Reviews of Snohomish Balloon Rides (Travel Agency)

Kelley Miles

We had an awesome time on our morning flight. Bob and the chase crew were friendly, interactive and informative. They answered all questions and gave interesting stories with the ride. I learned that there is so much more to flying a balloon. Think there dementionally. Definitely worth the time and money.

April B

What an amazing experience! Cap'n Bob was the BEST. We had a very peaceful flight and enjoyed the spectacular views. We will definitely come fly with Bob again!

Lori Denham

After our balloon ride with Airial Balloon Company, we had what appeared to be a dangerous landing, in a small strip of cow pasture, surrounded by an electric fence, with the river on one side, and a sod field on the other. Our pick up driver could not reach us, so after an hour of pondering, the Captain had us all get out of the basket, and push & pull it down the pasture, down a long rock filled road, up over a locked gate to the main road. By the time we were through with this exhaustive and dangerous landing and maneuver, it was nightfall. Then we waited until the balloon and gear was all packed away before we got a ride back to the office. The owner/manager said that this happens often, and scoffed at our complaint...even suggesting that we could take them to small claims.We had asked for nothing, but were hoping for at least an apology, and instead, were treated very disrespectfully. With such a cavalier attitude toward our safety and well being, we do not recommend this company to anyone!

Carlee Cash

My flight with Captain Bob was exciting with stellar views of the Pilchuck and Snohomish rivers!

Samantha Hyres

When you go on a hot air balloon ride to check off your bucket list, you may have high hopes due to pictures online - but honestly our expectations paled in comparison to reality! We had an amazing sunset balloon ride with Snohomish Ballooning! It was incredible to learn how much control (vertically) the pilots have, we got to hover just above water, and then actually have the basket barely skim the water to show how much skill/control can be involved. Our pilot was a friend of Bob's (I'm so sad I can't remember his name!!) who had come up from Arizona to help out with the flood of balloon ride requests and he was fantastic. You can tell he truly loves ballooning and sharing it with others. At the end of the event, there is a small picnic with champagne to celebrate the successful ride. It was a wonderfully organized and executed event and we are excited to schedule another ride (perhaps even make it an annual thing!). Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my husband's birthday so memorable.

Amelia White

We had an incredible sunset flight on Mother’s Day. We saw eagles, elk, and even a beaver swimming in the river! These guys are so experienced and professional. And I appreciate how cautious they are about the weather - it’s always worth rescheduling for a safe flight.

Angie Presley

Bob is a remarkable pilot and makes every flight the experience of a lifetime! He's courteous, professional, extremely competent and entertaining. Flying over the river, atop the trees, against the backdrop of the valley walls - every bit of the flight was breathtaking and the entire experience was unlike any other!

Robecka Bates

That was the most amazing ride ever!! Bob and group were so cool and made this a memorable birthday for sure.

Kathy Bellin

This was such an amazing trip and the view is stunning we will definitely do it again. Bob is the best pilot ever and knows what he’s doing

Jana Horst

There is plenty of beautiful countryside around here for the balloon rides. Instead, they've been flying over town, too close to the houses, being 'looky-loos' and close enough to cause all the dogs to bark. This is not necessary and seems unsafe.

Joanna Raposa

Quit thinking about it and just do it! You’ll forget about the cost once you begin making memories flying in a hot air balloon. Watching Bob and his boys inflate the balloon is a fun experience too. Stop waiting and cross this one off your bucket list!

Isaac Hanna

Took my sister here for her birthday. It was an amazing experience. Our pilot was very professional and careful for our safety. At the end of the ride they have a post flight party and even provided a complimentary cake for my sister because of her birthday. Some things to note because I've read some of the negative reviews here: your direction if travel is entirely dependant on the wind and changing altitudes to get into different wind currents so flying low is sometimes very necessary and flying close to town sometimes cannot be helped. If your flight is cancelled due to weather you can always reschedule (happened to us). The cancellations are for everyone's safety and not just arbitrary.

Nancy Berg

If you want an experienced pilot, fly with Captain Bob, he is one of the best around. I have flown with him many times and have always enjoyed the flight, the captain, ground crew and after party!!

Jason Webb

Wonderful experience, and great for date night!

Dusty DuBois

Beware - I would use another company who is customer centered not company centered. My wonderful employees purchased a gift certificate for me +1 to go on a Sunset Balloon flight for my birthday last year - so I thought I would use it this year for my birthday. I booked the flight approximately the week prior. I called and spoke with Marilyn (the owner) who quickly booked my flight for Friday the 15th at 6:15pm. Said she would be emailing me a confirmation and that the flights are sometimes cancelled due to weather. That was the end of the call. I did receive an email which is posted below; "Thanks for calling today. Your flight instructions and confirmation are attached. Please print this document as you'll be asked to present it when checking in for your flight. This morning when you spoke with Marilyn she neglected to get your phone number. Would you please either email or call us with a good number? We look forward to seeing you on the 15th! Thanks again. Shannan" There was an attachment to the email, but I didn't think of opening it, or reading it or printing it until the date got closer. So I didn't. It became apparent by Wednesday night that the weather wasn't going to hold out for a nice (and very expensive) balloon ride. So I called the company on Thursday morning at 10:00 am to cancel my Friday 6:15 pm flight. That's where it went downhill. Shannan (the general manager) said that they require 48 hours notice to cancel. I said that I was never made aware of this and that it does not state that on my gift certificate nor did whoever did my booking happen to mention it. She asked if I received the confirmation email, I said that I had received it. She said it stated it in there. Well it didn't state it in the body of the email as you can see above but the attachment did state it. I was never informed of this policy nor did I ever acknowledge or agree to it (since I wasn't informed of it). I started in on the fact that it makes better sense to have a happy customer than to enforce a company "policy" that I wasn't even aware of. But even if I had downloaded the attachment or if someone had mentioned this policy - let's look at it from this stand point. (Which by the way, I told both the owner and the manager). In order to cancel 48 hours ahead, I would have had to give my notice by 6:15pm on Wednesday the 13th. There hours are 9:00am - 6:00pm. So the notice would have gone to their voicemail. They open the next morning at 9:00am and I called at 10:00 am. So in essence the company only lost 1 hour of time to find a replacement. I gave them 36 hours notice but they only lost 1 hour. Long story short - the manager said a few things to me that I thought I should share with you if you are considering giving your hard earned money to this company; "I'm sorry you can't follow the rules" "How is it fair to our company that you want to cancel because of the weather?" "We get this all the time - people wanting to cancel due to weather" "It's our policy" "We have to pay the pilot $200 for a cancelled flight" "We can't fly unless the flight is full" "You didn't allow us enough time to find a replacement for you" "Do you allow last minute cancellations in your business?" (as if 36 hours is last minute) Both the owner and the general manager shared in these comments. At the end of the conversation the owner wouldn't let me speak and kept interrupting me so I finally hung up. So did they fly last night in the bad weather or because they didn't have a full flight? I have no idea. They never called me back or emailed me. I told them they had a chance to make this right by me and then I would share my experience. They apparently do not care about bad reviews or unhappy customers - let's show them that a bad truthful Yelp review is very damaging to a business and hope they can learn some customer service techniques in the future that will remind them why they are in business. To provide awesome experiences for the customer not to defend company policy.

Billie Patterson

I had a fantastic experience with my Airial Hot Air Balloon flight. I took a morning flight. It was a bit foggy and there was some question if we would be able to fly. By the time we got to the launch site most of the fog was gone. It was sunny and the mountains were visible in the distance. It was especially cool to see Mount Baker. I am afraid of heights so was hesitant to take the flight, but it wasn't scary at all. When it was time to land, our pilot landed the balloon right on the trailer! After that we were taken back to the office and had a wonderful brunch served to us in the backyard gazebo. There were beautiful hanging baskets of flowers and the yard was very nice with more flowers and shrubs! I would highly recommend taking this adventure!

Francine Henderson

Had a great experience with beautiful weather for our sunset flight. We even touched down into the water ( the Snohomish river)! Our pilot was amazing with plenty of history about ballooning. Would do it again!

aaalexishogannn

We loved our flight. Snohomish is a beautiful area and so fun to see from the air. Our pilot Bob was a ton of fun and I have to give him extra thanks for getting us in over the 4th of July Holiday. We are from out of town and he worked really hard to make sure we could take our flight. The champagne toast after the flight was wonderful too. Chef/driver Eric made us some incredible treats to go along with it. Thanks again for a wonderful time.

Paul Mackay

Thank you for such an awesome experience and being able to tick another thing off my bucket list ..... it was seriously the most fun you can have with your clothes on ....

Michael Glen

Was a beautiful flight along river, seeing all the wild life was the best, funny story was my pilot Bob landed at Bob’s corn.

Cathy Carey

Awesome flight and most gentle and accurate landing. Had a blast!

Brian Croup

Just an amazing ride. Everyone should try it.

Andrea Freedman

An overall amazing experience with wonderful kind service throughout. Can't recommend enough!

Jessica Gamboa

Very fun to do.

Shelja Chadda

It is completely amazing. Loved the experience. The flight depends on wind direction. So, be patient in advance. Once wind favours, flight takes off and you get to experience what is worth waiting for. We were in air for 50 minutes and didn't realize how fast time passed. Captain and his team are very knowledgeable and gives safety a priority. We had to reschedule twice but it was worth it. Loved the champagne celebration at the end of flight as it's a tradition.

K. Morgan

The whole experience was phenomenal and an absolute delight. From the very moment I booked the balloon ride with the owner Shannon, I felt it was going to be uplifting. She was so pleasant and informative of what to expect from the ride and provided me with the details and logistics of the whole experience which lasts about three hours from arrival to landing and the ending with a food and champagne toast reception and a certificate of completion for the hot air balloon ride. The view was spectacular and our guide was enthusiastic and highly trained. He was very confident and one wants that from your pilot who basically has your hands in his life. The view of the Snohomish Valley was fantastic and serene. We even did a touch-down in the water where the basket skimmed the Snohomish River and then onward and upwards we went. A perfect gift/event for someone who is celebrating a special moment, a bucket list item or that person is has everything or doesn't want any material things. Go do this and you won't be disappointed.

Tina Mattson

What a beautiful and amazing experience. It was so calming to be above the hustle and bustle of the city life and take in the spectacular 360 degree view of all the mountain ranges and the Snohomish valley landscape. Bob and his crew did a fantastic job throughout the flight and we celebrated with a fun champagne tradition afterwards. Definitely will do this again.

Larry Schwantes

One of the HIGHEST HIGHLIGHTS of my life. The pilot has over 30 years experience. Pilot made great effort to answer any and all questions. Very informative and fun champagne and snacks at trips conclusion.

Edna Valenzuela

So fun, pilots are hilarious!

Nicholas Presley

Bob is such a great pilot! He makes the experience a lot of fun, even if you are scared of heights...He is very knowledgeable in all things ballooning! Never a dull moment from the beginning, while in flight passing by some beautiful sights, and once back safely on the ground. I highly recommend flying with Mr. Bob, you will not regret it!!