How much does a Las Vegas Strip helicopter tour cost? — featuring One Day in SoCal (5 Star Helicopters)

In this video: 5 Star Helicopters - Tour of the Las Vegas Strip

One Day in SoCal · 3 years ago

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How long is the actual flight time?

The video shows a 12-minute complete experience from briefing to departure and landing. The actual airtime follows a set route: north to the Stratosphere, down to Fremont Street, a hard left bank around downtown, back toward the Strip, and a dive-and-bank maneuver past the MGM Grand before returning to the airfield.

At a glance

Length
18 min
Channel
One Day in SoCal
Video from
May 2023
Rating
⭐⭐ Great video · 2/2
Best for
First-time helicopter passengers and Las Vegas visitors seeking a compact aerial tour.

What this video answers

  • How long is the actual flight time?
  • What if I feel sick during the flight?
  • Do I need any special clothing or gear?
  • Can I take photos and videos in flight?
  • What happens if the weather is too bad to fly?
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Summary of This Las Vegas Strip Helicopter Tour

5 Star Helicopters offers a complete aerial experience over the Las Vegas Strip, with this video documenting the full 12-minute journey from ground briefing through landing. The tour departs from a Vegas airfield and follows a carefully planned route down the Strip, around the downtown Fremont Street area, and back—all while you sit in a glass-cockpit helicopter with unobstructed views. This is a hands-on adventure with real operational details you need to know before boarding.

The experience suits anyone seeking a unique perspective on Las Vegas's iconic landmarks without requiring previous flying experience or special fitness level. Whether you're a first-time visitor wanting to see the whole city at once or a photography enthusiast chasing aerial shots, this tour delivers both thrills and sight-seeing in one compact outing.

Key Moments

What You'll See on This Vegas Strip Flight

  • The Stratosphere tower as you initially head north on Las Vegas Boulevard
  • A dramatic hard left bank and dive around downtown Fremont Street
  • The MGM Grand Casino and a tight banking maneuver between it and the Tropicana Boulevard area
  • Takeoff and landing sequences from a working airfield with running helicopter blades
  • Multiple casinos and the full Strip layout from an altitude that lets you see happy hour specials signage
Featured image for the guide to 5 Star Helicopters - Tour of the Las Vegas Strip by One Day in SoCal

Key Details Before You Book Your Helicopter Experience

  • Flight conditions matter: Wind gusts up to 25 knots are possible and will create a bumpy, thrilling ride; expect turbulence rather than smooth cruising.
  • Camera flash protocol: Disable flash on all cameras and phones—the glass cockpit will reflect any flash back at you, ruining photos. Keep flash off for the best shots.
  • Boarding and exiting are active: You'll walk to running helicopters with spinning blades and board via a narrow four-inch-wide rail under the fuselage; ground crew assist is available and encouraged.
  • Secure loose items: The rotor wash is powerful enough to blow away eyelashes, hats, and small personal items; secure anything you don't want to lose.
  • Headsets and communication: You'll wear headsets with a boom microphone, and everything you say is live—the entire group hears you.
  • Ground ramp rules: Airport security prohibits photos and video on the tarmac before and after flight; phones and cameras must stay down while on the ground.

Common Questions About 5 Star Helicopters Las Vegas

How long is the actual flight time?

The video shows a 12-minute complete experience from briefing to departure and landing. The actual airtime follows a set route: north to the Stratosphere, down to Fremont Street, a hard left bank around downtown, back toward the Strip, and a dive-and-bank maneuver past the MGM Grand before returning to the airfield.

What if I feel sick during the flight?

The pilot mentions that motion sickness can happen, especially with the turbulent wind conditions shown in this video. Souvenir bags are provided for back-seat passengers (directly in front of you) and front-seat passengers (off to your right at the ankle). The crew takes this seriously and has backup supplies if needed.

Do I need any special clothing or gear?

The video doesn't specify a dress code, but you should wear secure, closed-toe shoes given the narrow rail boarding step and the windy conditions around running helicopter blades. Avoid loose items like hats, scarves, or lightweight accessories that rotor wash could carry away. Sunglasses are a good idea for the glare off glass and city surfaces.

Can I take photos and videos in flight?

Yes—the pilot explicitly encourages passengers to record the flight and stick cameras out the window to capture the experience. Just remember to turn flash off completely, as it will reflect off the glass cockpit and ruin your shot. Once airborne, photos and video are not only allowed but recommended.

What happens if the weather is too bad to fly?

The video captures a flight in 25-knot crosswind conditions, which the pilot notes as bumpy and thrilling but flyable. The video does not detail cancellation policies, so you should confirm with 5 Star Helicopters directly about their wind limits and how they handle reschedules due to weather.

A still from the video 5 Star Helicopters - Tour of the Las Vegas Strip by One Day in SoCal
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Key Terms

Hot load and hot offload
Boarding and exiting a helicopter while its rotors are still spinning and the engine is running.
Glass cockpit
A helicopter cabin with extensive transparent windows or panels, making camera flash reflect back at the camera and spoil photos.
Bank (or banking maneuver)
A sharp turning motion where the helicopter tilts its wings to change direction.
Crosswind
Wind blowing sideways across the aircraft's direction of travel, which causes turbulence and bumpy flight.

Sources: Hot load and hot offload · Glass cockpit · Bank (or banking maneuver) · Crosswind — definitions cross-referenced with Wikipedia

Justin’s Take

This video is invaluable because it gives you the complete operational reality of the tour, not just glamorous highlights. The pilot's detailed safety briefing and honest warnings about wind, narrow boarding steps, and strict ground protocols mean you'll show up prepared and confident rather than surprised or anxious.

What impressed me most was the pilot's frank humor mixed with real operational transparency—he explains exactly what bumpy air feels like, why flash ruins photos, and where safety equipment is located. That level of candor makes you trust the operation and actually look forward to the experience. If you're considering an aerial tour of Las Vegas, book this one.

Great video · 2 out of 2

Justin
Justin

Years on the front lines of helicopter tour coordination — not as a travel blogger, but as the person responsible for making every guest experience go right. Managed 2,000+ cruise guests weekly as Shore Excursions staff aboard the Pride of America in Hawaii Personally coordinated with helicopter tour operators to confirm age, weight, and safety requirements.

Video by One Day in SoCal on YouTube. If you enjoyed it, please subscribe to their channel and show your support for the great video.

Description

The full 12 minute helicopter experience of the Las Vegas Strip, from briefing to walking back into the terminal.

Winds were gusting as a crosswind to 25 Knots, which may not be too intense on the ground, but certainly makes for a bumpy and thrilling ride in a helicopter in the air.

***Audio cuts out between 11:17 and 13:25 a not exactly sure why that occurred after video processing and uploading. 🤷***

Video transcript for “5 Star Helicopters - Tour of the Las Vegas Strip” Accessibility

A full written transcript of this video, provided for accessibility. Select any timestamp to jump the video to that moment.

[Music] thank you very soon um all right ladies and gentlemen welcome to Five Star my name is Greg first things first enjoy yourselves tonight have a good time take plenty of pictures and videos if you want the only thing

that we ask is hey you please make sure your flash is off it is a glass cockpit that you're flying in tonight so if you take a picture with the flash on it this type of helicopter you will end up with a picture of the inside of the helicopter okay so for the best pictures and videos tonight make sure that

flashes off all right everyone we are going to Hot Load you and hot offload you and this means we're going to walk you straight out to running helicopters they are not shutting down blades are going to be spinning the air is going to be moving lights are going to be flashing I get to warn you in advance

please hang on to anything you don't want to blow off fly up or blow away hand your clothing your eyelashes and anything else you think you're gonna hey I'm serious now I have one lady last night just letting you know okay that being said this is the model of helicopter everyone is flying on there is two

groups and here that means there's two helicopters flying the rail under the body right here is what you're going to step up onto to get in and it is very narrow it's approximately four inches wide okay it's very narrow so please be careful and please take your time when you make that first step our ground crew

is going to be right there shining a flashlight on there for you so you know we're going to be stepping and we'll also assist you if you need that to get up into the helicopters once you get inside and you're sitting down this build is basically the same design as the one in your vehicle this is just for

demonstration purposes yours will go across your chest and across your waist and it's going to be located up by your shoulder just like it is in your car or truck or you know if you don't have a car truck you don't have to worry about it anyways uh reach for your shoulder pull it across your body connect the two

hands together at your waist after that you're gonna have a pair of headsets directly above your head on a hook take these headsets place them on your ears you're gonna have a boom microphone located on one side grab a hold of it pull it straight down towards your mouth and once you're set up like

this you can hear everybody and everybody can hear you so please be careful what you say how you say it in the words you use and yes it is a hot mic okay all right after that so I don't want no surprises just let you know all right after that we're gonna step down from the helicopters close up the doors

for you and you're simply going to start to float up into the air and head towards the Las Vegas Boulevard you're going to go in the direction of the stratosphere you should fly close enough to see what they're serving for happy hour if it's still happy hour pass those guys up go down to Fremont Street area

do a very hard long Left Bank around it level up start coming back in this direction and everyone knows where the big green MGM Grand Casino is up here on the corner as soon as you see that get ready because you're going to do a hard Left Bank dive straight down between intro mechanic Casino go downtown

Tropicana Boulevard hang a hard right cut back and onto the Airfield right back here here I am not an example very cool flight I tell everybody hit record stick it in the window and enjoy this out here this is what you're paying for so please enjoy your flight all right everyone once you land your helicopters will not

be shutting down they are going to continue Run for the next two hours so as our ground Crews go up there and open up the doors for you please please please pay attention where you're about to step out to that rail that you stepped up on to get in that is the only thing outside of the helicopter and it

is a little higher off of the ground than you think so please be careful please take your time and please do not be in a rush we're going to be right there with the flashlights again shining it on the rail for you so you know where to step and we'll also have our hands extended out in case you need that help

getting out of the helicopters my favorite Parts if you do not feel well in Flight maybe it was Papa's Five Guys in and out Shake Shack Taco Bell McDonald's Panda Express Roberto's or White Castle and yesterday yesterday believe it or not was Popeyes for those in the back seat yeah I don't know it

was Mardi Gras mustard dirty rice but anyways those in the back seat your souvenir bag will be directly in front of you in the seat back and for those in the front two seats it's going to be off to your right hand ankle please use it I keep score so far tonight zero yesterday three so we need to use it please use it

all right all right so there is a fire extinguisher located on the right side of the pilot seat so if you get instructed to reach for the fire extinguisher please lean forward you will have enough slack in your seat belt to reach for it and it detaches easily from the floor please follow

instructions after that for anyone sitting in the back seats in three four five and six underneath one of your seats because each helicopter is different where it's located there is a first aid kit directly underneath your seat so if anybody needs a Band-Aid cotton ball or something like that

simply reach underneath your seat one to two inches give it a quick pull you'll have it in your hands last thing we will handle all door operations so please do not mess with the doors in flight on the ground before takeoff or upon Landing we will take care of all that for you all

right so last thing one policy one policy only on the doors before you walk through them to go outside it says that there are no pictures or videos allowed out on the ramp that is a security policy set by the airport not us so what we ask is while you're out on the ground please keep your arms down phones down

cameras down once you get into the helicopters all the pictures and videos you want to do that's not a problem we're going to shine flashlights at you we're going to be vocal about you putting your phones down stop taking pictures Etc we're just doing our job please do not get angry with us okay we

don't know if the airport's watching us so uh there is two groups in here when I start calling out your names they're going to line up the first group here second group on that side does anyone have any questions perfect let's do this first person right here is gonna be Tara come on up your

seat one Skyler you're right behind her seat too Francine c three Denise C4 Patricia seat five Tim seat six on this side Rachel or Raquel Rachel come on down you received one McKenna seat two is that right yeah all right The Tennessee Two Greg awesome name come on up seat three Melanie C4 Mike C5 and

Renee seat six all right so we're the last person thank you

[Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause]

[Applause]

[Music]

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