Some people have a hot air balloon flight on their bucket list (or should that be basket list 😉 ). It had never been high on my list of things to do, but having gone up in a hot air balloon recently, I now see why it appeals to so many people.
Shae and I attended the 2021 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta and figured that would be the perfect opportunity to go up in a hot air balloon for the first time. We were a little late in planning that though, so Rainbow Ryders – the only company allowed to take passengers from Balloon Fiesta Park during the event – were fully booked.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing though because going on a flight with Rainbow Ryders really would have busted our budget last month. Having a monopoly on Balloon Fiesta Park means they can charge a premium for the experience and that experience is $$$$.
Instead, Shae found a great alternative. Other companies are allowed to offer balloon flights in Albuquerque during the International Balloon Fiesta – they just can’t take off from Balloon Fiesta Park. She found a company called Aerogelic Ballooning that’s based in Phoenix, AZ but which comes to Albuquerque, NM to offer balloon flights during the Balloon Fiesta.
Seeing as they can’t take off from Balloon Fiesta Park, we arrived at 6:30am at a parking lot in Albuquerque.
We drove to one potential takeoff location, but the wind conditions meant they decided a different location would be better. That better location also included some unobstructed views of the sunrise over the Sandia Mountains.
The Aerogelic team then started getting the hot air balloon set up.
I’d always assumed that hot air balloons are, you know, filled with hot air. They are, but to initially inflate the balloon a fan was used to fill it with air like it was just a regular balloon.
Shae stood next to the balloon while it was being inflated to help give a sense of its size.
About 15 minutes after arriving, the sun popped its head over the mountains. I’m normally a late riser, so it was nice getting to enjoy a sunrise for once.
Once the balloon was inflated with regular air, it was time for the ‘hot air’ part.
It didn’t take long for the balloon to heat up and go from horizontal to vertical.
With the balloon upright, it was time for us to get in the gondola (the basket beneath the balloon). There were four sections for passengers, with space for four people in each one.
We took this balloon flight with Shae’s mom and stepdad and we were in the first group to go up. The other group followed us in vans below to pick us up when we landed, then we’d follow that group to pick them up afterwards.
We needed a few more minutes of hot air before we were ready to take off.
It was then time to take off – here’s a short video from that.
I had no idea what it would feel like going up in a hot air balloon. I’d pictured the gondola swaying a bit in the wind, but that wasn’t the case at all. The flight was incredibly smooth throughout; if I hadn’t seen the ground moving below us, I wouldn’t have known we were even moving.
Even though our flight took off a few miles away from Balloon Fiesta Park, we still got to enjoy all of the other balloons dotting the skyline from the Mass Ascension there.
Our balloon flight went as high as 9,000 feet. I’d thought we’d be pretty cold up there, but I ended up having to remove my jacket as the heat from the balloon’s burners kept things warm enough. I kept my hat on though because the heat from the burners was too hot to not have the hat protecting my head.
Our balloon flight lasted about 45 minutes, then we headed downwards towards a field. The original potential landing spot was a bit of a distance from where the vans following us would be able to get to, so we continued in the air just a little further until we came to a dirt road they could drive down.
We were unsure what to expect from the landing too. Our pilot instructed us to lean against one side of the gondola and hold the rope handle in the gondola as we landed to help ensure we didn’t get a big jolt. It ended up being a fairly smooth touchdown and so there wasn’t much of a jolt at all.
Someone who was out walking their dog got to enjoy watching us descend. Here’s a short video showing our landing.
After landing, the group who’d been following us in the vans came over to the balloon. Four people from one compartment of the gondola got out, with four people from the next group getting in. Another four people then got out and another four got it. We did this until everyone had switched out; it was done this way so that the gondola wouldn’t lose too much weight by having the first group all get out at the same time.
As you might notice in the photo above, there was a tear in one of the panels towards the bottom of the balloon. Seeing as it was low down on the side of the balloon it didn’t cause any kind of safety issue, so the second group took off.
With that group up in the air, we headed over to the white vans to follow them around. The Mass Ascension from the International Balloon Fiesta was still in full force.
Just under an hour after they took off, the second group touched down in a field next to a warehouse.
Once all the passengers from the second flight had disembarked, the Aerogelic Ballooning crew quickly worked to pack everything away.
While part of the Aerogelic team worked on packing up the balloon, our pilot and an assistant served up champagne.
Champagne has traditionally been served after balloon flights because back when hot air balloons were first invented, farmers in France (where the first balloon flights occurred) were afraid of these strange contraptions landing in their field, leading to them attack the balloonists. Balloon pilots therefore carried a bottle of champagne to share with the farmers as an act of goodwill and to show there was nothing to be scared of.
Our pilot said the balloonist’s toast and we all enjoyed our mimosas.
While we worked on our drinks, Shae got chatting to one of the guys rolling up the balloon. She mentioned that she teaches online and that she’d be doing a class about our hot air balloon flight and he thought that sounded cool. He therefore gave her the torn section from the hot air balloon to keep and show her students which was awesome.
Shae also put together a 10 minute video using footage she took using our GoPro, so here’s a longer video if you want an even better taste of what we got to experience. We had a fantastic time, so we’d love to go on more hot air balloon flights in the future.
How Much Our Hot Air Balloon Flight Cost
We paid $249 per person for our hot air balloon flight – $100 up-front and then $149 on the day. There weren’t any taxes or surcharges on this, but we did give a tip to our pilot which I think also got shared with the team.
While that’s more than we’d normally spend for activities on our road trip seeing as our daily budget is $100 per day, it was absolutely worth the experience.
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