Helicopter Surcharge - Juneau Alaska Excursions Help

[Summerprincess]

Does anyone happen to know how much the helicopter surchage is for passengers weighing more than 250 lbs. for excursions in Juneau, Alaska? We are looking at the Glacier excursions that fly you to the Mendenhall Glacier to ride a dog sled on the glacier or to have a guided 25 minute walk on the glacier. I would love to hear from anyone who has done any of these excursions or has other excursion experience in Juneau. Thank you so much!:)

[LauraStrick]

Does anyone happen to know how much the helicopter surchage is for passengers weighing more than 250 lbs. for excursions in Juneau, Alaska? We are looking at the Glacier excursions that fly you to the Mendenhall Glacier to ride a dog sled on the glacier or to have a guided 25 minute walk on the glacier. I would love to hear from anyone who has done any of these excursions or has other excursion experience in Juneau. Thank you so much!:)

 

 

We did this several years ago. My dad had to buy an extra seat. Then was highly irritated when someone else rode in "his" extra seat

 

 

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[EndersFoul]

I believe $130 it should say in the excursion write up on the princess website or if you are booking privately you can call directly. We booked thru princess and it originally showed a second seat reserved and charged but a week or so before we left it was reduced to just one seat per person. When we met the tour agent at the pier she handed us cards where we wrote our names and estimated weights. If anyone was close to 250 or higher you had to sign a paper stating you understood you would be charged extra (it said how much).

 

Our tour was ultimately cancelled so can't say how it works with billing. And yes, they let you get that far into the process before telling you it's cancelled (frustrating)

[Yosef42]

Does anyone happen to know how much the helicopter surchage is for passengers weighing more than 250 lbs. for excursions in Juneau, Alaska? We are looking at the Glacier excursions that fly you to the Mendenhall Glacier to ride a dog sled on the glacier or to have a guided 25 minute walk on the glacier. I would love to hear from anyone who has done any of these excursions or has other excursion experience in Juneau. Thank you so much!:)

It still says on the Princess website that the upcharge is $130. Oddly, what happens when you reserve is that your total shows twice the normal charge (as if you had booked an extra seat). You are instructed to see the Tour Office on the first day of your cruise to have this adjusted down to just the surcharge amount. Not sure why it works that way, as it seems like building in a problem if you forget to visit the Tour Office.

[arb18]

We just cancelled heli tour due to the double price...will now have to reconsider if the price is 130.

 

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[Thrak]

We did this several years ago. My dad had to buy an extra seat. Then was highly irritated when someone else rode in "his" extra seat

 

 

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Now that is a total crock of ****e. If you have to pay extra for your weight and buy two seats then that other seat shouldn't be filled with more weight.

[LauraStrick]

Now that is a total crock of ****e. If you have to pay extra for your weight and buy two seats then that other seat shouldn't be filled with more weight.

 

 

That's what HE said. But ..... it is also one of the best excursions we've ever done - and my dad agrees. My brother was complaining all the time about the price of this tour. After it was over - "worth every penny !!"

 

 

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[kitkat343]

Temsco was (and may still be) the subcontractor that provides this excursion. 6 years ago, we were able to walk to their offices directly from the cruise ship but you should double check on that.

 

We saved about 10% on this excursion by booking directly with Temsco instead of going through the cruise line.

 

 

Here is some more information from their website:

it is our policy for passengers weighing 250 pounds or more to be charged for an additional fee of $100.00. This will allow the guest additional space on the aircraft. If the guest may be close to the 250lbs on the day of flight, they are encouraged to purchase the surcharge at the time of booking. They can easily be refunded later, if needed. Failure to purchase may result in being delayed to a later time or cancelled due to weight and balance of the aircraft.

TEMSCO Helicopters reserves the right to weigh any guest; we have FAA-approved and state certified scales at our bases.

oddly based upon the above poster's experience, their website also says:

I weigh 269 and my wife only weighs 130 do we still have to pay a surcharge?

 

Yes. The weight surcharge is on a per person, per seat basis. The surcharge will provide the guest with extra space in the helicopter.

 

 

And this is what I learned when I did this in Skagway:

 

 

Safety is the most important factor, and there is a chance that your excursion may be cancelled. To minimize this risk, I would recommend that you go glacier dogsledding in Skagway, since the guide told me that weather tends to be a bit more stable than in Juneau. Also, please try to book an earlier flight since if your flight is cancelled, they may be able to squeeze you in later if the weather clears, but there are no guarantees.

 

The weather on top of the glacier is about 15 degrees cooler than the weather in Skagway, so please dress appropriately. There are lockers at the TEMSCO headquarters since you cannot bring any belongs up to the glacier except for a camera and your sunglasses. They also lend you really nice snow boots, which slip right over your shoes and provide excellent traction on the mountain.

[dtb55]

We did this several years ago. My dad had to buy an extra seat. Then was highly irritated when someone else rode in "his" extra seat

 

 

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Bought an extra seat (as in paid double) or paid a surcharge? If he bought an extra seat no one should have sat there.

 

 

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[Sea Hag]

Our tour was ultimately cancelled so can't say how it works with billing. And yes, they let you get that far into the process before telling you it's cancelled (frustrating)

 

We once got publicly weighed on a bathroom scale they'd brought in, only to have the flight canceled. They really do let you get far into the process before canceling!

[Jeter02]

$130

[LauraStrick]

Bought an extra seat (as in paid double) or paid a surcharge? If he bought an extra seat no one should have sat there.

 

 

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At that time had to pay for an extra seat charge, due to his weight. This has been a few years ago

 

 

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[notentirelynormal]

This is what Coastal told me. My DH is well over 250 - closer to 285. We have six in our party and that is how they fill their helicopter so everyone gets a window. The rest of our group is me around 170, my 12, 9, 8 and 6 YO grandkids. Only the 12 YO weighs over 100. Because of our weights they told me that DH will sit next to the pilot and he will position everyone else around DH's weight. Because we are filling the whole hilo, we will not be charged the surcharge. I'll let you know once we have taken the flight what we end up getting charged.

[peety3]

We once got publicly weighed on a bathroom scale they'd brought in, only to have the flight canceled. They really do let you get far into the process before canceling!

Alaska weather changes by the minute. Do you really want to be disappointed with a cancellation an hour before the tour if the weather at tour time is fine? And "we the people" asked for extremely safe aviation; this is the price we pay for that. If the tour operator takes off in weather conditions that were not legal for flight, they could lose their FAA certification and so could the pilot. They also have to predict the weather for your return; depending on the tour, the helicopter may return to base to pick up the next load of passengers and bring them out to then pick you up. If that return trip could become illegal, you probably don't want them to fly you out.