iFLY Indoor Skydiving - Houston Memorial — Attraction in Houston

I really wanted to have a good experience for my son's birthday, but parents BEWARE! I want you to know exactly what to expect the moment you walk in the doors. I personally will not be back, and would spend my money elsewhere. Overall I think my son had an okay time, but we left expecting more for the price, and would've hoped for a better customer experience. I left feeling underwhelmed, and price gauged. Read on for more details.

We arrived 5 minutes prior to our scheduled flight time. To be fair, they do ask you to get there 15 mins in advance - which I totally get. I take responsibility for our arrival time. Unfortunately, it was around 4:30 pm on a Friday around Christmas time, and this location is right by the mall - traffic was horrendous.

The front desk attendant immediately told us that our kids couldn't fly because the class promptly starts at 4:30. The look on my son's face broke my heart. She said we could come back 3 hours later and fly with a later class, but we would also have to pay more money, because the later class didn't apply to our discounted tickets (I now see this is very 'on brand' for them to tell us that our only option was to come back to a more expensive class time - I'll explain later).

Luckily my friend pressed the issue, asking if this was our only option. The front desk lady relented, and told us to hurry and run upstairs to get suited up. We ran upstairs, thinking we were holding people up, only to see the previous class was still flying. We actually had to wait 20 mins before my son could fly. The waiting was not an issue for us, however, how disappointing that the front desk unnecessarily made such a big deal about us not getting there 15 mins prior to flight time. I understand there are times to be strict on this policy - absolutely get that. But, in this case, our arrival time was not an issue at all, had she actually cared enough to check. Possibly a ploy to gauge us for more money? I'll never know, but as I said, feels very on brand considering the rest of our experience.

Our flight instructor was nice enough. He was kind to the kids, and did his job as expected. He informed us that we could pay for any upgrades i.e. extra flying time, or high fly, for an extra $20 per upgrade, and said we could settle up after flights. We did pay for a fly high upgrade because to our older children, simply floating for 60 seconds didn't seem worth the price we already paid. So let's pay more to get what I believe should've been part of the original package! We paid an extra $20 for the instructor to take the kids high in the tube for 10 seconds (that's an extra $20 to fly high per flight).

Our flight instructor checked us out at the end, where he directly asked me if I wanted to add a tip (he was talking about tipping him, of course). He said he had to input the tip on his end of the computer (therefore, I would have had to verbally tell him if I was going to tip him, or not). I reluctantly said, "Just put 10%". I was reluctant because I felt we paid enough for the experience we got. No one went over and beyond what we paid to warrant a tip on an already expensive situation.

He quickly responded, "instead of telling me a percent amount, give me an exact amount like $5...". I felt so awkward, and quickly responded, "Fine, just put $5". I realized what just happened after-the-fact. When I originally said 10%, it would've only meant 10% on the upgrade - which was $2. I felt tricked into tipping him $5, when I originally said 10% ($2). It felt gross.

In my view, directly asking a customer for a tip is an unprofessional business practice. The only reason someone does this, is to play off the awkwardness this creates in order to pressure someone into tipping you. But this final act to get more money was in line with the whole experience, so not shocking.

I wish I had known all this prior to coming here, but other reviews don't reflect this same experience. Wish...

Amazing time. Costly but worth it. I've always wanted to do a wind tunnel and finally got a chance too. This location was super clean and the workers were very nice and helpful. At first I thought I was going to be dismayed with the service because the counter girl today was sick - coughing and sneezing and still helping people which I thought was nasty but I had my trusty Purell. Check was easy, they had several computer monitors around to do that. FYI you have to make reservations, no drop ins. The packages start at $70 for 1 (1 min) flight and go up from there with options for video, pictures, advance learning in flight with the capability of doing it with friends in the tunnel at once. I opted for the 2 flight option with high fly experience (where the instructor guides you up higher than normal - not the very top). Luckily there was a 10% military discount - came out to be about $85. The bottom floor sold paraphernalia - t shirts ($17-$25), key chain fobs, hats, helmets, pencils, and more. Upstairs is where the magic happens. You get to sit and watch other groups in the tunnel until it's your groups' turn for getting ready. This floor of course had the tunnel, a counter for supplies, lockers (free) for your belongings and a little area I guess for meetings or parties. Everything again was super clean and organized. First the group goes into a room and watch a 4 min education video. They teach you 4 hand signals - for chin up, relax, bend legs and straighten legs. There were 3 other rules given by the instructor but I only remember 2 - smile and hold still. Our instructor was very animated and made the group feel at ease. It seemed like all the instructors were very patient and energetic. After the video, we got our supplies: suits (worn over clothing), goggles, ear plugs, and helmets. They had some helmets completed with face shields. Next we were escorted to the tunnel. There was a seating area inside. There was a video monitor with a 2 min lapse so you could watch yourself upon your return back to the room. I'm glad I picked 2 flights because you don't know what to expect the first time around. Upon entering, the force of the wind really caught me off guard, it was kind of hard to catch my breath with all the wind in your face but then I relaxed and it was fun. The instructor was very good about positioning you and cueing you on body position and keeping you from hitting the walls and stuff but you didn't feel rough handed just gentle guidance. The 2nd time was great, especially when he guides you to the top for a few spins. Afterwards, he showed us how a pro does it. They all look very agile moving thru the air with expertise and exiting back first thru the door. I wouldn't mind learning more to be able to do some of that. I loved how encouraging he was with the feedback for each person. GREAT EXPERIENCE. ...

So I haven't even went on my appointment yet and I'm already agitated. I called a couple of weeks ago to ask a few questions since I've never been there. The woman, Alexi, was very nice and she insisted that when I call back I ask for her because they receive a commission from booking and not to book online. So that's exactly what I did. The problem began when she took my email address. She added to oo's to .com for my email. So I didn't receive an email confirmation. She placed me on hold and got in contact with the department that handles these types of errors. She said it was corrected and I should receive an email. Well, it typically takes only a few seconds to receive an email because guess what? When I checked my credit card while I was still on the phone with Alexi the charges were already on my card. So that was inputted correctly. So after getting off the phone with Alexi I waited a few minutes and still no email. So I call back and speak to someone who verified that Alexi called and corrected my email but the person on the phone acted like I was bothering them. She claims she sent the email but they were having issues with electricity or technology or something so I might not receive it. Uuummmm, I'm trying to get my email confirmation. I have nothing to show the date or time of my flight except the charges to my credit card. Which doesn't show my reservation just the charges so I have nothing to dispute that I didn't take my flight today. What's the attitude for? I'm just trying to get my email...I could've booked my appointment online and would not have needed to deal with any human beings until my arrival date and I'm sure I would've placed my information in correctly. I was trying to do you a favor by getting you a sale. I won't be doing that again and I probably won't be going back to ifly if this is the sort of attitude they have. If the experience is better following the flight I will come back and revise my review. Same day Update- It was really eating at me that I paid $225 for 3 people and I'm already being treated poorly. So I called and cancelled my reservation. Hopefully I'll receive my refund...