The helicopter flight
The Chicago helicopter tour on this site is a single listing, and this page covers it in full: a 7 to 20 minute helicopter flight over Chicago from Vertiport Chicago, past Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Grant Park, Soldier Field and the Magnificent Mile, alongside Lake Michigan. It costs from $130 per person, with an FAA-certified pilot and large panoramic windows.
Quick answer
The short answer. Book the Chicago helicopter tour if you want the skyline and the lakefront from the air and do not mind a short flight: $130 per person for 7 to 20 minutes, rated 4.4 by 233 travellers. If the budget matters more than the flight, 360 CHICAGO at $27 and the Willis Tower Skydeck at $47 show the city from the 94th and the 103rd floor.
Read this first
What the listing says, in its own words: a flight «over the city’s most iconic landmarks» with «skyline and lakefront views» and «a professional pilot guiding your journey».
Look for a helicopter in Chicago and the results fill up fast with tickets, theatres and cruises, all selling the skyline. Take those away and there is one helicopter flight Chicago visitors can book on these listings: the downtown skyline flight from Vertiport Chicago. How many helicopter rides in Chicago does this site list? One, and this page is about it.
That makes the choice simple. There is no line-up of flights to weigh against each other. The real question is whether the Chicago helicopter tour is worth $130 per person to you, against a ticket to an observation deck for a fraction of that. The rest of this page gives you what you need to decide: what the listing promises, how long you are up, what you pass over and what travellers wrote afterwards.
From the air
The listing names Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Grant Park, Soldier Field and the Magnificent Mile, and flies alongside Lake Michigan. Put simply, it is a helicopter ride downtown Chicago and along its lakefront.
Downtown towers fill the glass, with the lake a pale line on the horizon.
High-rises run right up to the lakeside road, and the water turns turquoise below them.
The pier, its Ferris wheel and the marina, with sailboats out on the lake.
A curving beach, the busy road beside it and tower shadows on the water.
Length
Seven to twenty minutes, by the listing.
The listing gives a length of 7 to 20 minutes and a price from $130 per person. The data we read does not say which length that price covers, so check the length shown next to the price before you pay. We do not divide the price by the minute: a range cannot be divided honestly.
Short is the word travellers use. Ayu from the United States: «Once we were in the air, the views were incredible. Seeing the skyline, the lake, and the city grid from above felt surreal… I wish we had a little more time in the sky…» Megan from the United States ends her review the same way: «my only wish was that it was longer.»
Read that as a description, not a warning. In the reviews of helicopter rides Chicago travellers took on this listing, two things come up again and again: the pilot and the view. A few minutes in a helicopter over Chicago is still the one way on this site to see the skyline, the parks and Lake Michigan in a single sweep from the air.
In writing
Six things the listing states. Anything you need beyond these, ask before you book.
The listing names Vertiport Chicago as the departure point for the helicopter experience Chicago visitors book here.
A professional pilot guides the flight, in the listing’s words. Reviewers write about pilots who point out the landmarks.
Named in the listing’s key details, together with the skyline and lakefront views.
Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Grant Park, Soldier Field and the Magnificent Mile, flying alongside Lake Michigan.
The length the listing states. Check which length applies to the option you pick.
Stated on the listing. Note the exact deadline on your booking.
Price
The flight is $130 per person, so two people pay $260. That is close to five times a 360 CHICAGO ticket at $27 and almost three times the Skydeck at $47.
What the extra money buys is movement and angle. A deck shows the city from one fixed floor of one tower. The Chicago helicopter tour flies alongside Lake Michigan, so Navy Pier, Grant Park and Soldier Field are seen from the air rather than from a single window in the distance. Seeing the skyline, the lake and the parks in one sweep is the whole point.
What it does not buy is a higher rating. The flight holds 4.4 from 233 reviews; the other nine listings on this site sit between 4.5 and 4.9. Riley from the United States still wrote: «Absolutely nothing needs to be improved. Phenomenal experience all around!!»
Every trip, current fare
The helicopter is the one flight in this table. Skydeck and 360 CHICAGO are observation decks; the Flyover is a theatre on Navy Pier with a spherical screen. Cost per hour is left blank for the helicopter, because its length is a range.
| Tour | Length | Price | What you get | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago: Downtown Chicago Skyline Helicopter TourAlong the Lake Michigan shore | 7 - 20 min | $130 | Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Soldier Field | — | 4.4 · 233 |
| Chicago: Willis Tower Skydeck and The Ledge TicketStep onto The Ledge | 45 min | $47 | Floor 103 of Willis Tower | $62.67 | 4.6 · 5,125 |
| Chicago: 360 CHICAGO Observation Deck TicketLake Michigan and skyscraper views | 30 min | $27 | 94th floor, 1,000 feet up | $54.00 | 4.5 · 3,824 |
| Chicago: Flyover Flying Theatre ExperienceMotion seats, wind and mist | 30 min | $28 | A flying theatre, giant spherical screen | $56.00 | 4.9 · 969 |
After dark
There is no Chicago night helicopter tour among these listings. The helicopter ride Chicago night owls ask about, over a lit-up skyline, is not on any listing here, and we will not point you to one we have not read.
For the skyline after dark, the night river and lake cruise is the option: 1.5 hours for $50 on the Chicago River and the lakefront, through the Chicago Harbor Lock, with Buckingham Fountain’s light display and lively commentary on board. Rated 4.7 from 1,265 reviews. Georgie from the United States: «It was informative and beautiful views real chill way to end the evening.»
The flight by day and the cruise by night show the same skyline twice, from above and from the water.
The night river and lake cruise, and the other boat trips on this site, compared side by side.
Boat tours and night cruises→Book direct
The flight first, then the two observation decks and the Flyover theatre for comparison.
★ 4.4 · 233 reviews
★ 4.6 · 5,125 reviews
★ 4.5 · 3,824 reviews
★ 4.9 · 969 reviews
The straight verdict
Book it if the view from the air is the point of your trip. The Chicago helicopter tour is the one way on this site to see the skyline, the lakefront and five landmarks from a helicopter, with an FAA-certified pilot, from $130 per person. Karilyn A from the United States: «I loved our pilot… he was very, very sweet and informative. Would definitely do this again.»
Choose a deck if you want time rather than motion. 360 CHICAGO at $27 is 30 minutes on the 94th floor. The Skydeck at $47 adds The Ledge, a glass box on floor 103 with views straight down to the street.
Choose the Flyover for the sensation on a screen. $28 for 30 minutes of motion seats, wind, mist and scents in front of a 52-foot spherical screen at Navy Pier, rated 4.9 from 969 reviews. It is a theatre, not a helicopter.
Want the decks and the Flyover compared in more detail? All the ways to see the skyline from above, side by side.
Skyline from above→Before you book
Two minutes on the listing saves a surprise on the day.
The listing gives 7 to 20 minutes. Check the length shown next to the price you pick.
Mathias from Norway was asked not to take pictures before boarding, then asked for $50 for the staff’s photos. Deonte from the United States: «we took great videos from up above».
Booking for a group or with children? The listing we read gives no seat, age or weight details, so ask before you pay.
Free cancellation is stated on the listing. Note the exact deadline on your booking.
Common questions
$130 per person on the one helicopter listing on this site, so two people pay $260. The observation decks cost less: $27 for 360 CHICAGO and $47 for the Skydeck.
7 to 20 minutes, as the listing states it. Check the length shown next to the price before you pay. Two of the travellers quoted on this page wish it had been longer.
From Vertiport Chicago, as the listing names it. Check the meeting details on your booking.
The listing names Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Grant Park, Soldier Field and the Magnificent Mile, flying alongside Lake Michigan, with skyline and lakefront views.
Not with a helicopter on these listings. For the skyline after dark, the night river and lake cruise is 1.5 hours for $50, with Buckingham Fountain’s light display.
If you want the skyline and the lakefront from the air, yes: it is the one way on this site to get that, at $130 per person. If you want time at the view rather than motion, a deck gives you more minutes for less.
Go deeper
The Chicago architecture river cruises compared: 45 minutes or 90, river only or river and lake.
Boat tours and night cruisesEvery Chicago boat tour on this site, from the family cruise to the night river and lake cruise.
Chicago River toursWhich Chicago River tour covers all three branches, which goes out through the lock onto Lake Michigan, and how long each takes.
Skyline from aboveSeeing the Chicago skyline from above: the helicopter flight, Skydeck and The Ledge, 360 CHICAGO and the Flyover theatre compared.
Chicago: Downtown Chicago Skyline Helicopter Tour
★ 4.4 · 233 reviews · 7 - 20 minutes