New York Helicopter Charter & Tours — Local services in Kearny

I didn't read the reviews before I booked this flight, but I guess it goes to show you that you should take what you read with a grain of salt. I found this Groupon and found a pretty good deal on their “Ultimate” flight package. It's the same as the other packages, but a little more extra time in the air. No bottle service or anything like that.

I made sure I had plenty of time to get there because I was taking public transportation from the city. I took the Path train to Journal Square and walked almost to the Hackensack River Bridge before I called an Uber. Across the bridge, the “walkability” gets a bit sketchy, but it's doable if you want to save on cab fare or get some exercise. There is also a NJ Transit Bus line that will take you pretty close, but I couldn't be bothered learning their bus system.

As for the actual experience, I went fairly well. We were shuttled into a 12-person passenger van from the rendezvous point to the heliport. We were instructed not to take any photos before it is a Federal building. When we got to the hangar we were then ushered into a classroom where they collected the airport fee, scan your ID's, and took your weight fully clothed.

You can always get a feel on how dysfunctional an organization was by its onboarding process. This one was disheveled, boarding on chaotic. No one was wearing uniforms or any type of badge. They looked as if they grabbed random people off the street to do the job. One employee was wearing a bucket hat, boots, and a fake fur coat just to give you an idea.  There wasn't any place to store your belongings if you needed to, but I guess one of the staff members could watch over it in a pinch.

We watched a 5-10 minute safety brief on the TV and then played the wait game. I waited about 45 minutes in total before I was up in air. Supposedly I had to wait a bit extra since I was on the Ultimate package.

The helicopter looked safe in my eyes and the interior appeared well maintained. The actual flight itself was spectacular. After flying out from NJ. We started from Governors Island/Statue of Liberty and then made it up the Hudson a little pass the GWB and back down. I wish that we got to see the east side of Manhattan, but I would definitely...

Read the negative reviews but still decided to book the 12-15 minute tour. Took our time to find a good route to the pick-up point, Manhattan subway to train station on 33rd, short train ride end station to end station and a short taxi ride to the pick-up point. Made sure we where they're in time with margin to spare. Efficient check-in, safety info, fitted with emergency life wests and then boarded the heli about 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time. The flight was amazing. Even with a full flight of 6 passengers the cabin is so small, "cozy" 😄, so that you have a pretty good view also through the side you're not sitting at. Still turned around the Statue of Liberty in both directions so that both sides would have an excellent view of that. Continued up to Battery park and then flying along and over the Hudson up until parallel to the large lake in Central Park, after that a steep turn and then back south and heading back to the center.

I was positively surprised on how much one get to see in just 12-15 minutes. And since the price of this short flight was about the same as for a Broadway play I think it was well worth the money. I had the flight together with my 14 year daughter who hade never flew on a heli before so for her this was very much an adventure, even though a little scary one.

The staff was all nice and efficient, helping with taking pictures in fron of the heli etc.

Only thing one could comment on is that on the side where I booked the flight (not through the company's own web) there was no mention of the $35 airport fee until in the confirmation email that came after the reservation was completed and paid.

Read the instructions, show up on time, have reasonable expectations and there's a good chance you'll be...

The helicopter ride was amazing, however the business is deceiving. Once you arrive, and approach the shuttle, the driver marks you down for your ride. However, I wish that the driver would have notified me right then and there that, I would be paying a late fee. Therefore, once being dropped off at the location, I was more than disappointed to to be told that, I would have to pay a late fee. The two workers in the office were not very helpful. At the least, the woman tried to do her job. However the man, was extremely unpleasant. At the end, I really enjoyed the helicopter experience. However, I wanted to share my experience, so that others don’t have to deal with the same inconveniences especially, if you’re a...