SoCal Hot Air Balloon Tours

I don’t know if it even matters at this point since this comapny have closed shop. I think they have been planning to close shop for awhile that’s why they oversold inall the discount sites.
I have booked in in June 2011 shortly after purchsing the vouchers from Travelzoo for my entire family, I originally got 6 as Christmas gifts and during the time of booking, ended up more family members to the mix. I booked a hotel in Temecula and made a weekend out of it since you have to be there at an ungodly hour. ON our way to Temecula on a Friday night, I got a call Thomas saying that due to weather, they have to cancel. I need to mention that booking in the first place was just so difficult. So when they cancelled last minute we just tried to enjoy our hotel in Temecula and when we woke up the next morning, the weather was so perfect I wondered why it was cancelled the first place. As soon as I got back to LA, I re-​booked again and added more family members and they offered me the same price as the Travelzoo vouchers to compensate for the trouble of rebooking. I had to listen to Kami whine about all the people complaioning about their cancellation due to weather and how both her and Thomas do the best job they can and they’ve been doing this for a very long time. I listened and tried to be understanding.
September 18, 2011 booking was coming and ot got cancelled again due to weather the night before. You can justy imagine my frustration as this is the second time and there is 12 people in my family that I had to call and inform of the cancellation. It is hard to get 12 people commit to a date. and by this time I’ve invested not just my time but $ 1,068 on vouchers plus hotel for 2 nights that first time. I had to listen to them complain about other people that yelled at them and such for cancellation. They informed me that Hot Air Ballooning at this point is done for the season until next summer. And that they will extend the voucher until we get to use it since there are so many of us. Of course by early 2012, I tried many times to call and e-​mail and none of it got returned.
Life took over (more pressing things that Hot Air Ballooning) until this year’s summer passed and realized that the vouchers are expired and they never returned my call or e-​mail. I tried once again to call & email a week ago to see if the summer season was extended and the number is out of service and so is the e-​mail. I searched on-​line and found out they have closed their business due to retirement or medical reason. I would have been more udnerstanding if they tried to tell the people who have been waiting for their vouchers to be used that they are closing shop but to jst disappear is just not good business practice for whatever reason.
Now the credit card company and Travelzoo is saying it is wasy pass the limit of time to get a refund. Am I suppose to accept that I lost that amount of money when the initial intential is spnd quality time with my family doing a bucket-​list item for everyone???
This company makes me sick!

This place is gone out of business and cancelled all flights after 2÷1÷2012!
WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ALL ABOUT!!! GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK!!!

I went on this ride in January of 2011. You have to book your reservation online and call before your appointment to make sure it is still on. I had to reschedule my booked appointment by calling, and it was so horrid, but I eventually got through after repeated calls.
To confirm my new flight I called, but they never pick up the phone. Therefore, I also emailed them and of course got no reply. The day before, I confirmed the flight via telephone. They tell you to get there early, but when we arrived the pilot was still not even there yet.
When we finally went on the flight, it was wonderful, but I would never go with this company again.

I purchased tickets for 10 people through Travelzoo Nov 3, 2010. The deal said the coupons had to be used before Aug 2011. I wasn’t too worried about scheduling the trip when I purchased the tickets because we wanted to go in the summer when the weather was better. After finally gettting 10 people to agree on a date, I tried to book the trip. You have to book the trip using the online reservation system. Unfortunately, all the weekends were booked until Dec 2011(well after the coupon would expire). Oh no, I started to panic… I sent an email to the company about my concern along with my phone number. Kami called me back and explained that they were really booked due to the unexpected overwhelming response from Travelzoo, Groupon, etc and were extending the dates for another year. Kool !
Kami pulled a miracle to accomodate our large group and we actually booked our trip for Oct 17, 2011. For the most part she answered my emails and was very helpful. A few times I had to resend an email, but for the most part I was satisfied.
We had to wake up at 3AM to make the 2 hour drive to Temecula to meet at Starbucks at 5:30PM. You get free coffee and pastries. It was totally worth it ! It’s very interesting seeing how they inflate the balloons, etc. We were lucky to have our own basket. Our piliot was John who was great, funny, informative and answered all of our questions. Great as we had someone who was really afraid of heights. It was a very peaceful flight and the weather was perfect. Everyone had a great time.
I’m sorry that so many others had a bad experience with this company, perhaps they read many of the negative reviews and decided to make improvements. I and all my friends had a great experience and would definitely do it again.

Disclaimer: My friend made reservations for us so I never was involved in the scheduling process, which seems to be the #1 reason why people are giving this company such bad reviews.
We went the Friday before Labor Day weekend and fortunately, that meant some open spots for those with Groupons (which was us!) because it’s a long weekend and some people canceled. We could not have asked for better weather! Sunny but not unbearably hot (jeans & t-​shirt type of weather). We met up at a local Starbucks at around 5:30AM and our choice of either coffee or tea and one pastry was paid for. I can’t even begin to tell you how groggy I was, but the coffee helped! Checking in and waiting for everyone took about 45 minutes; we then drove up to our launch site. It was awesome watching the inflation process!
The ride itself was about 45 minutes and we got to see the beautiful Temecula scenery. We rose up slowly and could see everything from the grapes growing in the vineyards to rabbits scampering beneath the leaves. The most amazing thing was just seeing all the other hot air balloons dotting the cloudless blue sky. They looked like cute ornaments! Also, our guide was great – enthusiastic, informative, and such a pleasure to be around! Both lift-​off and landing went smoothly, in part to his expertise, as well as the weather. The only part that annoyed me was that we had 10 people in our group so 3 people were crammed into two of the booths (one of which I was a part of).
After our ride, we got mimosas and certificates! Overall, a great experience, one I’d highly recommend!

This place never seems to pick up the phone or follow-​up.
My story is as follows: Bottom line — I bought 2 tickets via Travel Zoo in Nov 2010. It is now August 2011 and I had to request Travel Zoo refund my purchase because these guys would not respond to my emails, faxes, or phone messages.
When I did reach someone, it was either the owner, or the woman answering the phone. They seemed nice enough and said they were swamped, but did apologize… I gave them the benefit of the doubt, but I never was able to get closure on my about-​to-​expire vouchers… I had faxed the vouchers to them in May 2011since the owner said they’d be extending the expiration date (⁸⁄₁₁) of the vouchers… it is now August 18, 2011and Travel Zoo will be sending me my refund…
That’s no way to run a railroad, in my opinion…

I don’t know where to begin with this. I read some of the reviews and I can’t argue with them. I also had a Travelzoo voucher. I figured that my chance to nail a weekend in Feb was tough since so many people probably bought it. It was frustrating in the beginning because the website didn’t provide the option to book and no one was returning calls. I finally got an email about 2 weeks later followed by a phone call letting me know they were on vacation. Okay, small mom n’ pop shop… I get it.
The I spoke to the lady and everything was booked through April but I didn’t have a date in mind so she told me to go online. I did so to find out all weekends were booked through July. I was sort of bummed but figured the 2^nd weekend of August wasn’t all that bad. I was actually worried it might be too hot.
We received a call the night before to go to Starbucks. We got there at 5:30. They bought us coffee/​tea and a pastry. At that point we knew we weren’t going to be eating any more. The balloon ride was nice and relaxing… somewhat surprising it was about everything I thought it would be. We were the last up and first down (of three balloons). I was a bit perturbed about that but my wife thought it was perfect. So be it. I felt our pilot was probably not wanting to hang around to land so he shot over to the landing spot so he could be done for the day. Whatever.
Afterwards, they toasted us with champaign… everyone was super nice. The pickup and drop-​off both worked out well. I think we were at our car at 8:30AM. We didn’t have much of an expectation but I guess that helped. The day was perfect and the temp was right on… short or long sleeve and you were good. (68-​ish). Based on the other reviews, I don’t know if I could recommend it. I personally had a good experience overall. These types of businesses seem sketchy and because of that I can’t give this place a higher rating.

I had purchased two Travelzoo vouchers for a Sunrise balloon ride, and they are expiring next month, so I had to find a way to use them. I had originally purchased them with the intent of using them for my boyfriend’s birthday, which is end of January, but when I tried to reserve at the end of November, they were already all booked for that weekend! I tried at the same time then to do Valentine’s day instead, but that was booked too. I guess it is a popular holiday. I should have learned and looked to see if our one year anniversary date had any availabilities. Sadly, I was not blessed with such foresight and didn’t check until After Valentine’s day. And of course, by that time, every weekend up to the mid-​August expiration date was taken. So my boyfriend and I decided to book a weekday instead, one of the few days that still had more than 1 slot available.
Even though we had to go on a weekday, I have to say that the experience was totally worth it!
We drove down in the wee hours of the morning and got to our meetup destination right on schedule. Google map led us too far so we had to hunt down the address the old fashioned way, but we had accounted for that so it was no biggie. The ‘continental’ breakfast that was included in our package was actually a coffee and pastry from Starbucks, our meetup location. Hey, I like Starbucks pastries, so I didn’t mind. There were a lot of us that morning, about 25 people I would imagine, and two hot air balloons. They divided us into two vans and drove us out into wine country. We got to watch the whole set up process and film/​take pictures. It was such an interesting experience! It’s such a tedious, precise process because you want to be careful not to tear the fabric of the balloon. And the balloon itself is HUGE! As soon as it was up we scrambled on and off we went! I am personally afraid of heights and prone to motion sickness, but I didn’t feel afraid at all in the balloon or get nauseous either! The ascent and descent were both done super slow so you don’t get scared from the climb/​drop, nor do you really feel it either until you realize you’re super high off the ground. Temecula is stunning from above, and it was great to see all the wineries/​rabbits around the area, as well as view all the other hot air balloons flying in the area! Our pilot, Tim, was great too, answering all our questions and giving a narrative of the area and how hot air ballooning works.
We were enjoying ourselves so much that our one hour flight ended before we knew it. We were a little scared about how the balloon would land but it was such a soft gentle landing. We were served celebratory mimosas after getting off the balloon and given «First Flight» certificates as well!
Overall it was a fabulous experience and if I would love to do it again someday!

Sorry to all those who had a bad experience with this company. I must have lucked out because I had nothing but a positive experience. I purchased my vouchers through Travelzoo and got a little worried for a while when I realized that I didn’t have much time to make reservations before the rest of the desirable dates filled up. The weekends were, unfortunately, all booked up by the time I remembered my voucher, but I managed to secure a Friday morning flight after the new reservation system went up.
On the morning of the flight, we checked in at the nearby Starbucks at 5:30 a.m. We waited a bit for all the other groups to check-​in before getting into our mini-​van. Since we were a group of 6, we were lucky enough to get our very own balloon. Our pilot was awesome (Tim?). He had years of experience flying balloons and it showed. He took us up and down (our basket even grazing the tops of orange trees at times) in the air. Before we knew it, our hour was up. He brought us down with a perfect landing. He popped open the orange juice and champagne and we drank our mimosas while he and others put the balloons away. We were then presented with our first flight certificates before being brought back to Starbucks.
I’m docking a star because our voucher said it included continental breakfast and we never got it. According to other reviewers, we were supposed to get complimentary coffee and breakfast at the Starbucks. No one told us about that. Another slight complaint I had, but was not that big a deal, was that I thought we would catch the sunrise in the balloon. That was not the case. However, the day we went up was gorgeous with blue skies and no clouds in sight, so it didn’t matter in the end.
As for response to emails, I did get responses to my emails. It took about 1 – 2 days for a response, but I did get one. And yes, the new online system sends confirmation emails.

I was so looking forward to going on a hot air balloon ride yesterday but sadly it didn’t happen. After reading everyone else’s review of SoCal Hot Air Balloon, I was pretty much prepared for the worst so I wasn’t terribly surprised when I got a phone call from Tom on Sunday letting us know that the flight for Monday was cancelled.
I am giving them 3 stars because unlike others, I had a pretty easy time booking a reservation. I used their online system and booked a date 2 months in advance (although I did have to take time off from work in order to make the flight). I got a confirmation within 24 hours and thought that we were good to go. Sadly, Mother Nature had other plans and the flight was cancelled due to weather (not the company’s fault). I did appreciate getting the phone call the night before so that at least we didn’t have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to make the 2 hour drive to Temecula only to discover it was cancelled. Tom gave us an extension on our vouchers but after reading everyone’s reviews, I don’t think I want to go through the pain of rescheduling with this company so I called Travelzoo and requested a refund.
For those who still need to schedule a flight, there are currently weekday dates available for October and November which you can book online. Good luck to you.

I bought a deal like everybody here but I had made reservations a year ahead of schedule for the Hot Air Balloon and Wine Festival in Temecula and didn’t have a hard time since the date was so far. I was somewhat disappointed that we were in the basket with strangers but it did not matter that much since we were in a small basket. I thought the deal was for hot air ballooning for two.
We had made a special request for a birthday and on the confirmation paper they said they would do something but they did not do anything :(.
Overall it was an okay ride. Our driver was good and food was good. I give the place okay rating. I think the company was overwhelmed but they could’ve done a better job to make a better experience.

Bought discount tixs from Living Social.
Like everyone else, found it impossible to book a reservation. Finally after 6 wks of calls/​emails we were able to schedule.
We did go in April and the flight and pilot were great! They also hook you up with breakfast/​coffee from Starbucks.
Not worth the headache, just go with another company.
It seems they made the same offer with every company out there and may have been overwhelmed by the response.

If I were rating a company on their ability to single handedly take the joy out of hot air ballooning, I would give SoCal Hot Air Balloon Tours (SCHABT) five stars on the razzle-​dazzle meter. However, since I’m rating them on the opposite of that, they only get one. :(
For centuries man has dreamed of free flight. In light of that, it’s hard to imagine that anyone could ruin something as magical as floating through the air. Yet, SCHABT manages to do just that.
I purchased two discounted vouchers from Tipper (similar to Living Social, Groupon, YouNameIt)… I knew I was going to have trouble immediately after I got my vouchers and I tried to book the trip. Prior to purchasing my tickets, Kami (one of SCHABT’s owners) was very friendly and helpful. She responded to email within hours of it being sent. However, once I purchased the vouchers, I couldn’t get a hold of her. It took more than two weeks of constant calls and emails before I was able to reach her. Once I finally did reach her, I tried to book my flight. I was surprised to learn that while I thought I’d purchased a romantic ride for two on the SS BestBoyfriendEver, I’d actually purchased two third-​class tickets on a floating Greyhound. (A group ride can have up to 20 people + a pilot)! I respectfully requested citing that I did not want to share a balloon with a bunch of cheap-​skates I’d never met and that their ad did not say that this was a group balloon ride. I was told «yeah, well it doesn’t say that it’s not either».
Sadly, that response was the best customer service I received from them. I was stuck with non-​refundable tickets so I tried to make the best of it. I tried for SEVEN MONTHS to book a weekend flight. Prior to their online booking system, everything had to be done over the phone or via email. Email after email went unreturned. When I did reach a real person I was informed that they were in the middle of a system upgrade and were unable to access reservation systems and asked to call back at a particular time when, without exception, no one answered.
After seven months, we gave up. My girlfriend had her heart set on ballooning (she didn’t deal with the headache I did– I wanted no part of it). Of course, she’s the boss, so I did what she said. I researched (using Unilocal!this time) and found a Grape Escape… which I could not recommend more highly. A Grape Escape’s every day low-​prices were only $ 20/​person more than SCHABT and we got to fly when we wanted to… well worth the extra $ 40.
Moreover they day we flew, A Grape Escape set up their balloons and landed in the same fields as SCHABT. I’ll just say I’m glad we flew with A Grape Escape. After seeing the difference first-​hand, there is no comparison.
If you want to balloon in Temecula– go with A Grape Escape… or any of SCHABT’s competitors. Heck, call me. I’m sure I can get certified in ballooning sooner than you can book a weekend trip with a discount voucher over at SCHABT.

This is seriously the worst customer service I have ever experienced in my life. I spoke to Tom, who is the owner, and he was SO incredibly rude to me I could not believe it!
Direct quotes from our conversation: «everyone thinks that they’re the most important customer» and asked if I «wanted him to magically pull seats out of thin air» When I told him that nobody had returned my phone calls and so I wanted to reschedule over the phone he said «that’s what everybody says, just because we didn’t get back to you, you think that you deserve to have special treatment.»
I’m sorry sir… are you running a business? or is this ‘we’ll call you back whenever we feel like it”??
He was NOT accomodating in any sense of the word. If I hadn’t purchased a livingsocial voucher for my boyfriend’s birthday in november, I would DEFINITELY take my business elsewhere. STAY AWAY.
Update: Kami is very sweet and much more accomodating. If you do need to talk with them– do not talk to tom.

RUDE, UNETHICAL, WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!
I am not even going to waste time typing up a review but will just copy/​paste what I put in my BBB complaint:
«We bought a 2-​for-​1 deal voucher from
and it was clearly advertised on the site and through their daily marketing email that this was a 2-​for-​1 deal. Owner said that
made the mistake and they do not want to honor this deal and said it was meant for only one person. We called Living Social and spoke with one of their customer service reps, who said that this was untrue and that the deal is 2-​for-​1. The customer rep stated that every merchant has to see their advertisement before they sign and agree to it being published on the internet. I find this to be very deceiving and understand that though the owner maybe losing out on money from these deals, it is very unethical to not honor something that was clearly advertised.
We also had a very bad experience with their customer service. My girlfriend called a couple times to try to make an appointment and encountered the worst service one can imagine. The owners were extremely rude to her each time. They even lied to her. First off, when I made the first phone call, the owner Thomas stated that
was the one who made the mistake. The next day, my girlfriend calls in to ask about this and Thomas tells her the deal is actually for «One Person» and disregarded the entire «mistake in advertisement» issue. «
You guys can read Tresha L’s review here on this same page and you will get a clear idea of this company. After looking at their BBB report, it appears they have had multiple incidents that were similar to ours. My advice to all you Unilocalers, STAY AWAY!

It is impossible to make a reservation with this company. I’ve left plenty of emails and voice mails, and they never got replied. So here is what you’ll expect from this company
1. No response at all.
2. Oversold Groupon tickets. The only time my call got through, the guy informed me they sold over 900 Groupon tickets, and they did it TWICE on Groupon. You figure out the possibility of getting a reservation with that many ticket sold in Groupon.
3. Don’t expect a tour in weekends, it just not possible. If you got it, you either reserve the tour 5 years ago, or win the lottery.
4. Don’t expect your $ back.
For those of you who purchased the Groupon, all I can say is joining force and respond to Groupon & BBB to reflect how bad the service is for this.

Does this company even exist? Forget about making a reservation. You’ll never receive a confirmation and you absolutely cannot get a hold of anyone. So much for buying my voucher on Travel Zoo. I totally got ripped off.
Update: I finally went on a hot air balloon ride!!!
A week after I Unilocaled the company, I received a phone call from Kami and I made my reservation.
All in all, the ride was truly an unforgettable experience. The weather was great, the ride was smooth, and the pilot and his crew were super friendly and down-​to-​earth.

What an excellent treat for a quick getaway or a romantic way to propose if you were like the couple next to me (which explained why he looked so nervous during the ride). Too bad we didn’t get to see the sunrise, but I don’t think I would’ve been able to wake up any earlier than that since you meet around 5:30 am. And if you meet at Starbucks (they do on the weekdays except for certain occasions), they actually compensate your breakfast and a much needed coffee.
Our pilot John was super passionate about his job and was great at keeping us engaged and awake throughout the ride. Even with people who are afraid of heights such as I, it’s still no problemo because you’re not floating super high nor super fast (although it does depend on nature’s mood swings). Ultimately the ride is completely smooth and you get gorgeous views of the vineyards and enormous estates with too much land. And then upon landing you are blessed with mimosas as well as a certificate celebrating your flight with the balloonist poem on it (I’m not kidding). Doesn’t get much better than that!

My original review was about my frustration in booking a reservation with SoCal balloons. It seems that they were inundated with traffic from a Travelzoo promotion that they ran, so it took about a week+ to finally book our reservation, which was frustrating with the holidays coming up and people’s schedules.
That issue aside, we did end up going and ended up having an awesome time. Kim was our pilot and she did a great job! I’m terrified of heights and I have to say that the ride was very smooth, enough so that you barely realize how high you’re going until you get up there. The mimosas after the flight were a nice touch, and the entire team was awesome and very accommodating. I would definitely recommend flying with them (if you can get a reservation hah!)!

This is a company who’s employees are very considerate and think of everything! Before our departure, in the dark, cold, cold morning we were offered tea, hot chocolate, coffee, water and danishes. Upon our arrival, to a sunny, warm and bright beautiful day we greeted with our First Flight Certificates, roses, champagne, refreshing juices, water, fruit, cakes, and bagels.
I’d go on to describe the feeling of being weightless so high in the air but, really, it’s indescribable. It was money very well spent. Our pilot was highly experienced and a pleasure. He was also very open and patient to answering my many nagging questions about the inner working and operations of a HAB.
If you’ve never been on a HAB, bring your patience as the winds/​weather is quite temperamental and nature does not care if you want to see the world from up above.