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Top 10 Grand Canyon Helicopter Tours 2024- Best & Cheapest

Top 10 Grand Canyon Helicopter Tours 2024- Best & Cheapest

Do you think that a Grand Canyon helicopter tour is out of your budget? It’s not, and we are going to show you all the best Grand Canyon helicopter tours!

We’ve done all of the research and put together a complete list of the cheapest Grand Canyon helicopter tours and discounts in 2024.

We’ve taken many helicopter tours over the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, and we are going to help you pick the best Grand Canyon helicopter tour for you at a great price!


A pilot flying a helicopter inside the grand canyon on a tour

How Much Does it Cost to Take a Helicopter Over the Grand Canyon?

Currently, in 2024, Las Vegas Grand Canyon Helicopter tour prices range from $239-$789. Depending on the tour length, destinations, and departure location, tours can be as high as $800.

This is the cheapest Grand Canyon helicopter tour for $239. However, we recommend this flight instead, as it leaves from Vegas.

This is technically the cheapest Grand Canyon flight, but it is an airplane and not a helicopter. For under $200, it is 40-45 of flight time. It departs from the Grand Canyon airport, which isn’t convenient for most tourists.


Best Value Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour From Las Vegas

Our number 1 overall pick is Papillon’s Golden Eagle Air Tour. This tour is hands down the best-value helicopter tour from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon for so many reasons.

This Grand Canyon landing tour offers the longest flight time for the price, and you’ll have lots of time on the ground at the Grand Canyon.

Bonus: Add on a helicopter flight over the Las Vegas Strip for only $90 to top off the perfect day in Las Vegas and limo hotel pickup!


A view of the grand canyon and the colorado river from the window of the Cheapest Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour

Best & Cheapest Grand Canyon Helicopter Tours Compared

Most Las Vegas helicopter companies offer several Grand Canyon helicopter tours, some all-day tours, some landing tours, and some just a Grand Canyon helicopter tour.

We’ve listed a few of the best Grand Canyon flight options for each company. Compare them and see which one fits your travel schedule and style best. One of our favorite things to do in Las Vegas is to see it from above.

Cheapest Grand Canyon Helicopter Tours

Company Tour Name Flight Time Price Check Availability
Papillon Helicopter Golden Eagle Air Tour Grand Canyon 70 minutes $399 Check Availability
Papillon Helicopter Golden Eagle Air Tour &  Las Vegas Strip + hotel pickup 90 minutes $489 Check Availability
Papillon Helicopter Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour with VIP Skywalk Express 70 minutes $379+ Check Availability
Maverick Helicopter Grand Canyon Helicopter Discovery Tour 20 minutes $259 Check Availability
Maverick Helicopter Grand Canyon Wind Dancer Tour 90 minutes $599 Check Availability
Viator Tours Grand Canyon Deluxe Helicopter Tour from Las Vegas 90 minutes $487 Check Availability
Viator Tours Grand Canyon Helicopter West Rim Luxury Tour 90 minutes $599 Check Availability
Viator Tours Grand Canyon Sunset Helicopter Tour from Las Vegas 90 minutes $629 Check Availability
Maverick Helicopter Skywalk Odyssey 90 minutes $629 Check Availability

Papillon Helicopter Grand Canyon Landing Tour - helicopter parked near the bottom of the Grand Canyon

Papillon Helicopter Tours

This is the best Grand Canyon helicopter tour from Las Vegas. If you are staying in Vegas and don’t have a car, make sure you book a helicopter tour from Las Vegas. Many tours depart from the West Rim or South Rim.

We personally think Papillon has the best and cheapest helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon when it is combined with a Las Vegas strip helicopter tour. You’ll be picked up at your Las Vegas hotel. Upgrade your tour with the VIP Skywalk Express package and walk across the glass skywalk that is 4,000 feet above the Grand Canyon floor.

Papillon Helicopters has been in Business since 1965 and offers a wide range of Las Vegas helicopter tours, including some combination tours with Helicopters and other fun vehicles like Hummers and rafting. They operate tours out of Las Vegas, West Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, Page Arizona, and Phoenix/Scottsdale.

Want to sit in the front seat of the helicopter? When booking on Papillon, click the front seat request (it’s next to the itinerary on the left). If your front seat request is confirmed, it will only be an additional $60 charge.

If you’re traveling with a few people, consider a private Grand Canyon helicopter tour. Papillon offers private helicopter rides with groups of up to 6 people. Rates vary based on how many people and dates.


Maverick helicopter landed in the Grand Canyon on a helicopter Tour

Maverick Helicopter Tours

One thing that sets Maverick Helicopters apart is they have an exclusive landing site 3500 feet below the crater rim, which you can experience with the Wind Dancer Tour. You’ll spend 20 minutes 300 ft above the mighty Colorado River while sipping champagne.

Maverick Helicopters has some great Grand Canyon helicopter tours, and they do it in style. They also depart right from Las Vegas.

  • $599 Grand Canyon Wind Dancer Click here for availability 
  • $259 Grand Canyon Helicopter Discovery Tour (Leaves the West Rim) Click here for availability
  • $599 Grand Canyon Tour includes Vegas Hotel Pickup Click here for availability

Grand Canyon helicopter tour flying through the canyon walls

Viator Grand Canyon Helicopter Tours

Viator Tours has the cheapest Grand Canyon helicopter tour that leaves from Vegas and includes hotel pickup, a photo stop at the Hoover Dam, and a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon.

Other discount Grand Canyon tours leave from the West Rim, but if you are staying in Las Vegas and don’t have a car or don’t want to drive the 2.5 hours each way – this tour is a great option.

This cheap Grand Canyon helicopter tour is an affordable option that combines driving transport with some good stops along the road to the West Rim, where the helicopters take off.

  • $279 Small-Group Grand Canyon West Rim SUV Tour with Helicopter Landing Click here for availability

Is it Worth Doing a Helicopter Tour of the Grand Canyon?

Absolutely, YES! A Grand Canyon helicopter ride should be on your bucket list. There is no better way to see this natural wonder than a helicopter ride through the Grand Canyon walls aboard a helicopter.

You will get to experience the Grand Canyon in a way not many do, and you will see so much more than you would from the few viewpoints scattered around the Grand Canyon National Park.


Which Rim of the Grand Canyon is Best by Helicopter?

The Grand Canyon West Rim is the most popular because it’s the closest to Las Vegas and has many tours offered. We think the West Rim is the best because the tours here offer much more time inside and at the Grand Canyon.

best Grand Canyon West Rim Helicopter tour landed in the canyon with people walking around

Grand Canyon West Rim Helicopter Flights

The West Rim is 121 miles from Las Vegas and the easiest to get to for most tourists. Grand Canyon West is actually located outside of the Grand Canyon National Park boundaries and is part of a Native American reservation owned by the Hualapai Tribe.

If you have seen photos of the Skywalk over the Grand Canyon and want to visit, make sure to book this tour from Vegas. We also like this Grand Canyon West Rim bus tour that visit the Skywalk.

The Grand Canyon is huge, 277 miles long, and up to 18 miles wide. The closest point of the canyon to Las Vegas is a 2.5-hour car ride.

Make sure to book a tour from Las Vegas if you don’t have a car. But if you are on a road trip, you could possibly save some money and book a cheap Grand Canyon helicopter tour from the West Rim.

Skip the car ride and take the short and super scenic 30-minute helicopter ride!

Grand Canyon South Rim Helicopter Flights

The South Rim is often referred to as the heart of the Grand Canyon. Most of the South Rim helicopter tours depart from the Grand Canyon Airport. You will have to arrange your own transportation or book a trip that includes transportation.

The Grand Canyon Spirit tour offers 45 minutes of flight time, which is the longest flight route over Grand Canyon National Park and is the most time in the air for your money.

Grand Canyon North Rim View

North Rim Helicopter Flights

The North Rim is 275 miles from Las Vegas and isn’t nearly as easy to get to compared to the South & West Rims. You will need a car to get here, as there aren’t other transportation options to the North Rim.

The North rim is 1,000 feet higher in elevation than the other Grand Canyon rims, which means it is colder and receives heavy snowfall during the winter months. You can only access the North Rim from mid-May to mid-October.


Las Vegas helicopter ride over Grand Canyon

Our Personal Experience Aboard a Grand Canyon Helicopter Landing Tour

While in Las Vegas, we wanted to get off the Vegas Strip and see some amazing landscapes outside the city. Just a short ride from Las Vegas is the Grand Canyon’s West Rim, but everyone sees it that way.

We wanted something different. After reading many Grand Canyon helicopter tour reviews, we booked this Grand Canyon helicopter landing tour from Las Vegas for the ride of our lifetime.

view of the Hoover Dam from a Grand Canyon helicopter tour.

Our Helicopter Ride to the Grand Canyon

Flying out to the Grand Canyon is even shorter in a helicopter, but on the way, you get some great views of the region’s other highlights.

First, we flew over Lake Mead and its many jagged finger-shaped bays. A little further, we came to the world-famous Hoover Dam. Even from high above the Hoover Dam, it’s still an impressive structure. We flew over mountains and a few extinct volcanoes, along with the dam and Lake Mead.

Flying through the Grand Canyon

As we passed the final stretch of mountains between us and the canyon, we began to see the earth start to rip apart. Flying over the Grand Canyon is hard to explain how insane it is.

On the western edge of the Grand Canyon, the mighty Colorado River spits red from the rock it carves from the canyon walls. Through millions of years, the Colorado River has carved the canyon more than 6,000 feet deep in many places.

Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon is a great experience, but flying between the canyon walls will take your breath away literally. As the canyon opened up, our pilot dropped us below the rim of the world’s largest canyon.

We got views of the Colorado River and the rocky orange canyon walls. We got to experience the canyon in a completely different way, flying a few thousand feet below the rim.

Grand Canyon Skywalk over the Grand Canyon

Standing on the Canyon Rim

After making our way through the canyon, our pilot landed on the canyon floor. We jumped out of the helicopter as we had time to explore the West Rim and the Hualapai Nation Indian tribal land.

The main draw to the area is the glass walking bridge that extends out over the canyon. If you want to walk over the Grand Canyon Skywalk, make sure to book a VIP Skywalk Express tour, which includes a skip-the-line ticket with your tour.

If standing on a glass skywalk 4,000 feet above the Grand Canyon isn’t your thing, just take your time and enjoy the remarkable views.

view from inside a helicopter flight over Las Vegas Strip at night

Helicopter Ride back to Las Vegas

After our time exploring the Grand Canyon West Rim by foot, it was time to meet our pilot and head back to Vegas. On the way back, we took a different route, flying over stretches of open desert and rugged mountains.

Complimentary beers and wine awaited us back at the hangar, where we said goodbye to our pilot. The helicopter flight through the Grand Canyon was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

a couple stands in front of a Cheapest Grand Canyon Helicopter

Now that we have shown you that you can actually afford to take a helicopter ride on a Grand Canyon helicopter tour, let us know which company you went with below in the comments.

Have you taken a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon National Park or over the Las Vegas Strip at night?


Grand Canyon Helicopter View