Minutes
How long is a Las Vegas helicopter tour? 11 minutes to 7 hours
Two numbers appear on every listing and only one of them is the one you need. The advertised duration is time in the air. The number that decides your day is the trip length, and on the canyon flights those two differ by a factor of ten. Here is what each flight actually takes.
Quick answer
A Las Vegas Strip flight is eleven to fifteen minutes in the air and about ninety minutes door to door. A Grand Canyon flight is twenty-five to forty-five minutes in the air and two and a half to seven hours door to door. The gap is check-in an hour before, the weigh-in, the transfer to the terminal, and — on the canyon days — the ground time that is the actual product. Read the trip length, not the flight length.
Flight time against trip time
- Strip flight, in the air
- 11–15 minthe Strip is 6.8 km and this covers it twice
- Strip flight, door to door
- About 90 minor two hours with hotel transfers
- Skywalk express, in the air
- About 45 mineach way
- Skywalk express, door to door
- 2.5 hoursthe fastest canyon trip here
- Landing tour, door to door
- 2–2.5 hoursincluding 20-30 min on the canyon floor
- Full West Rim day
- 4.5 hoursflight, landing and real time on the ground
- The seven-hour listing
- 7 hoursfor about 25 minutes of flying
- Check-in
- One hour beforeat every operator, treated as a deadline
- Hoover Dam flight
- 35 min in the airabout two hours door to door
- Free cancellation
- All twelveup to 24 hours before
Where the hours go
What happens in a canyon day that is not flying
Transfer, check-in, flight, ground time, flight, transfer. The flying is the short part.
The transfer. Most canyon listings collect you from your hotel on the Strip and drive you to the terminal, which is about forty-five minutes. Then the same in reverse at the end. That is an hour and a half of the day before anything else.
Check-in and the weigh-in. An hour before the slot, and operators mean it. Photo ID, the scale, the security check, the briefing, the headsets.
The flying. Twenty-five to forty-five minutes each way over the Mojave and into the canyon.
The ground time, which is what you actually bought. Twenty to thirty minutes on the canyon floor with champagne on the landing tours. Two or three hours at the rim on the full-day listings. The Skywalk and Eagle Point on the express. This is where the price differences on this page live, and it is why a seven-hour day and a two-hour day can contain the same amount of flying.
Choosing by the time you have
Five slots of your day, five flights
Work backwards from the hours rather than forwards from the price.
- An evening: the Strip, $93
Ninety minutes door to door, or two hours if you take the version with hotel transfers. It fits after dinner.
- Two hours: the Hoover Dam, $207
Thirty-five minutes in the air in daylight, and the only listing that goes to the dam.
- Two and a half hours: the Skywalk express, $601
The fastest way to reach the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas at all.
- Three hours: the canyon landing, $470
Twenty to thirty minutes standing on the floor beside the Colorado River, and the best-rated flight on this page.
- Half a day: the full West Rim, $517 or $695
Four and a half hours with two landings or with hours on the ground at the rim. This is a day out, not an excursion.
The trip length is the number that matters. Here is every flight with both figures side by side.
All twelve flights ranked→Common questions
Flight length, answered
How long is a Las Vegas helicopter tour?
Eleven to fifteen minutes in the air over the Strip, and twenty-five to forty-five minutes on a Grand Canyon flight. Door to door it is about ninety minutes for the Strip and two and a half to seven hours for the canyon.
Why is a canyon trip seven hours for 25 minutes of flying?
Because the flying is not the product. The hours are the transfer from your hotel, check-in an hour before the slot, and the ground time at the rim or on the canyon floor.
Is eleven minutes over the Strip long enough?
The Strip is 6.8 kilometres long and eleven minutes covers it twice. People who are disappointed almost always expected half an hour.
What is the shortest Grand Canyon trip from Las Vegas?
The Skywalk express at $601, at two and a half hours door to door. The landing tour at $470 is about the same and puts you on the canyon floor.
How early do I need to arrive?
An hour before the slot, at every operator on this page. It is a deadline rather than a guideline: the aircraft is scheduled and a late arrival loses the seat.
Can I add ground time at the canyon?
Only by booking a listing that includes it. The flights are similar; the packages differ, and upgrading at the terminal is not usually possible.
Go deeper
More on flying from Las Vegas
The Grand Canyon flight
Three hours from the Strip to the canyon floor, from $470.
Which rimWest Rim or South Rim
Where the Vegas helicopters actually go, and what you give up.
CostWhat it costs
From $93 to $1,271, and what a minute in the air is worth.
The StripFlying the Strip
Eleven to fifteen minutes over the neon, from $93.
After darkFlying at night
Why almost every Strip flight sells the night version.
SkywalkThe Skywalk by air
Eagle Point, the glass bridge, and whether it is worth it.
