Napa Valley Drifters

"Loved our morning ride! We were in a small group: my wife+me and another family of three. Laura was our pilot; she flew professionally, personably and was super informative about everything passing under our basket. The timing from 7am pick-up to ~9:15 drop-off went smoothly. Real credit to Janet and Jose on the ground staff. The route from just north of Yountville departure was scenic without feeling adrift. Landed in an open field of a Napa park with the ground team awaiting. Terry’s running the business hands-on and was following on the ground from launch to landing. It’s great to support owner-operator business in an area where other balloons looked like 20-person tour-busses! Happy to recommend Come with an open-mind and lots of flexibility (this isn’t a Disney ride on a track), and you’ll certainly have a breath-taking experience!"

"Wow! This was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done. Terry and his crew gave us an experience of a lifetime! He had great customer service and quickly got back to us when other companies didn’t. His balloon pilot, Laura, has many years of experience and knows Napa Valley well. Overall we felt safe and loved every moment! We would highly recommend the to anyone looking to go on a hot air balloon!"

"Worst customer service I've ever had! A gift cerficate from this company for my girlfriend's birthday turned out to be the worst decision I could've made. The owner, Terry, has the worst business practices and his staff is not much better. Specifically, two couples showed up at Starbucks at 5am and we waited 30 minutes without the appearance of any employee. We ended up calling Terry only to find out that we couldn't fly that morning. He knew that we were confirmed for that date. How difficult is it to let your customers know that you aren't flying? Turns out his staff did not send an email stating we should call to check the status the night before. We weren't the only group that were misinformed and disappointed. Terry talked negatively about his staff and offered to pay for our hotel and refund our balloon ride. Instead of apologizing for the inconvenience, he ending up talking rudely to my girlfriend. Ultimately, he took back his promise to refund us. Subsequentely, her birthday weekend was ruined... Therefore, I will never support this business. The owner and staff are unprofessional and don't understand how to run a company. Listening to Terry on the phone, I realized how unorganized he really is. I would strongly recommend another balloon company."

"Terry (the owner) really screwed us over. I talked to him several times on the phone leading up to our reservation day. He informed me that my husband and I were the only two people signed up to go on that particular day (it was a Tuesday) but that he would still take us up. I called him the day before the flight like he instructed me. He told me that he hadn't gotten much information on the weather for the next day, but our plan was still on, and for me to call him at 5am to do a last check-in. I called him Tuesday morning at 5am on the dot. The phone rang and rang without him answering....this hadn't happened before on our calls. Finally he answered and sounded really groggy, like I had woken him up. I told him that it was me calling about our balloon ride. He asked me my name 3 times...seemed weird since we had established multiple times that I was his only reservation that day. He then said, "oh ya sorry we have to cancel." That was it. No explanation. So I asked him if it was the weather and he said that yes, the winds were too strong. I immediately thought it was weird because the weather report looked incredible for the morning, nice and clear and very low winds. He tells me that we can try to go again on Thursday. I remind him that Thursday's weather looked terrible. He says that he can't do Wednesday because it was already all full. I then ask permission to cancel our reservation all together so we can try to find another company to use Wednesday. I end up booking on Napa Valley Aloft (highly recommend!) for Wednesday morning. I ask my pilot as we are floating along if they flew on Tuesday. His exact words: "yep sure did, it was a beautiful morning, just like this one." Vacations are short. Luckily we found another company to take us up, but what if we hadn't? Don't let Terry ruin your plans because he doesn't feel like getting out of bed."

"This company was fantastic. They were prepared from the get-go. The van to take us to the launch site was running when we arrived. It was a quick trip, then arrival showed the balloon and basket set up, ready for inflation. We had some great pictures on the ground, then up-up-and away! It was an easy lift off, with an awesome pilot-Russ. He was so knowledgeable and friendly. He easily answered all of our questions during the flight. The view was spectacular and afforded us a lot of gorgeous pictures. It's hard to get better than sunrise in a balloon, surrounded by other colorful balloons, during the fall when leaves turn colors. The flight lasted about an hour (just the right amount of time). We had an easy touch-down, and if we wanted, could help with packing up the balloon (we did!). The whole experience was incredible, and it was made even better because I could share it with my husband and parents who just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Thank you for a fantastic, memorable time!"