How to make the most of your helicopter tour in New York?

Planning a helicopter tour over New York? Expect an unforgettable experience. But there are several things you should know to make the most of it and avoid common mistakes. Here are my 5 tips, based on my own experience and feedback from many helicopter tour passengers. Feel free to share your own experience with us!

1/ Prepare Your Camera Equipment

• You know the story: a photographer boards a helicopter and runs out of battery or memory card space. It happens more often than you’d think!
• To avoid wasting time swapping memory cards mid-flight, prepare your gear carefully before boarding. Use a fresh memory card and swap in a fully charged battery. A helicopter tour over New York is too short to spend it digging through your camera bag.

2/ Choose a Wide-Angle Lens Over Zoom

• I recommend using a wide-angle lens to capture sweeping views of New York Harbor and the skyline. You’ll get far better shots from a helicopter this way.
• Avoid the temptation to use a tight zoom: the helicopter’s movement will make most shots blurry. Don’t switch lenses during the flight either — you’ll waste precious time while the landscape passes by.

3/ Don’t Photograph Everything During the Flight

• After several helicopter tours, I’d suggest you don’t spend the entire flight behind the camera. Take time to actually see New York with your own eyes.
• Depending on whether you’re seated on the right or left side of the helicopter, you’ll get different views on the way up or down the Hudson. You’ll find that the memory of the experience stays with you far longer than the photos.

4/ Book Your Helicopter Tour Well in Advance

• Following complaints from New York residents, the city restricted helicopter tours significantly. Since April 1, 2016, no tourist flights are permitted on Sundays. The city further tightened restrictions in 2017, capping tours at 30,000 flights per year, down from 59,000 in 2015.
• The challenge is that New York attracts more visitors each year while demand for helicopter tours far exceeds availability. The city welcomed nearly 65 million visitors in 2024, up 3.5% from 2023. As a result, prices are rising and availability is shrinking. If you want a helicopter tour of New York, book well ahead. You’ll find all available flights in our section on New York helicopter tours.

5/ Check the Weather Before You Go

• Once you’ve booked, you’ll receive a voucher with your departure date and time. But that’s not set in stone. In the days before your flight, monitor the weather and make sure conditions will be good enough. If the weather is too poor, your flight will automatically be rescheduled to another day. For this reason, avoid booking your tour the day before or on the day you leave — you could get stuck if your flight is postponed.
• If conditions allow flying but you’d prefer to wait for sunnier skies, you can visit the heliport up to 24 hours before your scheduled flight to request a reschedule. This is usually granted without issue. If you booked through our tours and activities in New York section, feel free to contact us with any questions about your flight using our contact form.