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Barnstorming Adventures
Categories: Education Specialty Schools Flight Instruction Hotels & Travel Tours Flight Instruction, Tours [Edit]
Montgomery Field Airport3750 John J Montgomery Dr
Ste D
San Diego, CA 92123
Neighborhood: Kearny Mesa
(800) 759-5667
- Hours:
Tue-Sun 9 am - 5 pm
25 reviews for Barnstorming Adventures
25 reviews in English
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Review from Sean C.
San Diego, CA
2/3/2012 4 photos
I am writing this review based on the experience and flight only. In my specific flight i wasn't the one to book it or deal with any of the front end arrangements so i can not speak to that portion.
As for the flight it self it was truly an incredible thing. I have a huge fear of heights but never had an issue with large aircraft so i though, sure why not. I will say an open cockpit bi-plane is a different thing all together. As we lifted off i felt the terror of being on a tall building and i thought to myself "oh man what did i get myself into, there is no way i am going to make it"... but then, before we had actually cleared the airfield i realized that the aircraft was incredibly stable, even at slow speeds. Nothing like flying in a Cessna or even the commuter plans from San Diego to LAX. There was something very comforting in the history and simplicity of the aircraft. Sure there was radio connections with the control tower that you get to hear over the headset but really you can imagine what it would be like to have been flying in that machine 80 years ago, in a time before computers controlling everything we touched. It was a visceral and connected experience. I would recommend it highly and now want to go back for one of the warbird flights. -
Review from Alan P.
San Diego, CA
12/6/2011
Amazing, exiciting, fun, also safe! These are just a few of the emotions that my girlfriend and myself experienced. The staff was very nice and helpful with everything. We went on a 40 minute bi-plane ride over the ocean including the cities of La Jolla and Del Mar. I highly recommend doing this. We both have great memories from the entire experience. Go for it! Try something new for a change. Keep your relationship spicy.
Thanks Barnstorming Staff!!!
Regards,
Maria and Alan -
Review from Taryn E.
Imperial Beach, CA
1/15/2012
The plane ride was amazing. HOWEVER, the receptionist misplaced our personal belongings. Before the flight we were asked to remove my leather camera case and my husbands beanie. We gave them to the woman for safe keeping. After the plane ride we had forgot to get our items. Once we realized we did not have the beanie and camera case we called the receptionist at Barnstorming. She said that she did not have the items. She did not call us back and after 3 attempts to get a hold of her she said she gave them to another rider that day. She said she would call the woman she may have given OUR things to and she NEVER called us back! DO NOT LEAVE UR PERSONAL ITEMS WITH THEM. LEAVE YOUR THINGS IN UR CAR!!!!
Comment from Buford P. of Barnstorming Adventures 1/15/2012
We are sorry your items are missing. But, you are saying… More » -
Review from Mayeli L.
Fontana, CA
1/11/2012 1 photo
Excellent experience saw amazing views of mission bay. There customer service couldn't get any better they were very nice and helpful throughtout the whole experience. Bonnie helped me thru out the entire process to give my boyfriend a great gift for his birthday. Loved it highly recommend this experience.
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Review from Al C.
San Diego, CA
1/16/2012
Had a great time. Better than any amusement park ride! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Would recommend it! Thank you so much Barnstorming Adventures!
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Review from L D.
Oceanside, CA
12/4/2011
I've flown with them twice now. Had a blast each time. The first was by myself and I got to actually FLY THE PLANE. The next time I flew with my husband and we didn't get to fly but it was still really awesome. After reading other reviews it looks like using Groupon is not the way to go. I have never had any problems booking a flight or anything. I will absolutely be flying again with them sometime soon.
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Review from Princeton J.
San Diego, CA
6/2/2011
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (I'M SCREAMING AND SMILING AT THE SAME TIME)!!!!!! convertible in the sky... biplane ride...
My face started to cramp I was smiling soooooo MUCH....
Freakin A...... Probably one of the best days of my life....
I got to fly with nice people in a cool plane...
and got to see my 3 year old son have the time of his life!!!!!
Dangit..... It's ON....
good customer service... super nice pilots... beautiful day...
This was P E R F E C T......
this was the cherry ontop of my life :)
Thanks Barnstorming, you made my airplane dreams come true!!!! -
Review from Kaylee H.
San Diego, CA
12/28/2010
I'm writing this at the beginning stages of trying to work with these people regarding a gift for my husband, and I'll write an update soon. I'm just p*ssed right now with the customer service so far.
At first I sent e-mails aksing about the packages. Nothing. Finally Bonnie writes me back. Finally. We make a date for me to come in to the office to see the planes and discuss the packages. I show up, she doesn't. I call, standing outside the empty office. No answer. I send another e-mail when I get home, which is eventually answered by her. She tells me, very matter-of-factly, she doesn't go in to the office when the weather is bad. No apology, no nothing. I made a special trip to the office and no one was there, and she doesn't even bother to apologize.
They are the only game in town that I can find so I purchase a package, not having spoken to a human being about it. I then send an e-mail asking if I will get something that I can give him in his birthday card: Nothing. What was I expecting? A response?
At this point I have no idea whether they have my purchase on the books, as I received no response, confirmation, nothing.
I am contemplating just canceling the charge on my credit card but I guess I'll send ONE MORE EFFING E-MAIL.
I can only hope that their flying is better than their customer service.Comment from Buford P. of Barnstorming Adventures 12/29/2010
Hello, We are very good about answering the phone between… More » -
Review from Natasha N.
San Diego, CA
6/12/2011
If I could I would have not given this company even one star.. I have a groupon coupon and they straight up very rudely told me that we cannot do anything and you go deal with groupon. Their customer service is very poor. I would make sure none of my friends or families ever deal with this company.
Comment from Buford P. of Barnstorming Adventures 6/17/2011
I see a trend developing. Groupon customers who wait until… More » -
Review from R C.
San Diego, CA
Updated - 6/17/2011
It's sad to see that this company regularly misleads customers who use coupons or gift certificates.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/16/2011
I was given a Groupon gift for my birthday for Barnstorming Adventures and due to inclement weather… Read more »
Comment from Buford P. of Barnstorming Adventures 6/17/2011
Barnstorming Adventures did not advertise this offer -… More » -
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Review from Brian H.
San Marcos, CA
6/7/2011
This place is a scam - absolutely avoid them.
Do not buy their coupons/ groupons - they won't honor them. Called several times over a couple of months, never got a call back.
Finally wrote an email - WHICH DID NOT MENTION THE GROUPON and got a response - once they found out it was a groupon I was told that they didn't have any openings.
Customer service person (bonnie) was rather rude told me to contact Groupon and ask for a refund .. what they sell sounds like fun, but crappy businesses like these should be avoided at all costs!
Follow up - I did get a refund (thank you groupon!) - however my girlfriend who as looking forward to this was *pissed* .. and you can't really refund that or the time I wasted dealing with these jokers.Comment from Buford P. of Barnstorming Adventures 6/18/2011
Barnstorming Adventures does not offer Groupons, Groupon… More » -
Review from Jackie N.
6/28/2010
LOVED LOVED LOVED
I got the 2 dogfight package for me and my boyfriend for his early birthday present. I've always wanted to do this but I needed a good excuse to drop this much money. Perfect excuse!
People on the phone were very friendly and helpful. They scheduled us at 2:00 briefing with another couple and a 5:00 flight that way they can just fly us out when they are done. There was so much traffic so they waited for us.
My bf and I just watched the planes come and go will we were waiting. At least there was free wifi!
The briefing: yea...i don't really understand what they were trying to say to me.... I just really wanted to fly. lol
When it was our turn, i kept on jumping up and down being all excited while my bf was super nervous. Did i mention that he never got on a plane before? Not even commercial? Lol. A HUGE step for him that day.
The planes are a lot smaller than I thought and snug. They give you head phones and mikes to communicate.
Take off was super fun! Especially since we take off together. His face was so funny!
They flew us over the water to begin practicing are strategies and what to do. You do 70% of the actual flying which is still pretty damn amazing. The view from up in the sky is truly breath taking. When it's time to fight, we just flew past each other trying to get an advantage out of each other. Super dizzy. They don't use lasers or anything for the shooting. You just push in the fire button and yell BANG BANG in the mike. kinda lame but funny.
Warning: This is a seriously intense ride. Don't even bother coming if you have a weak stomach; you're not going to last very long. I've been flying every year and never got air sick. Some how this murdered me. After we were done, my bf and I just rested and end up taking a nap in the car to get over getting sick.
After buying this crazy gift for my bf, I'm deemed as best gf ever! If you want to score huge points with your man, then this is what you need to get him. -
Review from Cindy W.
San Diego, CA
3/15/2010 8 photos
My husband and I aren't fans of staying on the ground, in fact, we enjoy our time under water or in the air, it's a known fact. So when our anniversary was coming up, it was only fair we did something different. My husband booked a hot air balloon ride for our first wedding anniversary, so it was only fair for me to book the biplane for us for our 5-year dating anniversary. I love flying and would love to get a pilot license one day, in the meantime, this will do.
I booked this through Barnstorming Adventures and loved every second of it! We had to delay it by a week since it was raining the week prior, but yesterday was the perfect day to fly! Gorgeous, sunny day! We were running a few minutes late and they didn't seem to mind, I even called ahead to tell them that and they remembered my name! Very personable people!
I didn't really come prepped, with a tank top, shorts and a light jacket, so they made sure I stayed warm while I was up there. I even forgot my sunglasses and they had extras for us. Very cool!
When we were up there, I felt like a bird! We flew over Del Mar, La Jolla, Carlsbad, Gaslamp, Encinitas, etc. I didn't want to come down! I loved how he flew really low, slow and would do flips and turns for us to get every angle of certain views! The last 5 minutes made us nauseous and when we got down, the pilot gives us a card showing when we flied with him. Very cool!Listed in: I Can't Sit Still
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Review from Tara C.
Grapevine, TX
7/19/2010
I don't normally write reviews. In fact, this is my first one. I have been using yelp as a guideline for restaurants and well basically anything that will involve me spending my money. So I guess I was a lurker here, just using the system and never contributing.
This company is so amazing I cannot, NOT write a review!!!
My husband, Matthew, is in the Marines, and although he is still enlisted, he dreams of being a pilot one day. At the very least he would like his private pilot's license. He is also the most adventurous and daredevil of a guy I know, he scares the crap out of me almost daily with the tricks he pulls. I needed something GREAT for his birthday, that he would never forget. I am not sure where I found Barnstorming Adventures, but I am so grateful I did. i know I found it somehow surfing the great internet... I knew this would be the perfect birthday present for him.
I signed him up for a 40 minute Warbird Fight in the T-6 Texan (that is the training name for the plane, it is also called the SNJ-4) It is fitting since Matthew is a Texan himself.
From the moment I called and booked the tour on the phone, to the very minute we left they were so kind and helpful and just great friendly people.
I actually went to the office to book the tour, but they were closed (it was a weekday with bad weather, they close their office and work the phones and emails from their homes!) I forget who I talked to on the phone but he was so nice and so great to work everything out with. I wasn't sure which flight I wanted to do, and he gave me great advice and we ended up with the Warbird flight. So I suggest calling to book a flight!
I never told my husband what he was doing, I actually blindfolded him on the drive there, I have video of him taking off his blindfold and wow he was so excited!
We had to wait around about an extra half hour before our flight (the first people of the day were late and that pushed everyone's appointments back) that is fine to me though, because that means that they did not try to skim some minutes off of everyone's flight so that they could catch up and get back on the schedule. I'm sure my husband would have camped out there for weeks waiting for his chance to fly anyway!
While waiting for the flight we got to chat with some of the other pilots, and we actually met the old Mag-11 skipper from 2003-2005 (I believe were the dates) If you served in the military like my husband or I, you would know what a big deal he was! He was so friendly and we had a great time talking to him. He also gave me a great tip on how to shoot video for Matthew's take-off, very thankful for that!
Now the time for the flight finally came the pilot was a prior Army guy and he was great. He just had my husband jump right in the plane and showed him all the gears. I obviously was not in the flight, but I heard alllll about it! He let him take the gears for most of the flight, and they just had a ton of fun doing their loops and turns. Of course he wishes it lasted longer, but the flight was about 40 minutes right on the nose, time really flew for him.
While he was up in the air I got to chat some more with the great people who work for this company. They are so nice and I loved that most of them were prior military. I had a great chat with the lady who works in the office, and we are both Jersey girls, and she gave me a great website where you can order Maryland Blue Crabs to be shipped out here, mmmm if you don't know what I am talking about you should get yourself some blue crab!
When Matthew came back in for shut down he had a smile plastered on his face that did not leave the whole day. I think he was still in shock about what he got to do, also. I know I definitely cannot top that present, and I will have a good time finding something next year.... But I do know for sure we will be back and taking a flight together, or maybe do the dogfight package. I loved this company and their staff!
Also, if it is a little pricey for you, I suggest you save your money and don't blow it off as something you cannot afford. It takes a lot of money to get these planes in the air (fuel, maintenance, runway taxes, hangar costs....)
These pilots are clearly not out here for the money, they are out here for the love of flying, and they make sure you have the best time you possibly can! -
Review from Michelle T.
Fountain Valley, CA
4/2/2010 1 photo
I bought my bf a dogfight for Valentine's Day and while I can't go into too much detail since I didn't fly I can tell you that he said it was one of the best experiences of his life! Points for me!!
The staff there was super friendly and all very experienced. Like they said, going in that plane would probably be the safest thing you did that day. They give you a briefing before hand telling you exactly what you will be doing and it ends up that you get to fly/steer the plane about 70% of the time. The whole flight lasted about 55 minutes.
Well worth the money and I would definitely recommend this to any adrenaline junkies out there.
P.S. You might want to take some dramamine before hand b/c they said some people get sick up there. -
Review from Jana M.
San Francisco, CA
5/20/2008
The air combat / dog fighting adventure from Barnstorming Adventures is AMAZING! Definitely find a friend/signficant other/or sworn enemy and do the challenge against one another - it is a truely unforgettable experience.
You get about a 30-45 minute tutorial from experts and then each get into your own plane w your own pilot. The pilot does the take off and landing but you really get to do quite a bit of the flying in between. You take hard turns and chase each other over the Pacific trying to "gun" each other down.
Word to those with a weak stomach: probably not your best bet. -
Review from J.j. B.
San Diego, CA
9/15/2011
My girlfriend got a Groupon for these guys for her and myself to take a tandem biplane trip. The Groupon was set to expire June 30th. We had been putting it off so that we can have good weather for the trip, as we all know how gloomy our beaches can be Feb-May. So I call them up to schedule an appointment. The lady who answered (based on my experience it must have been Bonnie, as mentioned previously by others...although she never told me her name) informed me they had no openings until July, after I told her we had a Groupon. When I asked if they would honor it in July since they don't have any openings before the expiration, she informed me "no, it expires in June." I asked what options I had then, since we paid for an item that they cannot honor. She said "call Groupon. They will handle it." an proceeded to hang up. Horrible customer service. If you can't honor something, don't let people buy it! As usual, Groupon had awesome customer service and quickly refunded our money. We will never bother trying these people. First impressions last a lifetime!
Comment from Buford P. of Barnstorming Adventures 10/4/2011
We will never do another Groupon offer. Not all their… More » -
Review from Ooh Lal a.
San Clemente, CA
4/1/2011
WEEEEEE! the best adventure I've had in years! Vintage Vic pulled an awesome corkscrew manuever and it sent us spinning! I bought a 20 min Biplane ride as a gift for my boyfriend. He enjoyed it so much, he didn't want to get out of the plane. Try out Casa Machada, an authentic Mexican restaurant located on the 2nd floor. I started the morning with a 22oz chilled Dos Equis, before riding the biplane. We'll definitely go again... this time to take better pictures!
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Review from Kathryn C.
Temple City, CA
3/19/2009
The bf treated me to a 60 min La Jolla Coaster biplane ride for my birthday. It was soooo freakin' awesome! San Diego is beautiful and getting a bird's eye view makes it even more so. There were equal parts of relaxation and excitement. Since it was a bi plane, the pilot wasn't able to do aerobatics, but he did make it fun for us with the dives and turns.
Next time we go back, its air combat time!!! I'm so excited! :D -
Review from Jenna Y.
San Diego, CA
4/12/2011
I bought this as a gift for my Dad for Father's Day last year through Groupon! I intended on my son battling him in dog fight air combat - and then got one for my hubby and brother in law. We all just went on Sunday and they had the time of their lives! My Dad said it was his dream come true; he was grinning ear to ear! The instructors were off the charts amazing and made the experience a 5 star event (Thanks Earl and Lex!) I would recommend this for anyone. It was neat just to watch their excitement. I can't believe they got to actually fly the planes.... wow. It really superceded my expectations!
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Review from Susan C.
Los Gatos, CA
2/5/2011
Excellent adventure! I highly recommend this even if you are a little wary, as I was. I asked for a smooth ride and that's exactly what I got. Once we were flying I think I could have handled a little more excitement. I felt really safe tucked into the seat with my hubby. Great way to see San Diego.
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Review from Nom S.
Poway, CA
5/5/2011
I was persuaded to purchase one of their specials back in February and were told that I can use it for at least the next six month. However, every time I would call to make an appointment (once a week) they would ask if I had a "special" certificate or coupon and behold there would be "no opening". I tried this for few months and finally asked to speak to the management. I was told that I was speaking to the management whom would not give her name nor provide any specific reason and hung up. I believe they are either selling to many certificates that they can not honor or ......... Be Warned! Make sure you have a scheduled flight that they honor and will not cancel BEFORE YOU BUY any certificates or specials for or from them. I still had few months left on my certificate and managed to get it refunded through very understanding third party whom was aware of this business reputation. But still, it not worth all the headache.
Comment from Buford P. of Barnstorming Adventures 5/12/2011
Barnstorming Adventures is not running any scams as Nom S.… More » -
Review from Marie A.
San Diego, CA
11/18/2010
Went on our first biplane ride today. It was so amazing! Little nervous at first but once we were up and out of the little rockin from the winds, it was great! Loved every minute of it!! FUN!!
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Review from Sandi M.
San Diego, CA
9/6/2010
We went on a Bi-Plane ride this past Saturday. Really Loved it. We were able to tell our pilot "Chuck" that we wanted a more thrilling ride, Which is what we got. LOVED the ride, weather was perfect, although there was a fog bank at the coast, it was a nice effect. This was a great, and different thing to do in San Diego!
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Review from N S.
Bonita, CA
4/29/2011
Just nasty! They don't have any times available so we can't use our coupon. They must have oversold. Terrible customer service by "Bonnie". No times available. She won't even look on the calendar. She just says no! They suck!
Comment from Buford P. of Barnstorming Adventures 5/12/2011
You know what sucks? People who buy Groupon vouchers at 50%… More »
