Why Choose Rainbow Ryders

No “Hops”

At Rainbow Ryders, safety and quality control are two of our top priorities. Though there are some aspects of the experience that are off-the-cuff, your whole hot air balloon ride, beginning to end, is carefully constructed by our team. Because of how we have constructed our standards of operation and the experience we want our passengers to have, we made the decision 10 years ago to stop including hops in our regular flight operations.

Flying a “hop” involves two groups (usually comprised of 8-10 passengers each that may or may not know each other) that take turns on the hot air balloon. The first group will fly for roughly 30-45 minutes while the second group follows along in the chase crew van. The balloon will land, the groups will swap places, and the balloon will launch again for another 30 minutes. There are some hot air balloon ride companies that still use this approach to be able to book as many people as possible for a morning. This practice severely diminishes the experience for all passengers involved in the following ways:

• Both groups typically have a shorter flight than the usual 45 minutes – 1 hour
• The second group of passengers has to ride in a van for almost an hour before they get to fly
• Sometimes the weather can change in the span of the first flight, preventing the second group from flying at all

Hops introduce a level of unnecessary and unmanaged risk to passengers, staff, and equipment. While it is an important term to know and understand, it has no place in our flight operations.

Availability and Experience

We fly everyday of the year (weather permitting, of course), allowing for greater freedom to select a day and time that suits your schedule best. We are able to provide that kind of availability due to the depth of experience within our pilots, as well as our large hot air balloon fleet.

We have the resources and experience to accommodate your preference of flight date.