How Much Does a Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour Cost?

Every Flight by Price

The table lists every flight on the site from the lowest price to the highest, per person, with the time in the air and whether the helicopter lands, as each listing prints them.

What the Price Buys

The cheapest flights never touch the ground. The South Rim flights from Tusayan are air-only, 25 to 50 minutes over the Dragon Corridor. A landing adds the most: the canyon floor landing at Grand Canyon West costs $279 against $229 for the air-only Fly Below the Rim flight nearby.

From Las Vegas, hotel pickup, the flight over Hoover Dam and the landing push the price to $499 and up.

What pushes the price up

Landing versus air-only is the biggest factor. A touchdown on the canyon floor or at a ranch costs more than a loop in the air. Sunset carries a premium too: the Maverick sunset flight is $676.01 against $499 for its daytime Wind Dancer landing tour.

A boat ride or the Skywalk adds more again, up to $829 for the Papillon helicopter, boat and Skywalk day.

What keeps the price down

Book a flight at the rim itself. The Papillon 30-minute South Rim flight costs $269 because you drive to Tusayan and board there, and the Fly Below the Rim flight is $229 from the Grand Canyon Western Ranch heliport. You pay for your own transport instead of a transfer in the ticket.

Las Vegas departure options

West Rim flights typically fly over Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, the Bypass Bridge and Fortification Hill before reaching the canyon, so the sightseeing starts long before the rim. The Papillon landing tour from Las Vegas costs $529 per person and runs 4.5 hours with Strip hotel pickup or a Boulder City departure. The Maverick Wind Dancer costs $499 and takes 2 to 2.5 hours from Henderson.

Two things to confirm at booking. Strip hotels do not permit helicopters to land on their roofs, so every tour starts from an air terminal, not your hotel door. And Las Vegas runs on Pacific Time while Grand Canyon West is on Arizona time, which does not observe Daylight Saving Time, so the two usually match for most of the year.

Las Vegas Tours at a Glance

The Las Vegas departures side by side, per person, with the start point and the free cancellation window each card prints.

South Rim flights and where they leave from

Every South Rim flight boards at Grand Canyon Airport near Tusayan, and none of them lands. The Papillon 30-minute flight costs $269, the Maverick 25-minute flight $310.85, the Maverick 45-minute flight $339 and the Papillon 50-minute flight $359.

You provide your own transport to the terminal. Papillon asks guests to reach the airport 45 minutes before the flight. The South Entrance to the park is 6 miles north of Tusayan, and the South Rim is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

How to Fly for Less

The cheapest flights are short and start at the rim. Fly Below the Rim is $229 for 20 minutes from the Grand Canyon Western Ranch heliport. The Papillon 30-minute South Rim flight is $269, and the Maverick canyon floor landing is $279 with 20 minutes on the ground, 3,500 feet below the rim. The Grand Canyon West entry ticket is not included on that one.

If you are staying in Las Vegas without a car, the lowest price with pickup is the West Rim road trip with a 20-minute flight at $350. It is a 7-7.5-hour day, mostly by road.

Three Price Tiers

The tiers below group every flight on the site by what the price buys, per person, from the listings.

Fees to plan for

If your South Rim tour includes a Hummer ground option, international guests pay the $100 per-adult nonresident entrance fee or buy the $250 America the Beautiful Non-Resident Annual Pass, required by and remitted directly to the National Park Service. The $100 fee applies to each non-US resident aged 16 or older, and children 15 and under are exempt. The nonresident fee applies even inside commercial tour groups, and it is waived only for visitors admitted with an Annual or America the Beautiful Pass. The park accepts only credit or debit cards for entrance fees.

If you drive yourself to the South Rim, a private vehicle pays $35 and a hiker, cyclist or pedestrian pays $20 per person. At Grand Canyon West the picture is different, because the West Rim is not inside the national park, so national park passes are not accepted there. General Admission costs $67 without the Skywalk, the All-Access Pass costs $99 with the Skywalk, and a Sunset Pass costs $59 for entry after 3:00 PM with Skywalk admission.

Fuel surcharges exist. Grand Canyon Airlines states it may add a per-person fuel surcharge, collected at check-in, and the amount varies by tour package. Ask at booking so the number does not surprise you.

Extra seats are the last hidden cost. On 5 Star tours, passengers over 250 lbs must buy an additional seat, payable on the day. Grand Canyon Airlines weighs all passengers at check-in, and passengers weighing 300 lbs or more pay for an additional comfort seat. Maverick's weight limit is 300 pounds per person on Las Vegas and Grand Canyon West flights and 275 pounds on national park flights.

Extras at a Glance

The extras below come from the National Park Service, Grand Canyon West and the operators' own terms.

Choosing between the two rims

The West Rim sits on the sovereign lands of the Hualapai Tribe, about 130 miles and roughly a 2.5-hour drive from Las Vegas, and it is 239 miles, about 4 hours by car, from the South Rim according to Papillon. It is the only place helicopters can land on the canyon floor, roughly 4,000 feet below the rim, and it hosts the Skywalk glass bridge.

The South Rim sits inside the national park at an average of 7,000 feet above sea level and offers the deepest and widest canyon views from the air. All helicopter flights there are air-only. South Rim flights board at Grand Canyon Airport near Tusayan and you provide your own transport. The drive is about 90 minutes from Flagstaff, 60 minutes from Williams and roughly four hours from Phoenix.

Practical rule. If you are sleeping in Las Vegas, a West Rim landing tour from $499 is the straightforward buy. If you are already at the park, the South Rim flights at $269 to $359 give you the canyon from the air without the trip from Las Vegas.

Timing, check-in and cancellation

Airspace is managed. The Grand Canyon National Park Special Flight Rules Area covers the airspace from the surface up to but not including 18,000 feet, and commercial air tours must hold specific minimum altitudes by sector, from 5,000 feet in the Pearce Ferry sector to 7,500 feet in the Supai sector and the Zuni Point and Dragon corridors. Four flight-free zones protect Desert View, Bright Angel, Toroweap and Sanup.

Check-in is strict. Maverick requires Las Vegas to Grand Canyon guests to check in no later than 45 minutes before departure and others 30 minutes. Papillon asks South Rim guests to arrive 45 minutes before the flight, and Grand Canyon West pontoon package guests check in at the Helicopter Terminal one hour before the flight.

Cancellation windows differ by tour. Booked through the cards on this site, the card's terms apply: 24 hours on the Papillon, 5 Star and Grand Canyon Airlines cards, 3 days on the Maverick cards. Book the window that matches how firm your plans are.

Dress for the flight too. Maverick recommends comfortable clothing and says canyon weather runs similar to Las Vegas temperatures, with closed-toe shoes highly recommended for landings.