FAQ

This site compares eight departure areas: Franz Josef and Fox Glacier on the West Coast (glacier flights with snow landings), Aoraki/Mount Cook (alpine landings and Tasman Glacier), Lake Tekapo (short flights over the Mackenzie Basin), Wanaka (Mt Aspiring National Park), Queenstown (the biggest choice, from Remarkables landings to Milford trips), Te Anau (Doubtful and Dusky Sound) and Milford Sound, which is also flown from Glenorchy.

Prices on this site load live from the booking platforms in New Zealand dollars. Nothing is typed in by hand, so what you see is the current online price. Every location page shows a live from-price in the hero and on each flight card; short flights are the cheapest way in, long Milford combinations from Queenstown are the most expensive.

Yes, every flight listed on this site can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours before departure. We checked this on each individual product page; the exact terms are shown again on the booking platform before you pay.

Scenic flights are weather-dependent and the operators decide on the day. If your flight is cancelled, they offer an alternative date or a full refund.

Snow landings on the glacier névé are the signature of Franz Josef and Fox Glacier. Aoraki/Mount Cook and Wanaka fly alpine landings, Queenstown lands on the Remarkables, and some Milford Sound flights include a glacier landing. Each flight card states whether a landing is included; pure overflights are marked as such.

A short helicopter flight up to the ice, then a guided walk on the glacier before flying back down. They are offered at Franz Josef, Fox Glacier and Aoraki/Mount Cook, on the Tasman Glacier from Queenstown, as the Siberia Valley wilderness combination from Makarora near Wanaka, and on the Kepler Track near Te Anau, where the helicopter only takes you up. All of them are compared on the heli-hikes page.

Yes, weight rules apply: helicopters are balanced by passenger weight. At the glacier bases, several operators require passengers of 120 kg and over to purchase an extra comfort seat at check-in, and INFLITE states a passenger weight limit of 116 kg. Check the linked product page of your flight for the exact rule.

There are two approaches: short scenic flights over the fiord itself (from Milford's own airport, from Te Anau or from Glenorchy) or the classic longer trips from Queenstown, which cross the Southern Alps and can be combined with a cruise on the fiord. The Milford Sound page compares the local flights, the Queenstown page the trips from town.

This site lists pure helicopter flights. At Aoraki/Mount Cook, one combination product is partly flown in a fixed-wing ski plane. It is clearly marked as such on the Mount Cook page, so you always know which aircraft you are booking.

No. This is an independent comparison site. Booking happens on established platforms such as GetYourGuide or Viator, which we link to; the price is the same as going there directly, and we may earn a commission on bookings made through our links, at no extra cost to you.