celebrity helicopters day tours

As a tourist from Germany in L.A. I got a plane flight above L.A. with Celebrity Helicopters for my birthday. I was already looking forward to it but a day before the flight my flight was rescheduled for the next day - right at the time when I was flying to San Francisco. When I asked them to please refund my credit card charge everything seemed very straightforward and I was sure that they are refunding my money as soon as possible - my flight should have been on the 17th of January and so far I have not seen any money refunded. They are also not answering any E-Mails. I think they just expect that someone from abroad will not put any effort in getting the money back as the person is on another continent anyway. Very dubious company and I would suggest you to never ever book a flight at Celebrity Helicopters.

Where to begin? I was told to call a specific number, ask for Robin, and wait patiently to be picked up from the airport. So I did. The initial story was, he was an employee for a local radio station and was to transport me to the station to ‘claim my prize’. I was on a ‘goose-chase’, if you will. A goose-chase my boyfriend sent me on that very morning. I flew in from Texas to California, alone (this was part of my hunt). Robin had me convinced he was only the ‘transporter’. He played the role very well and before I knew it, he was piloting his way, in a helicopter, through the skies of Los Angeles California, with me by his side. Yes, I was initially terrified when my escort and I were playing in the helicopter and he decided to turn it on. For some, very odd reason, I stayed in the helicopter (despite the fact that I wanted to jump out because I thought my escort was only a transporter), but I stayed. Long story short, Robin pretended to be my transporter and I believed it all. Our helicopter ride was quite the experience (my first ever). When we landed, I saw my boyfriend standing there in a tuxedo and I, instantly knew, Robin was in on his plan. My boyfriend then began talking to me and before I knew it, he was down on one knee and I said YES! Everything was recorded from the landing to the proposal (by Robin’s very good friend, AJ, who did a beautiful job on the video BTW). Robin played a very crucial and unforgettable role in the proposal. He is very personable (as evident by my willingness to board a helicopter with a ‘total stranger’, at the time). If you are not looking for an unforgettable experience, don’t call Robin. If you’re looking for prim and proper, talk to him and let him know (I’m sure he could play the part). He is an amazing person and I had the time of my life with him. I will definitely be seeing him again and I highly recommend him to anyone and everyone.

we booked a helicopter tour directly with the owner Robin Petgrave, drove for an hour from our hotel to the "take off" location, then waited almost 2 hours for the pilot, who never showed up. We texted and called Robin and he assured us again and again that the pilot was on his way. We finally had to leave to catch our flight home from Los Angeles.Robin himself was busy receiving an award from Ebony magazine for his professional achievements! He offered us a refund and promised to credit my visa -- which he eagerly processed via phone and charged immediately when we booked. After politely texting and emailing him several times over the past six months, i have finally realized he is a total scam artist has no intention of refunding our $500 payment. I strongly recommend that you avoid any contact with this company. MY next move will be to contact the Better Business Bureau and Ebony magazine to advise them of this scam.

Booked a helicopter flight with champagne through a reputable travel agent in the uk and expected more than the rip off we got. We did not even get helicopter as that would have been charged extra, we were take up in an old plane. The "champagne" was cheap red plonk, and we had to wait 15 minutes for them to find a corkscrew. As it was we were charged us$ 70 for pick up and fuel charge which was not mentioned on the original voucher. The pilot did not speak to us as the communication system was not working. Our safety briefing by the pilot before we set off was "if you smell smoke tap me on the shoulder, this is how you open the door if you need to jump out". I don't know now how we had the courage to get in that thing, but it was either that or nothing, and we had already paid an extremely high price. I am surprised how this company gets any business.

Horrible! Horrible! Horrible! Horrible! It was sketchy from the start. The place was hard to find and when we finally got there, we were greeted by multiple children. This place lacked professionalism. One of the kids approached us and told us that we didn't pay a fee that was required and said so on their site. We asked what the fee was and what it covered and when we said we were going to look it up, he quickly responded by saying, "Oh, you booked it through our partner site and the fee was covered." How convenient. We waited a few minutes for our champagne, which was worth no more than $5. The glasses were dirty as well and the snacks were cheap. NOTHING LIKE WHAT THE WEBSITE ADVERTISED!!! Very disappointed nonetheless. This place is a total joke, if not a scam. Towards the end of the flight, the plane had a glitch and the pilot said, "What the f***!?" The landing was rough and it scared the hell out of my girlfriend and I. This place should be shutdown!

This place is beyond horrible!! I decided to treat my friend on his birthday to a Helicopter ride over the city. I arrived on time for my scheduled 3:30 flight after driving an hour and a half only to be told that the Helicopter was broken, and not able to fly. WHAT!? I had only booked the flight at 12:30PM that day, how can this happen?? I was then offered a ride in an airplane that was parked outside their office. It looked like a glider from World War 2 with an engine on it. They called it the “champagne sunset tour”. At this point I wished I had brought my Dramamine because this place was making me sick!! I asked my friend if he wanted to go on the plane, ”No Way!” he said, and we left. Within an hour I found a company that had great reviews on-line. They picked me up at Santa Monica airport from a gorgeous terminal. I ended up having an amazing hour flight over Malibu, Hollywood, and Los Angeles area. After reading reviews on Yelp and other websites about Celebrity helicopter it became clear that bait and switch is normal behavior for this company. The only Celebrity this place should be flying is Lindsay Lohan, so she can for once have a legitimate excuse for not showing up on time!!

Trip was booked for Sunday 31ST MARCH.phoned the day before to be told " THE HELICOPTER WASN'T WORKING BUT THEY COULD PROVIDE A PLANE" then 10 minutes later that was cancelled..Re-scheduled for pick up at 9AM WEDNESDAY 3RD finally collected at 11AM Robin gave some guff about the original driver had to take his kid to hospital.. Original package was t-shirts and souvenir photos that never happened.no helicopter again instead a small plane [LOVELY PILOT JIM] followed by champagne after as an apology AGAIN NO CHAMPAGNE....YOU WOULD BE WISE TO GIVE THIS MOB A WIDE BERTH.....

Pre-booked from UK phoned when arrived in CA and arranged flight for next day. Collected from Hotel in Huntington Beach and taken to airfield. Very friendly staff, pilot was waiting for us on our arrival. Marvelous 25 minute flight in light aircraft along beaches and other focal points. One of our best flights. Very good value for money. Will certainly do another flight next time in L.A

We had been to Hollywood on a long weekend and we had a memorable trip. We loved the locals and the non-stop city. As we had more time with us, we went ahead and booked LA tour trip with Celebrity Helicopters.Chief Pilot Robert C Petgrave is a happy go person, with a great attitude and genuine interest. He showed us all the items we discussed and was kind enough to take us to the places we liked the most. He was very friendly to us and so was his kid. It so happened that his kid was crying and he had to take him with us. It was like a family of four traveling together. We really enjoyed the trip. Will sure come back for a night tour over LA.

I booked this tour online during our stay in LA. I only booked one day in advance and Robin confirmed the booking quickly via email which I was very impressed with. You have to pay up front via credit card. We stayed in Beverly Hills so getting to Burbank took quite a while and is also expensive (taxi about 80US$). When we arrived there we had to look for somebody to greet us and this was done by some kids. I decided to book through this company as I liked the idea of 'Inspire Tomorrow's Youth' as indicated on the Celebrity Helicopter Tours website. We had to wait for about 15 minutes for the pilot who was late (not from a previous flight or so) which was no problem and he took us to the plane. We booked the Deluxe Champange tour which included:Long Beach SkyscrapersThe Queen MaryL. A. HarborWorld Cruise CenterPorts-O-Call VillagePalos Verdes EstatesThe cliffs off Palos Verdes PeninsulaRolling Hills Estates (USA’s “Top5 Highest Income Per Capita” … stunning homes)Cabrillo BeachManhattan BeachHermosa BeachRedondo Beach & PierSan PedroThe South Bay (LA’s Underrated Peninsula)Famous Celebrity Homes & LandmarksSpectacular View of Downtown Los AngelesThe Staples CenterL.A. ColiseumTelevision CityThe Beverly CenterCentury CityGetty CenterBel AireBeverly HillsHollywood BowlHollywood SignGriffith Park ObservatoryDodgers Stadium, and tons more.On the plane was a cute basked with a bottle of champagne (sparkling wine) and some snacks which was nice and a great start to the flight. After that it all just went downhill. The pilot hardly never spoke, even when we asked questions he did not really say a lot and it seemed to us he was not very knowledgeable about the tour/area even though he said he is doing this since 30 years. From the sights we should have seen we only saw maybe 7 of them. Maybe we did see more but the pilot did not talk to us so we had no clue what we were looking at. When we asked about flying over the celebrity homes the pilot said that nobody knows what celebrity lives in what house etc. so he did not even bother flying there.After we landed the girl at the counter asked how the flight was and I told her that it was not what we expected and it was quite disappointing. She asked why and I told her that we have seen hardly non of the sights as indicated on their website and flyer. Her answer was: Hm.. I guess the pilot forgot!! No sorry or let me reimburse you a part of the money. Nothing. We were about to leave when Robin came over (he did not ask about our flight experience) and said he has a T-shirt for us and if a photo was taken (no photo was taken either) and to hold on. We said it's fine no worries but also did not want to be rude so we waited. However, after we waited about 15 minutes just standing around we decided to leave. I was just very disappointed about the overall experience. This was a treat for my boyfriend and I thought I do something special which it wasn't at all. I am sure there are better tour providers in L.A. and for the next time I prefer to spend some more money and get the real experience you would expect. I cannot recommend Celebrity Helicopter Tours as all.

I really enjoyed the helicopter flight over LA. We were picked up from our hotel in Malibu and driven to Bob Hope Airport (Burbank) where we met our pilot. The tour took us across the San Fernando Valley, the over the Hollywood Hills giving us a close up of the Hollywood sign. We then flew over Dodgers Stadium then circled about 100 feet over downtown LA. Heading south we headed towards King Quay the turned north to travel at 100 feet above the water up to Santa Monica. We finished the flight with a tour of the celebrity mansions in Brentwood and Beverly Hills. A great trip with some great photos.

During a short stay in LA wanted to do something special which would stay in the mind for a lifetime. There are several options in most big cities for the Heli-tour experience and shopping in advance from the UK I had to weigh up the offerings but the fact that this experience included a pick-up and return to our hotel by Hollywood Boulevard made it very attractive.We arrived in LA, made final confirmations by phone and were picked up in the morning and driven to Compton Airfield where this business shares the site with the LAPD. After a quick check on weight, yes its kind of crucial to make sure the bird is going to fly safely, we boarded the 4 seater and took off for our selected 30 minute tour. The route took in all the sights, The Olympic Stadium, Hollywood Bowl, Dodgers Stadium, Staples Centre and nods toward the homes of the stars. Three stand outs for me were the site where the 60’s TV series had the Batmobile emerging from its Bat Cave; Flying through – yes through not just past – the skyscrapers of downtown LA; and the pinnacle to hover level with and just yards in front of the iconic Hollywood sign. All that for about £100 ($150) a head – memories don’t come much better than that

Ich hatte über DER-Tour einen Flug am 21.4.11 gebucht. Statt der vereinbarten Abholung um 10 Uhr kamen Sie um 12:15 und dazwischen erfolgte eine Lüge nach der anderen (das Wetter, der Stau, usw). Wir waren dann genervt und mit dem PKW weg und so behaupteten sie gegenüber DER, sie seien um 10:45 dagewesen und hätten uns vorab informiert. Zum Glück hatten wir die schriftliche Aussage des Concierge und das Protokoll der Telefongesellschaft. ich würde das nächste mal vor Ort und auf empfehlen des Hotels buchen. In Hawaii hat das super geklappt.