global village tour - I was traveled to Dubai as solo traveler and Excellent event and helpful team members of trip ideas.

Avoid operators, go directly to the Dubai Balloon at Atlantis - The balloon ride itself was good, views are amazing. Best to go early as less people. We went for sunrise, there were only 3 other couples. I do not recommend this operator though, I suggest booking directly with The Dubai Balloon at Atlantis or just going and purchasing directly on the morning. Purchasing directly is cheaper and you get a free coffee (any kind) after. We also had poor experience with the operator on Viator. When we arrived at the balloon the operator had not sent the QR code required to get in and delayed us. The number available on Viator did work and they resolved the problem quick enough (at 6:30am) via WhatsApp. They did however send an already redeemed QR code before sending the correct one. Their excuse was that they tried to contact me and the number wouldn't work but all of the info came through email from Viator no problem. The info via email said nothing about a further qr code and I had a pdf ticket from the Viator email (no qr code on it), so was very shocked when it wouldn't be accepted when we arrived. A couple arrived and purchased tickets directly and cheaper while we were trying to resolve the issue. So my advice is avoid operators. Also note taxis in Dubai are plentiful and very reasonable despite the traffic there can be. Avoid ubers and hotel cars.

I booked a 9am balloon... - I booked a 9am balloon flight for my family the night before. At no point during the booking or in any electronic correspondence afterwards was I advised to check the weather conditions in advance to make sure whether the balloon ride was going ahead. After arriving 30 minutes early on a perfect day, temperature at 25 degrees, not a cloud in sight (see photo), and wind conditions whereby I could hardly feel the wind touch my skin, we were informed that the flight was not going ahead due to "weather conditions." This was even more puzzling as there were other hot air balloons in the air at the time. After wasting our time and taxi costs there and back, I called the operator (Viator), who proceeded to inform me that I would have to wait 72 hours before a decision is made on a refund of the money. If the refund is approved, I would then have to wait a further 7 to 10 days for the refund to be returned to my account. The customer service itself was equally horrendous and appears to connect to a call center in India. I would strongly recommend staying well away from these modern-day snake oil charmers.

SCAMMER WARNING: DO NOT BOOK - I booked a 9am balloon flight for my family the night before. At no point during the booking or in any electronic correspondence afterwards was I advised to check the weather conditions in advance to make sure whether the balloon ride was going ahead. After arriving 30 minutes early on a perfect day, temperature at 25 degrees, not a cloud in sight (see photo), and wind conditions whereby I could hardly feel the wind touch my skin, we were informed that the flight was not going ahead due to "weather conditions." This was even more puzzling as there were other hot air balloons in the air at the time. After wasting our time and taxi costs there and back, I called the operator (Viator), who proceeded to inform me that I would have to wait 72 hours before a decision is made on a refund of the money. If the refund is approved, I would then have to wait a further 7 to 10 days for the refund to be returned to my account. The customer service itself was equally horrendous and appears to connect to a call centre in India. I would strongly recommend staying well away from these modern-day snake oil charmers. Please see the attached confirmation from chatgpt, which confirms that the weather conditions on the day were perfect.

Not great - Unfortunately it wasn't possible to ride balloon because of the weather conditions there were high winds I hope to try it in better conditions