Let me begin by first saying that I once worked as a Helicopter Dispatcher for a large touring company in Hawaii about 18 years ago (which was the launch customer for the EC-130 helicopter). I am also now a Captain for a US major airline and am very selective when it comes to helicopter tours. I poured over reviews, YouTube videos, and accident histories of all the Las Vegas helicopter companies; I ultimately arrived at making my booking with Maverick Helicopters.
I never revealed my aviation background to anyone I interacted with throughout my experience as I wanted to withhold my judgment until the end. Booking through the website was easy. It was when I tried to add another person to my party of four that I began to have doubts about their customer service. I called to have my 130 lbs niece added to our booking and was told there were no other seats available for the whole day. However, I was able to begin a completely new booking for five passengers on their website with multiple times available.
I called back and spoke to the same person and pressed him about being able to create a new booking for five. He seemed to begin getting short with me saying there was really a weight issue and that there was literally no room to add her. When I told him she weighed 130 lbs he began to backpedal a bit and admitted that he could move people around between different aircraft to accommodate our party of five. I was once a helicopter dispatcher -- I know that sometimes you have to move parties around to make the weight and size of the group work and although it is a bit more effort for the person handling the booking, I was surprised that he wasn't as forthcoming as I had expected. He ultimately came through for us -- and I was grateful for that -- but I felt a little annoyed that I had to press him on the issue.
The shuttle ride to the Maverick terminal was fine. The bus arrived right on time. The terminal facilities and large fleet of helicopters sitting on the ramp blew me away. The check-in process was smooth and comfortable. The whole operation was very impressive. We were assigned to a helicopter designed to carry seven passengers versus the standard six. There are three passenger seats in the front next to the pilot. There was another couple joining our group of five. Because we were all relatively small/light, the pilot told us he was planning to cycle each of us through the front seats after each stop along the tour.
I was a little disappointed to see standard David Clark headsets (I was expecting Bose Noise Cancelling headsets), but I can understand that these likely take a beating through frequent use and David Clarks are known for their durability.
Where Maverick truly redeemed themselves was when our tour had to turn around after flying past Lake Mead. A line of thunderstorms to the east had pinched off the tour route to the Grand Canyon. While our pilot kept us at a safe distance, we were all witnesses to a large dust storm and torrential rain showers. The pilots talked it out with one another for a while, their conversations over their radios were isolated from our intercom music. It was later explained to us that they had decided to discontinue the tour in the interest of safety. Our flight out to Lake Mead and back lasted just under an hour. While we were disappointed to have missed the Grand Canyon, we were grateful for the professionalism and expertise of the pilots and staff that made the proper call. It was truly impressive and completely validated my choice to book our tour with Maverick. We all enjoyed ourselves despite having turned around.
Upon our return to the Maverick Air Terminal, we were given options to either rebook later in the week or receive a full refund. Rebooking was unfortunately not an option for us so we received the full refund. I will likely rebook with Maverick the next at my next opportunity to tour the Grand Canyon.
