Infinity & Beyond

We booked our balloon ride with A & A Ballooning. Due to illness we flew with his son Jason (Infinity and beyond) and Andre the pilot from A&A chased us. We had a wonderful time. So beautiful and to see those balloons up close… amazing. I have read some of the negative reviews. People need to understand that ballooning is very much dependent on the winds. They will only fly when it is 5mph or less. Wouldn’t you want them to be safe? Our balloon ride was postponed several times due to wind and rain. We appreciate that our safety always came first. From the reviews I have read it seems the main problem people had was getting scheduled around weather before the groupon expires. I would suggest doing what we did. I called the balloon company and mentioned the groupon I saw. Andre from A&A gave us a gift certificate that doesn’t expire for the same price as the groupon. You have to be flexible and understanding to go ballooning. Our flight started with perfect winds. About 20 minutes into it the winds became strong so we had to land… safety first. Our balloon as well as the balloon from High five ballooning landed in a mans yard. Both pilots knocked on the mans door shook his hand and gave him a bottle of champagne. It was a very nice gesture and I am sure the gentleman loved having hot air balloons land in his yard because he came out and took pictures. Our flight was very short so they offered a nice discount on our next flight. We will take them up on their offer and we look forward to going again. Maybe in the fall or even winter when the snow is on the trees. I highly recommend Infinity and Beyond and A & A Ballooning. They made us feel very comfortable and safe and I loved listening to their funny adventures. It was the best Birthday present I have ever received. I can’t wait to do it again :)

My husband and I had an amazing experience. I bought the groupon and scheduled right away with Michelle. She was great and always promptly emailed me back!
We were so glad to be able to go on our first scheduled day, but would understand if they had to cancel due to weather circumstances! Safety is obviously important to them and I could tell through the whole experience. Jason was awesome and really funny! I could really tell that he was trying to give us the best experience possible. He always let us know the best times for pictures!
I could not have asked for a better experience!

My boyfriend got me tickets for a hot air balloon ride on Groupon for my birthday. It was an amazing experience. We were joined by another couple for this ride. Jason was an amazing pilot and made you feel safe. I would highly recommend them to anyone. Don’t forget to bring your cameras the sites are fantastic.
Checking another thing off the bucketlist!

What a crazy fun ride it was! Michelle and Jason were good sports and funny to be with. We were rescheduled once for bad weather but I’m not complaining because I’d rather be safe than sorry! It’s a small balloon but when paired with the right people it’s a hilarious ride! We saw the most beautiful sites of NH — literally floating over the tree tops. It was a smooth ride filled with laughs and excitement. The landing was a bit tricky but made for a great story! LOL. Thanks Michelle and Jason for your hard work, and our new partners in crime — Scott and Christine for a memorable flight experience! *The champagne toast was completed with the story of ballooning and we even got commemorative postcards, magnets, a cup, and a certificate with a ballooning poem! A very nice touch, Thanks, Jenn and Danielle :)

I tried to book with these people several times last year during the groupon date and each time it was canceled due to weather. I had planned to take my mother on a sunset trip and after the dates kept getting canceled so I finally booked a sunrise trip. This required my mother (from Worcester) to stay over my house the night before and wake up around 4 am if I remember correctly and that is when we left the house. On our way to Salem we stopped at Dunkin Donuts and that is when the balloon operator called and canceled. My mother was pretty much heartbroken the way a 5 year old would be (starting to have some cognitive issues). The weather was fine that day, I have been on a balloon ride once before with a gentleman out of the Portland Maine area and it was scheduled once and everything went as planned. I am convinced, with my experience, and the ones listed above that this was a partial scam from the start. I have emails saying 95% of trips were canceled– yet they offer no refund. I got absolutely zero and they have my $ 240.00 The toughest part to swallow is that they did not incur any expense and have my money. Based on my experience I think it would be a mistake to give them an additional $ 160 to actually take the flight. Shame on Groupon also for not helping to rectify this if it happened to a lot of people

Is it possible to give this company less than 1 star? Their customer service is awful. They kept canceling flights «due to weather» and then gave us 1 more potential day to fly or else we would be charged $ 161 for the difference between the groupon and the regular price. Why would I be charged extra from what I already paid ($ 239)? The day they gave, didn’t work… needless to say, the groupon was never used. Due to personal reasons, the groupon will never be used so I guess I’m out $ 239. I called and talked to the owner and pilot, Jason, and he refused to work with me on refunding me for a flight that I would never take… not even a partial refund. He offered to fly mon, tuesday, thursday, or friday through April, with no additional charge to me… BUT 5 min later when I asked what the days were again, he said he was just being facetious and didn’t think I would actually take him up on his offer. So he negated what he said and told me he couldn’t do anything for me. Seriously? As a small business owner myself, my experience with this company really disgusts me. He has my $ 239 and I have nothing. It comes down to principle here. I understand we are now past the expiration date, but why is it so hard to refund me for services I unfortunately won’t be able to use? I will never recommend this company to anyone and I will go out of my way to warn people about them. Choose another company if you want to take a hot air balloon ride.

As I read the reviews of others that booked with this company, it makes me frustrated, yet relieved, to know I’m not the only one that experienced poor customer service with this company.
I purchased their Groupon in January 2013 and contacted them as the package instructs in the beginning of March 2013. Michelle, their appointment coordinator, stated they were backed up with bookings until July 2013. I proceeded to book a sunset flight with them for mid July. I took the time I needed off from work with my job and made surprise plans for my lady and I to go on our first hot air balloon ride… That’s the last positive thing I have to say about the rest of my experience.
On the day of our scheduled trip, I watched the weather non stop to make sure everything was all set since it would take us about 2 hours to get to their location. I then received a phone call from the balloon’s pilot just as we were about to leave stating the trip has been cancelled due to weather conditions. I didn’t see any bad weather on the radar, but what do I know? They’re the «professionals».
The next day I contacted Michelle. She informed me they have cancelled most of their afternoon trips due to weather. She informed me that I should probably book a sunrise trip, opposed to a sunset trip, because all but 3 of their 50+ afternoon trips to that point in the year have cancelled… I only booked a hot air balloon ride with the intention of boarding a sunset trip. The idea of waking at 3 or 4am to board a sunrise trip was never a thought I considered. I asked what days they had available for a sunset trip to reschedule. I was instructed that THE ONLY REMAINING DATES AVAILABLE WITHIN THE TERMS OF THE GROUPON WERE MONDAYS, TUESDAYS, AND WEDNESDAYS AND NO WEEKENDS REMAINED.
After consulting with my job, once again, I was able to make arrangements for an early afternoon departure. Limited to their terms of only booking a flight on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, I contacted Michelle via email with the proposal to attend an afternoon flight on Wednesday August 23, 2013. Michelle, the appointment coordinator, responded saying that date is ok. Here’s the problem… I wrote the wrong date. There is no Wed Aug 23! There’s a Wed Aug 21 and a Friday Aug 23. So how can I get booked for a date that doesn’t exist, and how can she book me for a Friday flight that was never available?
So I, again, made plans to head up to the boarding zone on the Wed of that week. Because of Boston traffic, I left early to make sure I can get there on time. During my road trip up there, I expected a confirmation call of our flight that would take place that evening. The call never came. I then called twice with no answer. So I proceeded to email the company for a confirmation. A short while passed until I finally got an email response back from Michelle stating that the appointment was for Friday, not Wed, and there was nothing that they would do. I informed her of our previous conversation, stating that Fridays were never an option and there must have been some kind of mistake. She stated that it was not their fault, the appointment was confirmed for Aug 23, and if I wanted to reschedule at that point, my Groupon promotional value would expire and I’d have to pay the remaining $ 161 to book a trip. Basically, my options at that point were to pay the additional fees or lose the $ 240 I had paid to that point. I tried to explain where our communication error was, and it all fell on deaf ears. At that point, they had nothing left to say to me.
Finally, with no other options available, I contacted Groupon and explained my situation. I enclosed all the emails between myself and Michelle so they’d understand how I was being treated. They said they would contact them to get a resolve the issue, then get back to me within 48 hours. Groupon contacted me with an answer as they said they would. Their results did not change. Infinity Balloon had no intention on assisting me or taking any responsibility. Fortunately, Groupon provided excellent customer service and was able to provide alternative assistance.
I understand I made a mistake here, and do take some responsibility, but how can a company say that they have no other nights available for a PM flight except for a Mon, Tues, or Wed, and then book me for a weekend flight that they don’t have open? And how come when I requested for the Wednesday date was I not corrected? The customer satisfaction level at this company is obviously not a priority. I can’t believe a business, especially their appointment director Michelle, would be so cold to someone that has never been there before. They gladly took my money, but would not make an effort to try to make our experience a pleasurable one.
Needless to say, before I book a flight with another hot air balloon company, I’m going to pay serious attention to their customer’s experiences. But this company will never see a positive review from me, or a $ 1 from anyone I know.