Three vs Four Glacier Flights

Book the 60-minute Franz Josef: 4-Glacier Helicopter Ride with 2 Landings, from $506 per person, if you want two stops on the snow and the Shackleton Glacier added to the route. Book the 45-minute three-glacier flight, from $393, if one 15-minute landing and Mount Cook from the air are enough. The step up costs $113 per person and adds about 15 listed minutes, a second landing and a fourth glacier.

Both flights belong to Glacier Country Helicopters and leave from its office in Franz Josef. Per listed minute they cost almost the same, so you are choosing how long you want to spend up there, and how much.

Quick picks for the longer routes

• Four glaciers and two landings, 60 minutes, from $506 per person (4.8 from 30 GetYourGuide reviews): View Dates & Prices or Check Tour Details
• Three glaciers and one 15-minute landing, 45 minutes, from $393 per person (4.8 from 168 reviews): View Dates & Prices or Check Tour Details
• The four-glacier route with only your group aboard, from $1,998 per helicopter for one to three people: View Dates & Prices

The glaciers each listing names

The 3-Glacier Helicopter Ride with Landing names the Franz Josef, Fox and Tasman glaciers, plus Mount Cook, and one elevated snow landing of 15 minutes. The four-glacier listing names the same three and adds the Shackleton Glacier, with two snow landings. It also points out the ridges used for the “lighting of the beacons” scenes in The Lord of the Rings and an ice lake near the Shackleton Glacier.

The same 60-minute flight is sold on Viator as Mt Cook Supreme, where it has 49 reviews (4.7) against 30 on GetYourGuide. That listing adds detail the GetYourGuide page leaves out: two landings of about 10 minutes each, the first a snow landing for photos and the second on the Shackleton Glacier.

Treat every name on these lists as weather-dependent. Both listings say routes can change at short notice. The Tasman Glacier, about 23 km long and New Zealand’s longest, lies on the far side of the Main Divide in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, so cloud or wind on the divide can take it off the route. A few reviewers of the 45-minute flight missed the third glacier because of wind, and one flew an overflight of two glaciers when the weather ruled out a landing.

Time in the air and time on the snow

The listed duration includes the landing. On these two flights that changes the picture more than on a short one, because the landings are long.

The two derived rows are simple arithmetic from the listings: listed minutes minus the operator’s landing time, and the price divided by the listed minutes, landing included. Treat them as estimates. On your trip, the extra $113 buys roughly 10 more minutes in the air and one more stop outside, and the longer flight comes out slightly cheaper per minute.

Plan for more than the flight. Glacier Country Helicopters asks you to check in 30 minutes ahead, and its Viator listings ask you to allow another 45 minutes on top of the flight time for check-in, the van, loading and the return to the office. The four-glacier flight takes close to two hours of your day.

Seats are set at check-in by weight and balance, and a few reviewers of the three-glacier flight in middle or back seats said their view of what the pilot described was limited. Front-seat requests must be made 24 hours ahead and are confirmed at check-in. Passengers weighing 120 kg or more at check-in buy a Comfort Seat at half the flight price.

Other long flights that cross to the Tasman

INFLITE’s Grand Circle 60 Minute Scenic Flight, from $395 per person, lists the Fox, Franz Josef, La Perouse and Balfour glaciers and one landing on the Tasman Glacier, where the helicopter shuts down. For the same listed hour it costs $111 less than the four-glacier flight, with one landing in place of two. It has only 13 reviews so far, rated 4.3. GetYourGuide files it under Fox Glacier, but check-in is at 69 Cron Street in Franz Josef. INFLITE’s passenger weight limit is 116 kg.

For a shorter crossing, INFLITE’s 30-minute Franz Josef & Tasman Glaciers flight ($243, 4.8 from 93 reviews) crosses the Main Divide at Centennial Hut and lands on the Tasman Glacier. INFLITE markets itself as the only West Coast operator landing there. Glacier Country Helicopters also lists a 90-minute Grand Adventure with three snow landings from $846, with a single review so far. Our Mount Cook flights page covers the Mount Cook routes in full.

The private four-glacier flight

Glacier Country Helicopters sells the four-glacier route as a private flight on Viator, priced per helicopter for up to six people. The one-to-three-people option is NZ$3,450, shown on Viator as $1,998. The four-to-six option is NZ$4,900, about US$2,840.

Split six ways, that is about $473 each, a little under the $506 shared seat. Three people on the smaller option pay about $666 each. The private listing has only three reviews so far (5.0), and you may still share check-in and the van with passengers on other flights. Viator shows the exact price for your group size. The private flights page compares all four private routes.

Weather, landings and a spare day

No operator publishes a cancellation rate, and the final weather call comes at check-in. A landing is never guaranteed: Glacier Country Helicopters reprices a flight that ends up as an overflight. The listing for its 25-minute flight says that flight has a single route and landing site, unlike the longer flights, which have several options. That gives a 45 or 60-minute flight more ways to work around cloud, though a bad day still grounds every route.

Book the longer flight for your first morning in Franz Josef and keep the next day free. If weather cancels it, GetYourGuide offers a reschedule or a full refund. Our weather and cancellations guide explains the rules, and the flight times guide compares the shorter lengths.

Choosing between three and four glaciers

Book the four-glacier flight if this is your one big flight in New Zealand and $506 per person fits the budget. You get the second landing, the Shackleton Glacier and about 40 minutes in the air. Book the three-glacier flight if you would sooner keep $113 per person and still want Mount Cook and the Tasman Glacier from the air, with a 15-minute landing.

For a shorter route over both West Coast glaciers, see the twin glacier flights. If the landing matters more than the route, the snow landing flights start from $204, and our price guide lists every flight by cost. When you have a date, check availability for the four-glacier flight.