Minnesota > Minneapolis > Flying Experience Gifts > Plane Rides Experiences

Twin Cities Scenic Plane Tour

Eden Prairie, MN

From: $275

Item #: AIR-MSP-0004

(58 Reviews)

Twin Cities Scenic Plane Tour in Minneapolis

Climb aboard a Piper Archer and get ready to view the beautiful sites of the Twin Cities and surrounding areas from a brand new perspective!

Provider has been in business for over 45 years and is one of the oldest commercial aviation operations in the Midwestern U.S.
Fly in a Piper Archer with an experienced FAA certified pilot
Enjoy stunning views of Lake Minnetonka, downtown Minneapolis, the State Capital, or even your house!

From: $275

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Overview

Climb aboard a Piper Archer and get ready to view the beautiful sites of the Twin Cities and surrounding areas from a brand new perspective!

Provider has been in business for over 45 years and is one of the oldest commercial aviation operations in the Midwestern U.S.
Fly in a Piper Archer with an experienced FAA certified pilot
Enjoy stunning views of Lake Minnetonka, downtown Minneapolis, the State Capital, or even your house!

Full Description

Availability

When Do I Choose A Date?

If giving as a gift, your recipient can choose a date at their convenience; otherwise, you can choose one after checkout.

Year-Round:
Daily - 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
*Pending pilot and aircraft availability

Important Details

Essential Information

Combined weight of participants must not exceed 380 pounds
Up to 2 participants at a time may fly, pending weight restrictions.

Duration

Approximately 60 minutes of flight time from engine start to engine stop.

Experience Provider Info

Complete information for your Experience Provider, including contact information, will be included on your booking confirmation email once you or your gift recipient have scheduled the experience. Our Product Management team handpicks top-rated experience providers, removing the guesswork for you and ensuring your peace of mind.

Maximum Participants

2, pending weight limits.

Spectators

Spectators are welcome to watch the plane take off and land.

Weather Dependent

This experience is weather dependent. Always contact the experience provider with any questions regarding weather conditions.

What To Wear

Wear comfortable clothing appropriate for weather conditions.

FAQs

Can I participate if I am under 18 years old?

Yes, but you will need a parent or guardian present with you at the airport to sign a waiver.

Is there a weight limit?

The maximum combined weight of all participants may not exceed 380 lbs.

Returns, Exchanges & Cancellations

Returns
Experience Vouchers that have not been redeemed can be returned hassle-free within 30 days. All refunds will be made to the original purchaser.
Exchanges
Experience Vouchers that have not been redeemed can be exchanged for anything else in our marketplace at any time. If you choose to exchange for an experience that costs more, you'll simply have to pay the difference. If you choose to exchange for an experience that costs less, you'll have a credit towards your next booking with Virgin Experience Gifts.

Cancellation Policy

Once you have scheduled a date and received a booking confirmation, no returns or exchanges are allowed. Once you have received a booking confirmation, rescheduling is allowed up to 72 hours prior to the Experience. Failure to appear on your booked date or reschedule at least 72 hours prior to your booked date will result in the loss of the value of your experience.

Other Minneapolis Experiences

Customer Reviews

This experience has a customer rating of 5
based on 58 reviews.

View More Reviews:

It was an excellent first flight for my son. He had a blast and Thunderbird Aviation is top notch. Will look to do another flight in the future.

— Brian J | Jul 11, 2022

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hello Brian, I appreciate you taking the time to leave such a wonderful review. I am filled with joy knowing you and your son had such a great time together! I hope this experience was more than memorable for your son and I look forward to helping you book another flight in the future. Regards, Briana

My experience was phenomenal! I gifted it to my son for Christmas so we could create a memory and I’m so glad I did. Cannot say enough good things about our experience. We loved it.

— Jill | Jun 21, 2022

Lots of fun!

— Kathryn | May 23, 2022

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

That's all we can hope for! Glad to hear it. Best, Jake.

The Twin Cities Scenic plane tour was a big hit. Great pilot and a beautiful day made this hour long tour very enjoyable. We have the pictures to prove it. Exactly as advertised.

— Kelly B | Oct 21, 2021

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi Kelly! It was so thoughtful of you to take the time to review your experience! From city views to the lush greenery outlining the lakes, I bet the photos you captured look incredible! I'm so happy that you had a great pilot and this entire tour was everything you anticipated it would be. I truly hope this beautiful day made for a very special memory to hold on to. Soar with us again soon! All my best, Courtney

We should have been approached about 5 to 5. 5:20 we were. The directions to get there confusing and not precise. Ben was great. Getting into plane and seat belts were an issue

— Peggy D | Oct 30, 2020

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi there Peggy, Thank you so much for taking a moment to share your experience with us! I am thrilled that we were able to get you confirmed for your preferred flight time of 5:00 PM. I apologize if there was any confusion regarding the directions or difficulties getting situated in the plane for your flight experience. We appreciate this feedback as we are always looking for ways to make experiences run as smoothly as possible. That said, I love that Ben was so helpful and made sure you all had a fun flight! I hope that the brief turbulence before take off didn't impact your fantastic scenic aerial tour of the Twin Cities once you were in the air! Best, Sophia

Great experience. We went for an hour plane ride with Charlie! He was very friendly and showed us some neat areas. He was also very willing to fly to things we wanted to see. I strongly recommend doing this in the fall and right before sunset! So beautiful!!

— Jennifer D | Oct 27, 2019

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hi Jennifer, thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with us! So happy to hear you had great big beautiful flight with Charlie, and I will make sure to pass along your kind words. Thanks for the stellar review and we hope you enjoy the rest of your week! Kindest, Kelsey

The weather, pilot and everyone was great!

— Regina T | Sep 16, 2019

Incredible experience! Wish I could give more than 5 stars. Precious moments became treasured memories for our family.

— Caleb R | Jul 14, 2019

Everything I imagined and more! The service at the desk was awesome, the flight was awesome and the pilot was great! I highly recommend!

— Victor W | May 13, 2019

Amazing pilot!!

— Michael J | Jan 06, 2019

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hey Cassandra, thanks for the awesome review and we're glad you had an amazing pilot! Happy New Year!!! Best, Kelsey

It was awesome,we had a good pilot,and good flight

— Joash A | Dec 17, 2018

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hey Joash thanks for sharing your awesome experience with us, we're thrilled you had a good flight AND a good pilot! We hope to see you back again for more adventures in the future but until then Happy Holidays!

Outstanding experience. Our pilot was very professional and friendly.

— Loren M | Oct 16, 2018

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Thanks for taking the time to share your outstanding experience with us, Loren! We are glad you had a great time and enjoyed your pilot.

Awesome experience - We had a scenic 60min. flight around Minneapolis through Thunderbird Aviation. The location was easy to find and the waiting area was exceptionally clean and welcoming, with a ton of windows to watch planes. We had Cliff as our pilot and he was AWESOME! Extremely knowledgeable and experienced, great conversationalist.

— Jessica B | Aug 07, 2018

Our scenic plane ride over lake Minnetonka exceeded our expectations! Sam our pilot was very professional and interested in keeping us comfortable and happy! He let us direct where we flew! It was an awesome experience!

— Pattie J | Oct 09, 2017

What an amazing thing to do!! Our pilot was excellent!!

— Mark G | Feb 12, 2018

Response from Virgin Experience Gifts

Hey Ashlee! It is great to hear from you and I am so excited the surprise went well! I will be sure to let our pilots know how much you enjoyed your time seeing the city from new heights! We hope to see you up in the sky again soon or maybe just out and about exploring the city. Thank you for letting us be apart of the fun! All the best, Chelsea

Seth was great, explained a lot and we had a great time.

— Jerry B | Aug 02, 2017

I bought the Twin Cities Scenic Plane Tour as a surprise for my mother's 60th birthday. Both my parents had a blast. They could not say enough good things about their pilot, Joe. He was very knowledgeable about the area they flew over, and gave them interesting tips and tricks on flying and navigating the air. They felt very safe and taken care of. Would have been cool to be able to fly over their home or other areas too, but understand that sticking to a flight plan is necessary. Would highly recommend to anyone! Thanks!

— Thomas P | Apr 10, 2017

Extremely happy I booked this experience! Our pilot, Joe, was the best. I will be booking again!

— Kylee C | Apr 01, 2017

The pilot was phenomenal! Would highly recommend!

— Antonio T | Mar 21, 2017

Clif Steel was an awesome pilot. Very fun.

— Gabriel L | Jan 17, 2017

This was an awesome experience! I bought a scenic plane ride for 2 for my boyfriend's birthday. I was hesitant about flying, but the pilot was so nice and amazing and knew what he was doing! He made me feel very comfortable and even flew over our house for us! My boyfriend loved it! Definitely recommend.

— Lindy H | Oct 11, 2016

Everyone was very nice and helpful. Our pilot was very nice. He made sure we had an enjoyable flight!

— Debi M | Sep 04, 2016

This was a great experience. The pilot seemed to enjoy his role and taking us up for a ride! It was wonderful.

— JP K | Jul 11, 2016

My children and myself had a wonderful time. We will definitely book again soon!!!

— Samantha F | Jun 28, 2016

Got there and was introduced to the pilot. It was a smooth process and also had a wonderful experience, will recommend to anyone. I was very satisfied. Thank you.

— Angel A | Mar 22, 2016

It was really fun, and a new cool idea as a gift for someone special.

— Brooke S | Feb 15, 2016

Our pilot was super-friendly, even though my mom didn't know English. He was very patient with us because I had to translate in-between. Even though the day we went was very windy, he informed us and talked with us about the areas and what he thought was interesting. Loved our pilot.

— Lou V | Nov 10, 2015

The pilot was very friendly, and they were able to accommodate a request to change our appointment for our convenience.

— Francisco P | Nov 09, 2015

We had Gary as our pilot. He's flown for four decades and knew a lot about flying, and I felt safe in the plane with him. First flight experience and it was an awesome one.

— Michael F | Nov 04, 2015

We had a wonderful flight, and got to ask lots of questions about flying in general. We couldn't go as close the the cities as I thought we would have, but the views around Lake Minnetonka were beautiful.

— Lauren B | Oct 20, 2015

We had a great time during our Cloud 9 Living experience! Our pilot was able to get us very close to Target Field which is what I wanted to see most. However, our Pilot wasn't able to point out that much information during the flight since he was new to the area. It would have been cool to get more things pointed out. Other than that it was awesome!

— Brittney M | Jul 28, 2015

Booking the flight from a gift certificate was not easy, but when I contacted the company in regards to the difficulty, they contacted me back right away and were incredible. Our flight was booked and confirmed and the experience was really fun. Just seeing the view of where we live and roads we drive almost daily from the air was truly a new way to view the area we have lived in for so many years. Our instructor was incredible and explained what to expect and the areas. I would recommend her also. Thank you for a wonderful Saturday morning flight.

— Joe A | Jul 01, 2015

Our flight with Thunderbird Aviation was such a fun experience! Ian was super-friendly and answered all of our questions about the flight. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fun flying experience. I really want to go again!

— Joe B | Jun 29, 2015

This scenic tour was a gift to us from our kids. Our pilot was friendly, and I felt safe with her. We had a good experience and would recommend it to others. I couldn't see over the front at all, but saw plenty out the side window. I sat to the left of the pilot. We used the gift on our 54th anniversary.

— Beryl W | Jun 13, 2015

The pilot arrived 45 minutes late for our appointment, and appeared in no rush to get started. She was very nonchalant about the tour, offering almost no information about what we were viewing. If we wanted to know something or had any questions about what was below us, we had to ask. I was very disappointed with the experience.

— Will P | May 11, 2015

This was an amazing experience for my husband and I! We have never done anything like this before, and chose to use our gift certificate on the Scenic Tour. We would highly recommend it. The Thunderbird Aviation Staff are all very kind and welcoming, and our pilot was great!

— Tammy M | Apr 01, 2015

Everything was wonderful! The only disappointment was from the headsets not working so we could not communicate with each other or the pilot as we would have liked. Please suggest higher quality head sets. Pilot was wonderful! Thank you!

— Rebekah L | Jan 19, 2015

Initially had trouble booking our experience online. We had to end up calling in to book our experience. Everyone was very nice and helpful and took great care of us. The flight itself was amazing. Perfect time of year in the fall with all the trees changing colors. Had a great time and would recommend this to friends and family. Thanks!

— Michael M | Oct 21, 2014

This was one of the best experiences we ever had and my fiancÃ© and I couldn't have been more pleased! The pilot was knowledgable, funny and very personable. We will definitely be doing another scenic tour as well as other attractions found on the website. We only purchased a half hour and will definitely be doing a longer ride next time. We did it in the fall so it was absolutely breathtaking to see the different colors of falls and all the lakes.

— Jenna S | Oct 13, 2014

Called the flight service and received all the information to be at the location on time. Walked in the door and was directed to the pilot of the aircraft. He asked about several items and had a flight plan in mind. we traveled over the St. Paul downtown, the MN State fair and headed for Minneapolis. Turn north to the small area of our home and then headed back to the airport. I would recommend the Thunderbird Aviation on the employee courtesy and knowledgeable pilots.

— Les L | Sep 02, 2014

My famaly and I,were very pleased with the experience we had.Will definitely will recommend to friends and family. Thank you again for all.

— Victaliano A | Jul 28, 2014

This was a great, affordable experience to celebrate our anniversary. Being able to take over and fly for a bit was very exciting. I was treated with the utmost respect and was amazed how pleasant working with customer service was. It was a lot of fun!

— Kayla Z | Jul 30, 2013

Pilot (Ian) was extremely friendly and knowledgable.

— Neel P | Jul 29, 2013

Great time.

— Merle H | Sep 05, 2013

My pilot, Luke, was AMAZING!

— Ange B | Nov 26, 2012

Wonderful time and great experience! Both of us are very appreciative of the opportunity to have done this.

— Patrick T | Aug 28, 2012

We received the flying experience as a Christmas gift from our daughter. It was a beautiful day and my husband was able to take over the controls while we flew over and around Lake Minnetonka MN. I thought I would be uncomfortable flying in a small plane but it was perfect.

— Dianne G | Aug 20, 2012

This experience was absolutely wonderful! I surprised my boyfriend for his birthday. He got to fly the plane for most of the experience. The instructor was super friendly and calmed my nerves as this was my first time in a small plane.

— Amanda J | Apr 23, 2012

I surprised my boyfriend for Christmas with a flight tour and we both loved it! Our pilot knew a lot about the area and was very nice, answering our questions and telling us different things about the area. Got some amazing pictures and memories!

— Maggie A | Dec 20, 2011

I did this as a surprise for my boyfriends 22nd birthday. Not only was it his first time EVER in any kind of a plane, but he was also given the opportunity to fly it himself once in the air!! He and I both loved it. It was so fun!

— Kayla K | Sep 17, 2011

Everything went well and pilot was wonderful.

— Joshua B | Sep 12, 2011

Despite a rather positive experience and a good, personable pilot, there was a misunderstanding as to the duration and details of the flight. When planning the 30 minute flight I was specifically told that we would be in the air for 30 minutes rather than the entire experience lasting 30 minutes. Furthermore, from the start of the engine to when we touched down and shut it down, our experience lasted only 25 minutes. This was upsetting as we should have had another five minutes in the air. Apart from being shorted on the time paid for, I was also told in the booking process that we would be able to fly over and observe the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area with the 30 minute option. However, upon asking this of the pilot when entering the plane he made it clear this was not possible. Although we were still able to view the beautiful Lake Minnetonka from above, our views consisted largely of residential areas in the suburb; not what I paid to see. All in all, this was an average experience but has great potential if the aforementioned areas are improved; the experience as is does not get my recommendation and I am glad I did not pay more of my own money for it. Thank you and best of luck.

— Spencer L | Aug 25, 2011

We thoroughly enjoyed our flight over the Twin Cities.

— Paula S | Aug 21, 2011

Awesome Experience! Thanks!

— Gregg F | Jul 14, 2011

This was my second flight with my pilot, Matt. A superb experience -- I enthusiastically recommend it. Flying as it was meant to be.

— Leroy S | May 04, 2011

Matt, my pilot, was friendly, enthusiastic and completely professional. I am looking forward to flying with him again. All in all, a wonderful and memorable experience. Two thumbs up!

— Leroy S | Apr 09, 2011

We had a great time! Our flight instructor was a lot of fun and being able to fly the plane was very cool. We would definitely love to do this again sometime!

— Paula L | Dec 04, 2009

Twin Cities Scenic Plane Tour