Amazing experience, really nice crew. Totally recommend it if you are courageous. Very safe and…read morechill ride.

Since I usually leave reviews, I always check reviews out prior to chosing where i will be going. I…read morewent to Albuquerque for the international balloon Festival and was looking for a hot air balloon rides. I read the reviews for this company, but I also looked at reviews from other sites & ultimately decided to go with this company because I felt that some of these reviews did not reflect the services this company provides. I am so glad we did choose this company. I called them to let them know that I had booked everything for my stepfather, but that it was under my name and they said there was not a problem with that. I also asked if I could follow them to take pictures of him getting in the hot air, balloon, and taking off at which Brittany happily said yes to. When I called it said to text the phone number listed because nobody answered and as I was texting, I got a return phone call almost immediately Brittney was prompt and professional. One thing I've learned is a hot air balloon ride is not your typical type of service. Everything is based on safety, which I am extremely grateful that this company cared so much about safety. Everything depends on the wind as I experience with a balloon festival when none of the balloons were able to takeoff. Did it ruin my weekend,? No! I still enjoyed what I was able to with the festival, but I did learn that you have to have some type of flexibility and understanding that riding a hot air balloon & being able to experience it all depends on the weather and the mental state of your pilot. Both are extremely important. Unfortunately, the day before nobody was able to fly, so Brittany did accommodate those individuals and allow them to fly in the morning, which made it a little hectic. However, we totally understood because this is a bucket list dream for a lot of people and we're glad she was able to accommodate them as well the following morning. It did make it quite busy and a little hectic in organization for checking in however, this isn't your typical service. My stepdad truly enjoyed his experience and we highly recommend this company. One of the employees actually took pictures of everyone on their own phones of them in the basket, which was a nice touch. Then they did a celebration at the end with some champagne, orange juice, and water. Very nice touch & a memory my step dad will have for a lifetime!

What a wonderful experience! We took my mom to check an item off her bucket list. There was a…read morebreeze, and it took three tries to find a location that was safe. We were in the air for a good long time. The landing was pretty smooth even though Troy found himself in a stickery field. We so appreciate Troy and the whole crew for not giving up.

Rainbow Ryders provides one of the best hot air balloon ride experiences in Albuquerque…read more Reservations need to be made in advance through their website or by phone. Initially, a booking fee of $20 is charged to secure the reservation, and the final payment is collected after the balloon ride is completed. Our initial booking was canceled due to high winds, but we were able to reschedule for a later date without any hassle. Our pilot, Mr. Heff, was very knowledgeable and kept us engaged throughout the entire flight. Standing in the basket during the ride felt safe and comfortable, and the entire flight was incredibly smooth--almost like gently sailing through the sky. The views of Albuquerque and the Rio Grande River were absolutely amazing and made the experience truly memorable. After landing, there was a small celebration with champagne, which was a lovely touch. I would definitely recommend Rainbow Ryders to my friends!

Thank you to Buzz and his whole family and crew for giving us one of the best experiences of our…read morelives! I can not recommend this more. We arrived around 6:30am to set up the balloon, and the ride took about an hour. I think our balloon was also one of the most beautiful ones up in the air with a rainbow of coWhen we landed we had some bubblies and cookies and hung out with the crew. Truly an eye-opening experience - you can't go wrong with Buzz!

Amazing experience with hot air Balloonatics. Husband and I went up with them on a whim because of…read morecovid and travel restrictions and wanted to do something Iocal in Albuquerque. Buzz and his grew were great to work with, 6 riders were on our ride. One of those riders proposed while up in the air and Buzz celebrated this special occasion with an extra bottle of champagne. He truly cares and is in it not for the money, but for the passion of ballooning. Would highly recommend this business! Their heart is in the right place!

Wow. Wow. Wow! What…read morean amazing adventure!! I'd highly recommend this crew. Art is a fantastic pilot with a great sense of humor for your ride. His crew is very nice and funny as well. This is an experience you don't want to miss out on!! Great adventure for the price! I'd choose their company over the others out here in ABQ! Thank you for a wonderful experience!

I got this on Groupon since it was priced nicely…read more I was very leary of the comments since there were many stating no shows. That was not the case on my visit. I got a confirmattion text the day before and the van with the balloon was at Starbucks well before we arrived. It departed at 6am. Ride was great and workers were helpful. The one red flag is the duration. Groupon said 4 hours. It lasted from 6:02am got in the air and all and then were driven back to Starbucks ny 7::42am. Really nice guy, but if I'm being completely honest, I feel he cut it short so he could save his propane, get us back on the ground so he could squeeze in another booking. Beyond that it was a great first time experience and much knowledge was shared. The duration difference of what we actually got did leave a bad taste in my mouth.

I'm going to jump to 5 here because even tho this is somewhat prohibitively expensive, it's special…read moreand if you're going to do this at all here is why I liked this company: we flew with just our pilot. It's a smal basket so it's nice to just be with your friend...or boyfriend. *wink* I admit it was somewhat less thrilling than I had expected because it was so darn smooth and we didn't go terribly far or high, but that depends on winds, etc. we went about 500-600 ft high but they often go as high as 1000. This company is family-run and they were SO NICE. We met our pilot, his fiancee and her dad who all worked together. The champagne brunch was cute, but unnecessary as it was the private aspect that sold me. for the slight bump in price, go private. our flight was delayed to try for better weather on our second day in Alby, and it was early, (630 am meeting time) but it was very nice weather/visibility. glad we waited. inflating the balloon was the best part for me. They were very responsive on email and phone. they also have a very cute plump dog as a mascot. Jack!

We made a reservation months ago for a balloon ride, our first. This Captain Bentley made promises…read morehe did not keep: no private flight, six people in the basket. No pick up and brought to balloon site, we had to drive ourselves in the dark ,early morning. He said he did not do like some of the others, fly the first group and put down the balloon and pick up the second group out of the chase VEHICLE . But that is what happened to us, but the winds had picked up and we did NOT get our flight. DISCOVER PRIVATE BALLOON FLIGHTS ARE THE ONES WE FOUND AFTER CALLING OTHER BALLOON COMPANIES, THEY WILL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU AND A GREAT CHAMPAGGNE BRUNCH AFTERWARDS. THIS AN EXPENSIVE RIDE , SO GO FOR THE BEST.

Went on a girls trip to Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Unfortunately festival flights…read morewere $$$$$ We found Aerogelic Ballooning online. They offered a festival week discount. It is a few miles from the fiesta but when you're in the air you will see lots of other balloons. The balloon holds 20 people and they schedule 40. While the first 20 go up, the rest follow in the chase vehicle. After they land the group switches. It was an amazing experience! (See photos) The pilot, Shane has been flying for 25 years and his family works with him. Everything was smooth from ordering tickets, to meet up, and of course the actual ride. Things to remember: 1. Get there early so you have time to make a pit stop and still leave on time. 2. If you notice a giant slit in the balloon while it is being inflated....Don't Panic. It's just a vent (thanks Dakota) 3. Stop and enjoy the amazing sunrise views in Albuquerque from high in the sky!

I would give this place -5 stars if I could…read more This hot air ballon company has wronged my husband and I. They're was a miscommunication error when my husband was trying to schedule our flight. When we went online to call them to schedule our flight we picked "New Mexico, Albuquerque and found a phone number to call. We assumed that it was to the Albuquerque location but it was ACTUALLY to the Phoenix, Arizona main location. Neither did the lady my husband talked to named Misty or my husband knew that when the flight was scheduled. So come the day before of we are trying to get in touch with them to confirm our flight no luck straight to voice message. The morning of we look at the email again and see the location for the balloon flight is at "the Starbucks on I-7 and Happy Valley Rd". (I posted a pic of the location directions they sent us) I mean you'd think a legit business would give you an actual address but. When we asked about the address we found out that our flight was scheduled for the Phoenix, Arizona location at 3pm. We were devastated! We're road tripping from Kansas to Nevada and we thought what a great idea to stop in Albuquerque NM and enjoy a hot air balloon ride a first for us both. Now before we both completely lost it my husband was trying to work with Misty to see if we could find a solution both parties would be happy with. We first asked for a refund. Misty told us flat out "No" to the refunds and that they were basically gonna keep our $100 deposit regardless of the communication error being just as much my husbands fault as well hers. She said that the whole refund was out of her hands and jurisdiction. Now mind you we were driving around the mountain area of New Mexico so the call got dropped twice. Every time my husband called back politely and apologetic about the spotty reception Misty got upset and offended because she thought he was doing it intentionally. She said that it's his and his phones fault and basically blamed this whole situation on my husbands lack of understanding. Whoa now! You call that you're customer service?!?The fact that this employee can not work with us but instead is against us makes me question the integrity of this business. Misty did nothing to help us feel that we made the right decision in choosing them. My husband worked hard to urge her to help us see if there was anyway we could reschedule. She finally told him to call this guy named Glenn who runs the Albuquerque location. So we did, we called Glenn. When we told Glenn our story we had hopes that maybe we found someone who would show some kindness and help us. WRONG!!! Glenn said well you got two choices 1. You can be on stand by and just check back with us daily to see if we have any open spots available. Your standby would last for 6 months and it's only good at the Phoenix location. I don't recommend this because it's very unlikely you'll get a flight. 2. Just accept you're out $100. Like seriously?! Can you believe that?!? I said to my husband there's no way we can win so he can make the decision. Sure enough my husband decided on the standby because after moving out and the holidays we just can't waste $100. Glenn said "Okay I'll be sure to let Misty know since she is the boss, the manager of operations." Whoa whoa whoa back that up! You mean to tell me that the MANAGER OF OPERATIONS IS UNABLE TO ISSUE A $100 REFUND?!? Smh what kind of place are you running here?!?! So we're both confused, upset and I myself am now crying my eyes out because the whole point of us being here just got cancelled. And now we're $100 out. This is some sneaky snake like business you have running here. I personally don't even want to business with this place anymore but understand my husbands strife. Why would I want to trust this place after the horrible customer service I just experienced. Soooo Misty calls back to confirm that we're doing the standby thing. Now here's the icing on the cake. My husband after talking with Misty points out so that another poor couple or family doesn't encounter the same problem we did, that the phone number we found online for the Albuquerque location was incorrect and was actually for the Phoenix location. Guess what she said? "Oh we know you guys actually aren't the first couple whose had this kind of mistake" ARE YOU FRICKEN KIDDING ME??!!?!?!?!?!?!?!???!! Livid just livid!!! It's a Whole big scam a con for them to keep your money.NO HELP from MISTY or GLENN and almost an admittance that this business will intentionally set your reservation up for failure just to keep your hard earned money. Worst experience of my life!!! Still crying and upset about it!!! I honestly don't know if I even want to get in a hot air balloon anytime soon knowing this is a possible experience. THEY TOOK OUR MONEY FOR THE EXPERIENCE WE DID NOT WANT. NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THIS DISHONORABLE PLACE.

This event was one of the most stunning I have ever been to. Very spectator friendly. The best…read moredays to attend are a Saturday or a Sunday as those days are when they have the mass ascension and the Dawn Patrol balloons. I would Highly recommend putting this on ones Bucket list

So many people. The park and ride event was a nightmare filled with walking and waiting in long…read morelines. I felt bad for the elderly but this should be better organized. We came from the Coronado lot and it was so many thousands of people. Either way, there were many people everywhere. We got to the park and there were balloons but they didnt end up being to take off because of the winds. The environment was awesome nonetheless.

A wonderful experience with a great crew and staff. The overall trip was great. My husband has back…read moreproblems and they were extremely helpful getting him in and out of the basket.

We had a fantastic ride 2000 feet high, with a stunning view of the sunrise over Albuquerque. A…read morevery personal experience, with a traditional post-balloon mimosa snack time and ballooning history lesson. Great crew, excellent experience!