This was an absolutely fantastic experience!
Because we had already toured the pyramids with a group and had flights out in the afternoon, we opted for private transport to and from our hotel in Mexico City. Flying Pictures sent an email the night before with our driver’s name and vehicle make/model. After our ride, our driver was at breakfast and ready to go as soon as we were.
We had a second pilot on our ride (to balance out the basket weight) who spoke English and gave us some insight into the company. He was from New Mexico and comes down to work with FP during his off season. He said he has inspected some of the other companies in the area and none are as well-run or have as high-quality/well-maintained equipment as FP does. The owner of FP was on site while balloons were being prepared for flight, and he was visible again afterwards eating breakfast with his staff - a really good sign, I thought, since hands-on, on-the-ground management usually results in the best companies. And our pilot, Paco, was very experienced with 7,000 flying hours logged!
The process was extremely well-organized and there were lots of staff on site (and several spoke English). Bathrooms are available at the launch site. Breakfast was a lovely buffet with lots of choices, and there’s a nice souvenir shop at the breakfast complex.
