Passenger Limitations

All passengers must be able to climb in and out of the basket, stand for the entire flight, and possibly walk out of a field if necessary. We cannot fly any passenger who has had recent surgeries or broken bones, hip or knee replacements in the past two years, is pregnant, or is unable to stand for the duration of the flight. Children must be a minimum of 6 years old and any passenger under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Maximum individual weight is 280 pounds / 127 Kilograms / 20 stone. Your safety is our main concern. If you are concerned about any health issues, please consult with your physician prior to scheduling or call our office to discuss your individual situation.

Flight Certificate Delivery

All flight certificates are emailed within 24 hours of order receipt. If you are unable to receive and/or print the flight certificates via email, please call us and we will mail the certificates via US Postal service. When US Postal Service delivery is requested, we will ship them within 48 hours of order receipt.

Scheduling Flight Certificates given as gifts

Simply present the flight certificates and other paperwork to whomever you intend to give the ride, and have them contact us to schedule, or they may schedule on our website using the codes on the flight vouchers. Since we will not know to whom they have been given, we will not contact you to schedule. It is your responsibility to make sure the recipient contacts us to schedule their ride. Please ask the recipient to have a calendar handy when calling so we can pick a mutually agreeable time. If we are unable to fly the first opportunity for any reason, they can contact us to reschedule at their convenience.  Flight Certificates issued by us do not expire unless they are forfeited or were donated by us for a charitable donation.  Any charitable donation certificates will expire 1 year after the issue if no expiration date is on the certificate.

Flight status hot line

Once your reservation is completed, and you have received a confirmation from us, you are confirmed for that specific day's flight. The email confirmation will include the flight status line number to call before your flight.  You are required to call that number at the time indicated in the email to get the status of your scheduled flight.  The flight line will inform you of three options: 1. that the flight is a go, 2. on a weather hold, or 3. canceled.  It will also provide instructions about how to proceed based upon the flight status.  If the flight is on, it will include the meeting time at our welcome center, the address of our welcome center, and hotel pickup information for those who reserved round trip hotel pick up transportation. Please note hot air ballooning is weather dependent and that we do expect all guests to be in the local area prior to your flight; to avoid being late or missing your flight please make necessary preparations. Orlando Balloon Rides will not be responsible in the event you do not arrive for your flight. This is true even if the flight is placed on a weather hold.  If something changes on our end, such as weather, we will amend the flight status line, so please check the flight status line one more time in the morning prior to leaving for the welcome center.  It is your responsibility to ensure we have a valid contact phone number and you are available. Please arrive at the given meeting location on time. We will leave for the launch site approximately 10 minutes after the meeting time. If you are not present, you will be considered a no-show. Please see the policy below on no-shows. If the weather is unsafe to fly, we will work with you to reschedule your flight.

No-Show Policy

A "No-show" is anyone who fails to show up for a flight after scheduling a flight. No-shows have a substantial impact on our business. As a result of no-shows we either flew an aircraft only partially full, or we didn't fly at all. Either way we incurred the same expense to fly whether we were able to fly you or not, therefore a no-show will result in a forfeiture of your flight fee, certificate, voucher or deposit and we will consider our obligation for that flight to be fulfilled. No refund will be possible since we incurred the cost of the flight in your absence. Please make sure to allow sufficient time for arrival at the meeting location, and call us if you are running late. If you are using a third party certificate of any type to pay for your flight, that voucher will be redeemed and considered used and you will not be entitled to a refund from that third party agency.  Should you manage to get a refund from them, we will charge the card you provided us at scheduling for your flight fee. There are no exceptions to this policy under any circumstances.

Weather Cancellation Policy

Weather is always a concern and does force cancellations and rescheduling of flights. If it clearly isn't going to be safe to fly on your date and time, the flight status line will announce this as soon as the decision is made before the flight.  Please call us the next business day to reschedule your adventure. If the flight is on, we will provide specific meeting times and locations for the morning's adventure.  If the weather forecast isn't clear for the next morning, we will place the flight on a weather hold and ask everyone to call about 1 hour before the morning's expected meeting time to get an updated forecast.  At that time we will let you know for sure if the flight is on. If we must cancel your flight due to weather, simply call us to reschedule your flight.  If you are unable to reschedule, and you paid us directly for your flight, please call us for your options.

Cancellation Policy

If you cancel at least 48 hours prior to your scheduled flight, there is no penalty and you may reschedule. If you cancel with less than the required notice, or fail to show up the morning of your flight, we will charge the full amount to the card on file as a cancellation fee, or your flight certificate, voucher or prepayment will be considered forfeit and you will not be allowed to reschedule that reservation. No credit will be given in any way for cancelling with less than the required notice or for no-shows.

Refund Policy

All flight certificates and prepaid flights purchased directly from Balloons Over the Rainbow are fully refundable within one (1) year from the date of purchase as long as either no flight has been scheduled, or you cancel your first scheduled flight at least 48 hours prior to flight time. All refunds will be issued to the original purchaser in the original purchase method (credit card purchases will be refunded via the same credit card) if possible. If not, a refund will be issued via company check. No refunds will be issued to no-shows, those that show up intoxicated, or anyone whose flight certificate, flight, or voucher has been forfeited for any reason. No refund will be granted after one (1) year from sale. Even if the certificate is not refundable, as long as it hasn't been forfeited or used, it can still be used.  There are no exceptions to this policy.

f you are eligible for a refund, we will process the request within 7-10 business days.  If your flight was purchased through any third party, you will have to discuss any refund request with them.  We are not able to provide refunds for any third parties for any reason.

Payment Options

We are pleased to accept MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express, and cash. We do not accept checks as a form of payment. 

Flight Restrictions

• We require a minimum of four (4) passengers in any one balloon to fly. All flights are group flights, so you will likely be with other guests to ensure we have at least 4 people per balloon.
• A minimum of two (2) passengers are required for any Private flight. 
• Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
• Kids must be 6 - 14 years old to qualify for kids discount.
• Children must be at least 8 years old and 50" tall.
• Weight limit of 270 lbs. / person applies
• Pregnant women may not fly 
• Anyone having recent surgery or broken bones may not fly.
• Anyone having joint replacement within the past two years may not fly.
  (We still recommend you clear any issues with your doctor prior to flying.)
• All flights are weather dependent.
• All passengers are required to read and sign our Passenger Release (PDF)

Download it here

Please Read Before you Buy

You will hear all kinds of crazy things when you start shopping for a balloon ride. Some of the things we hear that are shared with potential guests are just completely wrong, some are bold faced lies, and some of the stuff is just downright comical. Our view has always been that part of our responsibility is to educate anyone who is looking for a balloon ride, and help them make an educated and informed decision on who to fly with, even if they don't in the end choose us.

Here are the facts:

Fact: All balloon ride companies are required to have F.A.A. certified commercial pilots in order to fly passengers for hire, It's the law.

Fact: All balloons are inspected annually or every 100 hours, whichever comes first to the exact same safety and maintenance standards as a brand new aircraft, regardless of the age of the aircraft, It's the law.

Some things to watch out for:

1. Make sure the company you are speaking with actually owns and operates their own balloons and isn't just a certificate reseller. There are MANY scams out there on the internet that will sell you a flight certificate they never intend to honor just to get your money. We have always owned and operated our own fleet of balloons and do not honor any 3rd party flight certificates.
2. Assuming they own their own aircraft as mentioned in item 1, and if you are buying a flight certificate, always ask if it is refundable, transferable, and if it has an expiration date! Our flight certificates do not expire, and are refundable up to your first scheduled flight date or one year from purchase.
3. What are their policies for rescheduling and cancellations due to weather? Mother nature never listens, we all know that. We DO NOT charge in advance for reservations. If we are canceled due to weather, you can either reschedule or incur no charges at all. Our check-in and no-show policies do apply though, so read through those.