We booked the tour for the 9 to 11 slot and had to call 24 hours ahead to confirm the time. We were to be picked up at 11:10 at our hotel which was a little later than we would have liked.
The driver showed up a 11:05 and we arrived at the Boulder Airport south of Vegas around 11:45 to make a 12:15 flight. The plane was nice, it seats 2 on one side, one on the other. You are assigned seats by weight, but they keep couples in the same row. All the middle seats were empty on our flight so everyone had a window seat. The left side gets the best view going out, but the windows are large and you can easily see out both sides.
We arrived at the canyon airport after about an hour and boarded a bus that had our plane load of 14 plus 12 from another plane. It was my wife and I, two japanese and 22 koreans who didn't speak much english. The good part was Roger the bus guide pretty much only had us to talk to.
Roger was great. He has lived in the canyon for 20 years and made sure we knew what to look for at the stops. He was constantly pointing out stuff on the way and telling stories of canyon life.
We made two stops, an hour each, eating a box lunch at the first one. Two hours isn't enough time to really appreciate the canyon, but you know all your getting is a quick look and some photo ops.
Roger says a photo book isn't complete without a picture at the entrance sign so he stops there on the way back to the airport.
We went in December so the days are short. Here's where the later start cost us. The plane took off after the sun had set and while there was a nice color to the horizon, we had no view on the return. An hour sooner and we would have seen a beautiful sunset lit canyon and returned to the lights of Vegas. We landed at Boulder airport at 6 pm and were back at our hotel by 7 so its an 8 hour deal door to door.
All in all, it was what we expected and were very satisfied with all aspects of the trip. Had I known they were running outside the 9-11 window for actually taking off, I would have booked the earlier flight but 7-9 sounded a bit early for being in Vegas.
Pros: Nice plane, courteous people, great bus guide.
Cons: Not much time at the canyon, departure times aren't fixed
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