You’ve got your vouchers for your hot air balloon ride, you’ve booked a flight date, the weather is perfect and the day of your balloon flight has arrived!
So what can you look forward to on your unforgettable hot air balloon ride?
With Virgin Balloon Flights, you can be assured that balloon flight experience days will be nothing short of incredible.
From the excitement of opening your luxury red voucher wallet, right through to your last sip of Prosecco, the UK’s biggest and best passenger balloon rides company will make sure you have the adventure of a lifetime.
What To Wear For A Balloon Ride
Sensible shoes are a must for a hot air balloon ride, ideally waterproof if you have them.
Early starts mean dewy feels, so if you’re flying in a morning, don’t let soggy feet ruin your romantic experience before it begins!
Dress as though you would for a walk in the countryside, so comfortable layers of light, warm clothing is a good idea.
You might also want to bring along a hat to protect your head from the heat of the burners, which can get quite warm.
Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Flight
Sunrise balloon flights may mean an early wake-up call, but just imagine watching the world come alive 1,000 feet below you from a Virgin balloon basket.
There really is no better to appreciate the landscape around us.
Sunset Hot Air Balloon Flight
If you’re booked onto a sunset balloon ride, lucky you! What a perfect and relaxing way to wind down after a busy day.
The world seems to be a much simpler place when you’re floating in a hot air balloon 2,000 feet up in the air.
On The Day Of Your Balloon Flight
You will arrive at the launch site to be met by your pilot and crew, who will check you in for the flight.
Once all passengers (12-16 for most balloon flights) have arrived, you will make your way to the launch field.
Remember to say hello to your fellow passengers, you’ll be getting quite cosy with them in the balloon basket!
After a short but important safety briefing (so please listen carefully!), the pilot will ask for volunteers to help inflate the balloon.
This is completely voluntary but really is great fun!
Remember to take as many photos as possible right from the beginning of your balloon flight experience.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, after all and watching the balloon inflate is so exciting.
Don’t forget to have a peek inside if you can – most of our passengers find it hard to believe just how big Virgin hot air balloons are.
Once the balloon is fully inflated, you will be asked to climb into your basket compartment and prepare for take-off, which is often so gentle that some passengers do not even realise they have launched!
Up In The Air
Once you are airborne, make sure you soak up all aspects of the experience.
If you’re sharing the flight with a loved one to mark a special occasion, be sure to let your pilot know.
Balloon flight experience days can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some people and Virgin Balloon Flights will ensure it is one you will never forget.
Or perhaps you aren’t marking a milestone birthday or anniversary and just want to tick ballooning off your bucket list?
No problem, balloon flights are a special event for everyone.
Virgin Balloon Flight pilots have also overseen their fair share of love in the air – getting engaged in a hot air balloon has to be one of the most romantic ways to propose.
It certainly means you will start married life on cloud nine.
Ask your pilot lots of questions. They’ll be happy to point out areas of interests and also answer any ballooning questions you might have.
Take videos and photos galore – a hot air balloon flight is a photographer’s paradise with unparalleled 360-degree views.
Appreciate the tranquility that ballooning brings.
Watching the morning commute or the drive time rush hour below to the back drop of birdsong, 1,000 feet up is smugly satisfying and is a truly perfect start or end to your day.
Where Will The Wind Take You?
Hot air balloons travel with the wind so your pilot cannot predict exactly where he or she will land – but we think that’s one of a balloon ride’s biggest appeals.
Just letting yourself go wherever the wind take you leaves to feeling truly free.
Once your balloon pilot spots a suitable place to land, they will explain that they’re bringing the balloon down and ask you to prepare as per the safety briefing when you first arrived.
This can be one of the most exciting parts of the flight, as you approach tree tops and buildings and the incredible skill of your pilot really does become clear.
Virgin Balloon Flights only has the cream of the crop flying its balloons, with some of the best pilots in the world at the helm of its flights.
Just before you come back down to earth, your pilot will ask you to sit down in the basket and hold on.
Often the basket will bounce lightly (but not always) and sometimes even tip over or pull along the ground a short distance as it comes to rest back on terra firma.
All of this is part of the fun and perfectly normal.
After Your Balloon Lands
Your pilot will let you know when it is safe for you to exit the basket and then it’s time for the fun of packing up the balloon!
Again, this is completely voluntary and if you don’t feel up to it or would rather not get involved, that’s absolutely fine.
Then it’s time for a celebratory Prosecco toast with your fellow passengers, pilot and crew to end an unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Until, of course, you realise you can’t stop thinking about just how much you loved being up in the air and decide to do it all over again and book another hot air balloon ride.
Because while memories of balloon flight experience days last forever, once you have been bitten by the ballooning bug, you will want to fly again and again.