Soaring Adventures of America

DO NOT use this company. They will be more than happy to take your money but you will get nothing in return, including that hot air balloon ride you were hoping for. We tried booking at several launch sites and they all turned us down due to Soaring Adventures not paying them. If I get a response from the company I will update this and give them a good review for doing their part to refund the customers they scammed.

If you look at my ratings distribution, you’ll see that I REALLY don’t like to write bad reviews, and I really really don’t like giving out one star. But I sadly think it’s warranted in this case. I bought a Soaring Adventures GC in order to try a hot air balloon ride for the first time. When I got the list of providers in Indiana, I saw that there were only two, but figured I wouldn’t have any problems. Wrong. One of the providers was no longer working with Soaring Adventures, and the other I contacted said he could no longer accept their certificates because the company hadn’t paid him in over 6 months. I submitted a refund request to Diane per instructions from Rob W. in October 2015; it’s now mid-​January and I haven’t seen a check and my emails to Diane are going unreturned. My advice: go directly through a local company if you want a hot air balloon ride, not Soaring Adventures.

I bought the tickets on Groupon as a surprise 30^th anniversary gift to my hubby. This was going to be my major gift to him. I also wanted to surprise him with getting an old watch refitted so he could wear it again. Unfortunately, I ended up having to order a complete new watch band and it wasn’t cheap. Therefore, I could no longer justify the balloon ride I had purchased. Luckily I was within the 60 day window of getting a refund and proceeded to do that, following the instructions provided implicitly. The downfall is that I had to follow up a several times and babysit it until I finally got my refund. The good news is that I did get my refund so they did indeed stand behind their promise. Guess the old saying «better late than never» is very true here but I spoke with Rob Wilkinson the owner and he was very apologetic. As a fellow business owner I can understand when times are tough and you try to do more with less due to cash flow. I appreciated him taking the time to speak with me personally. He certainly didn’t have to do that and that shows a great deal of integrity. I would certainly give this company another chance in the future.

I shared a basket with five people, including the pilot (Bob Thomas of Balloons Unlimited), near Winchester, VA. (I think if you know the weather will be decent, with not too much wind, you can count on the balloon ride happening.) This was my first ride, and I was impressed! Before I knew it, we were way above the trees and the animals below. So quiet and peaceful, except for the occasional whoosh of the gas burners. When it was time for us to land, I was fascinated by how Bob picked a spot and brought us down near the tops of the trees, over a fence, and into a farm yard. Very smooth landing! We helped roll up the balloon just as dusk settled in. Bob’s wife picked us up in a truck for a short ride back to the starting point. A great experience, well worth the cost.

SCAM SCAM SCAM!!! Dont book with these guys. Go local, find a local company and contact them directly

I purchased a Groupon for the hot air balloon ride for this company. Groupon was great, got my certificate, and then proceeded to follow instructions to get gift certificate from Soaring Adventures. That process went well. However… After trying multiple vendors in order to use the certificate I got nothing but the run-​around for over 2 months, and then finally one company let me know they will no longer be accepting certificates for Soaring Adventures do to issues they were having with them. I contacted Groupon and let them know of the issues, they worked very fast, to try and resolve the issue, and ultimately returned my money to me. I stand completely behind Groupon, but stay away from Soaring Adventures, at least until they get their act fixed. I will try and book a flight directly with one of the Balloon vendors and see how that goes.

The balloon ride I purchased with Soaring Adventures of America was a birthday gift from my girlfriend. I have been a pilot for over 37 years and flown everything from gliders to F-​16s and airliners … this was my first flight in a balloon! I called the office of Soaring Adventures to find a pilot int he Boston, MA area. The staff was friendly and professional. They informed me that hot air ballooning is very weather related as the balloons only fly when winds are calm and the best time to fly is at sunrise. We picked A & a Balloon Rides and I have to say that Andre and his crew did a fantastic job making this a wonderful experience! I was very impressed by Andre’s attention to detail and safety. I would highly recommended purchasing a voucher from Soaring Adventures of America to anyone considering a balloon flight.

I caution anyone on utilizing this company. Their website is archaic and confusing, information is not up to date, and if you need to modify your ticket or get your «60 day full refund no questions asked» anticipate waiting at least 3 months to receive it.
Here is our experience– I was so excited to receive a hot air balloon ride as a birthday gift, my sig. other had purchased it from a groupon deal. The purchase came with information of all the places you could redeem the ticket across America! Woo! Road Trip! We started planning a quick trip to St. Louis as that was one of the locations listed on their brochure. We then learned that even though this was a groupon and it would be simple to email your confirmation ticket number, we had to wait for them to snail mail our voucher number up to two weeks. After receiving said ticket we contacted the contracted company listed in St. Louis to find that they are no longer doing business with Soaring Adventures because Soaring Adventures hasn’t paid them in over 6 months. 6. months. A phone call back to Soaring Adventures had them stumbling over their words and trying to explain the situation as a mixup that was in the works of being rectified. We were promised a full expedited refund and 2 months and several phone calls/​emails later have received zilch.
The good news is, we were able to go on a ride with the contracted company (with no help from Soaring Adventures), they were very kind, professional, and we had a great time.

I looked up hot air balloon companies with good reputations and found Soaring Adventures of America. The people I spoke to were kind, professional, and knew all of the ins and outs of ballooning. They let us know up front that the weather had to be good for the balloons to fly. We were flexible so we were excited. We picked our company and met the following weekend. The flight itself was exhilarating. We flew for an hour with a real safe, professional, and knowledgeable pilot. He gave us the rundown on all of the local landmarks. We got to do some leaf peeping from a perspective that you can get nowhere else… from above. The crew took pictures of us in the basket at takeoff and landing which felt like a bonus. Great time! We will do this again next year… maybe spring.

We bid on a Soaring Adventures Hot Air Balloon Ride for Two at an auction because it was on my «Bucket List» so when we planned our family winter vacation to Sedona, AZ we decided that we wanted to book our experience for that location. We purchased two more rides and took our 11 & 12 year old children with us. It was AMAZING! and one of the top experiences we have enjoyed as a family. We dealt with Rob in the Wilton Office and he set us up — down to the last detail. Everything was perfect. We got to see the balloon get blown up (which was really cool!) We felt safe with our experienced «pilot» who gave us a great history of Hot Air Ballooning as well as the area we were flying over. We asked tons of questions during our flight and the pilot was more than willing and eager to answer them. The landing was just fine (don’t forget, there are no wheels like an airplane has so you will experience a bit of bumpiness no matter what… that’s just all part of the experience.) When we landed, we were greeted with champagne and juice and snacks on a blanket. My kids still talk about it. Keep in mind that the weather must cooperate in order for you to have a pleasurable and SAFE balloon ride experience. The owners of company watch the weather forecast closely before they agree to let you go so you won’t get in trouble with wind, rain… once you’re up there. So if a person refuses to take you, it is because they are concerned with YOUR SAFETY (because if you get up there then the weather changes and you get caught in a wind gust or rain, now that wouldn’t be much fun would it?) Go with an open mind and be patient with the weather… it’s worth the wait! Our Experience with Soaring Adventures was a good one!

This is a total ripoff. Bought son and girlfriend hot air ballon voucher. Operator refused to give ride. Very very rude. Soaring adventures would not help.

They’re the most advertised for Hot Air Balloon Rides. «The Perfect Gift» they say.
I gave each of my family one of those, for Christmas, and we could take it anywhere, anytime of the year. I thought they all loved it.
The ride itself was fun! They asked us, when setting an appointment how much we weighed. We didn’t know that they will be put to work, even if that was explained to us, I didn’t expect ‘work’ for our rides. I guess that’s NOT something I like to do, I just go for the thrills of it. Preparations and landing of the balloon, takes a lot of work! So, other than the ride itself, my family were also put to work before & after. So, while my family were dressed for work (it was pretty early — then off to work we go after the ride) in our ‘office clothes — not in jeans & work boots & work gloves) we landed on a field watching your feet from stepping on cow chips, wet tall grass, on a cold spring day. Try to imagine that, on your way to work. .. .On landing we celebrate with a champagne or fruit juice toast, an old ballooning tradition. The whole experience takes about 3 hours, three fantastic hours! You will learn all the details AFTER they’ve sent your tickets, before you make appointment with your pilot.
Other than that, everything about the ride — i can’t complain!!!