirty basket off a step stool. The picnic after was delicious and refreshing with his special concoctions that he makes and the bite size snacks were perfect. I highly recommend this company over any other ballooning company. If you’ve never done it and am contemplating it, DO IT! Knock it off the old bucket list. You won’t be disappointed.

I purchased 2 Groupon’s for a total of 4 passengers. I had planned to use them as a gift. I read all the fine print before purchasing very carefully and I followed all the instructions on the Groupon about reservations. I called and got a very pleasant and polite lady on the phone who told me she would have the person responsible for booking contact me within 24 hours to book my flight.
When the owner and pilot contacted (more than 24 hours later) me he asked what day I wanted to fly. I gave him the date but unfortunately for me it was not available. Understanding that we only had three weeks until the Groupon expiration he explained that he would make it simple and tell me that he only had a two options left. I asked what those options were. One was less than a week after I had planned to fly and was on a day we were all available.
Before agreeing I asked about the weather and how it’s handled. His answer. If we cancel due to weather you reschedule but your groupon will only be worth the amount paid and not the face value unless you fly before the end of the Groupon period. I asked since there was only 1 other available slot what happens if there are no other options during the Groupon period. His response. Groupon’s are a risk. You should assume you will have to pay full price and if you are lucky enough to get a slot at the Groupon rate consider yourself lucky. I didn’t like his response but wanting to take a balloon ride I agreed on the date. He told me he thought taking that slot was a smart move.
What came next caught me totally out of left field. Even though I had already paid $ 500 for the Groupon he told me to reserve the flight he would need a credit card and that he would charge/​put a hold for the full retail value of $ 800 and on the day of the flight he would credit the card. I resisted giving him my credit card and expressed that I didn’t understand why that was necessary since I had already paid for the Groupon and nowhere on the fine print on either the actual Groupon or Groupon’s website did it say that was the policy.
He told me if I wasn’t happy with the policy, I could choose not to fly and forfeit what I had already spent with Groupon. I explained that I do not use credit cards and to have him charge/​hold $ 800 on a debit card wasn’t reasonable. He suggested I ask one of the other passengers to front the $ 800. He went on to explain that he has to do this because people cancel on him all the time with no notice. Again I explained that I had already paid and if I didn’t show up I understood I would forfeit the Groupons.
He explained that wasn’t how he handled it. He informed me If I didn’t fly on my date he would leave the $ 800 charge on my card and the Groupon would still be valid but only for the amount paid not the face value. Not comfortable with that I told him I would have to get back to him. He advised me he would hold the reservation for 24 hours and no more. As soon as I got off the phone with him I spoke with one of the other passengers and they agreed it was questionable and they were not comfortable with what he was asking given that this policy was never disclosed to us anwhere in the terms and conditions of the Groupon.
I called Groupon immediately and they agreed it shouldn’t/didn’t work that way and immediately credited my account. They advised me they would contact the vendor to discuss and alert him that I was given a refund. To be fair I called the next day to tell the guy we wouldn’t be flying but got no answer. I assumed since he clearly stated he would only hold the reservation for 24 hours and that Groupon said they would advise him they had refunded my money that I didn’t need to call back again.
Flash forward 1 week. The owner/​pilot called and said my reservation wasn’t complete. I politely told him we wouldn’t be flying. He asked if I wanted to reschedule and I politely declined and said we wouldn’t be flying with High 5. He then lost his cool, raised his voice and proceeded to berate me verbally on the phone calling me all sorts of expletives. He told me I was costing him $ 800 and then he threatened to call every hot air balloon company in New England and tell them not to allow me to fly. I calmly tried to speak with him and explain that I had tried to cancel but got no answer which he flatly told me that he thought I was lying. I again explained that I was sorry he felt that way but I had called and perhaps mistakenly assumed that since it was an incomplete reservation and that he had been very clear that he would only hold it for 24 hours that I didn’t need to call back again. He then hung up on me.
Believing we had been disconnected I called back and he berated me again before hanging up. Wanting to find a reasonable resolution I attempted to call back again but he had clearly turned his phone off and his voicemail said it was not accepting new messages. Sadly his unwilling to have a reasonable conversation forced me to write this review.

My sister persisted in trying to get our money back for a while, but was finally too exhausted to continue and we just considered the experience an extremely expensive lesson learned about being very, very cautious committing money for any reason. I think it’s really disturbing that every negative review for this business has been filtered by Unilocal.They show a very misleading 4.5 star rating when you search for them, because 4 or 5 reviews giving 1 or 2 starts have been suppressed. That’s outrageous. Is it a pay service businesses can opt for? What’s the deal, Unilocal

Took a trip with my wife and had a blast with High 5 Ballooing. Tony was a courteous and informative pilot and showed us all the sights on a sunset balloon trip. Definitely recommend both hot air ballooning (this was our 1^st time) and also taking a trip with High 5.
We booked through another provider which was fine, but wouldn’t recommend this to others. I’d suggest just contacting High 5 directly and booking with them.

Ok, here’s the deal with these guys. A FAQ book in addition to what they make available.
Q: What’s the deal with flight tickets? I’ve seen them at Costco.
A: Don’t get these. They require $ 50 pp surcharge (refundable through the flight ticket broker, usually a third party) that you pay at the time of flight. It also locks you in with no possibility of a cash refund.
Q: What if I have a flight ticket and I can’t fly due to weather?
A: Tony may give you a gift certificate for use with him within a year.
Q: How do I use a gift certificate from High 5?
A: They have to be used within one year of issue. He may offer an extension for special reasons, but you will be booked as stand-​by.
Q: What is stand-​by?
A: A reservation for which a full-​fare paying person can kick you off the reservation slot. (Tony actually worked with me after I had lost one re-​booking to get a full-​fare, guaranteed slot)
Q: Why did they cancel my flight? (Weather)
A: Balloons are unsafe to fly much over a couple of mph worth of wind. Better to stay safe and have to go home (which I did).
Q: Why did they cancel my flight? (Flight confirmation)
A: You have to make a flight confirmation on their website within 24 hours of calling him to set up the reservation. You need to confirm again (for weather) the day before the flight.
Q: Why do I have to call him at 8:15 PM the day before?
A: The FAA releases weather data for the next day at that time.
Q: Why is Tony so gruff on the phone?
A: Not sure. He almost made the misses cry, and I wasn’t too happy about it. Patronizing and belittling are adjectives I’ve heard used to describe his tone and demeanor, but at the day of flight, he’s pretty easy-​going.
Q: How should I pay for my flight?
A: Do it in cash at time of flight!!! This will save you being locked into a commitment. My gift certificate was rather stressful to use.
Q: He hasn’t been rude to me. Is he a good pilot?
A: Tony seems to be a good pilot with years of training. He’s rather pleasant right before, during, and after the flight.
I can’t say I didn’t have any trouble with Tony. The misses had a real tough time with him, but I can’t say he was the most difficult person to work with either. Just make your reservation, confirm it (see above), and pay on site. I wish Tony didn’t have such a thorn in his palm, but the co-​pilots and crew are nice guys. You’ll probably have a blast, just hang on to your cash so you don’t get locked in.

I just want a start by saying I wouldn’t give someplace 1 star unless I really felt strongly about how lousy my experience really was. I don’t like writing negative reviews, but I really should share my experience in hopes that it will help others.
I bought 2 vouchers to High 5 ballooning using
last spring. Maybe if you pay full-​bolt, then they’ll treat you like an actual customer; I can’t speak on that. Anytime I made an appointment with them to go ballooning through the summer it was cancelled… maybe this was the weather’s fault and luck of the draw, but they could have done a better job of notifying us (we actually drove up to NH only to be told late that the trip would be cancelled). By the time the fall rolled around, they just seemed completely uninterested in having us fly with them, even though we had already paid. My recommendation is not to buy any sort of groupon or BuyWithMe deal for this company… my vouchers have now expired, and I essentially gave them $ 250 to waste my time. Thanks guys!
So if you want to pay full-​bolt and use their services, then maybe you’ll have a much better experience than I did. But if you know of a ballooning company that maybe has more reviews or has strong recommendations from friends, I can’t say I’d attempt to convince you into trying High 5.

I had an awesome once in a lifetime experience today.
Dennis and I went on a hot air balloon ride.
Dennis gave me a gift certificate for my birthday and today was the day we scheduled the ride with High 5 Ballooning.
Tony, the owner and fearless balloon pilot, with his great crew, did an fantastic job with explaining everything from general safety to ballooning history.
We all met at the meeting place on Rt 111 in Salem were we got a brief orientation.
We were all then transported via van to Wal-​mart in Salem were we all helped in the set up of our big yellow hot air balloon with a happy smiling face on it.
Shortly we took off and the wind took us due South East toward Atkinson. The ride was about 45 minutes and just incredible views from high above to down low to just over the tree tops.
From really high we were able to see Boston, the ocean, Mt Washington (over 100 miles away), Manchester, Lowell, and beyond.
The crew did an great job of getting everyone involved to help out with the set up and breakdown of the balloon.
At the end, we landed in someones front yard, we all packed up the balloon and celebrated by giving the land owner a bottle of champagne. We all then ourselves celebrated our flight with a champagne or mimosa toast as well as a reading of «Balloonists Prayer».
The entire trip was over in about 2 hours and we all were in great spirits as we met some new local friends as well shared in a really cool and special experience.
I would highly recommend this company to anyone!