May to October
The dry half of the year
North Queensland's dry season runs roughly May to October. That is the region's calendar, not a forecast, and neither listing states that a balloon flies more often in it.
What the morning costs
Hot air balloon Cairns prices: what a morning costs
Hot air balloon Cairns prices come down to two listings that sit three dollars apart: $310 for the flight with transfers from Cairns, $313 for the ride that leaves from Port Douglas. This page puts both fares beside the review counts behind them and says plainly which parts of the morning the listings describe and which parts they do not.
Quick answer
The short answer. Hot air balloon Cairns prices start at $310 for the flight with transfers, and that listing carries 95 reviews at 4.9. The Port Douglas ride is $313, with 23 reviews at 5.0. Both carry Free cancellation.
The two fares at a glance
- Flights bookable here
- Twoone leaves from Cairns, one from Port Douglas
- Lowest fare
- $310the flight with transfers from Cairns
- Second fare
- $313the scenic ride from Port Douglas
- Difference between them
- $3on the fares showing today
- Reviews on the two flights
- 11895 on one listing, 23 on the other
- Most reviewed flight
- 4.9 across 95 reviews$310, from Cairns
- Length of the outing
- 5 h and 4 htransfers included; time in the air is not stated
- Where the balloons fly
- Atherton Tablelandsthe plateau inland, west of the coast
What you are paying for
Two fares, three dollars apart
One fare buys a morning out of Cairns, the other a morning out of Port Douglas.
Hot air balloon Cairns prices look like one number until you notice that two separate listings stand behind them. The first is sold as a flight with transfers and costs $310. The second leaves from Port Douglas, up the coast, and costs $313. The gap between them is $3, which is small enough that the fare is almost never the thing that decides the booking.
What does decide it is where you are staying and how much evidence you want behind the listing. The Cairns flight carries 95 reviews at 4.9. The Port Douglas ride carries 23 reviews at 5.0, and those two scores are not the same kind of fact: a 5.0 built on 23 reviews rests on far less than a 4.9 built on 95. Reading hot air balloon Cairns prices without reading the second number beside each one is the quickest way to pay the same money for a thinner record.
Both listings fly over the same ground. The descriptions name the Atherton Tablelands, the plateau inland from the coast, and that is where the balloons go up in both cases. Neither listing describes flying over Cairns itself, over the Great Barrier Reef or out over the ocean, and this page does not either.
Both fares, side by side
The two listings with the numbers behind them
Fares, lengths and review counts read off the live listings. The length column is the whole outing including transfers, not time in the air.
| Flight | Fare | Outing | Reviews | Departs from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Air Balloon Flight with Transfers | $310 | 5 h | 95 at 4.9 | Cairns |
| Scenic Hot Air Balloon Ride | $313 | 4 h | 23 at 5.0 | Port Douglas |
What the money covers
What each listing says the fare includes
The Cairns listing says it in its own name: the flight is sold with transfers, so $310 covers the road part of the morning as well as the balloon. Its description adds the sunrise and the rainforest-covered hills of the Atherton Tablelands, and nothing more specific than that.
The Port Douglas listing describes the flight above the Atherton Tablelands and a glass of sparkling wine or juice after you land. At $313 that is what the description commits to. Anything else you may read about a balloon morning is not in these two listings, so hot air balloon Cairns prices on this page are not quoted as covering it.
Both carry Free cancellation, which matters more here than on most bookings. A balloon goes up on the wind, and neither listing promises that any particular morning will fly.
Read before you pay
Four things the fare does not tell you
Each one comes from comparing what the two listings actually state with what people assume when they see hot air balloon Cairns prices quoted as a single figure.
- How long you are in the air
Neither listing states it. The 5 hours and 4 hours are the whole outing with transfers, and this page will not put a number on the flight itself that the data does not hold.
- Where the balloon actually goes
Over the Atherton Tablelands, inland. Not over the city, not over the reef. Both descriptions say the same thing, and the fares buy the same airspace.
- What the three dollar gap buys
$3 is the whole difference in fare. It buys a different pickup town and a glass of sparkling wine or juice after landing, not a longer or higher flight.
- Whether the morning flies at all
Nothing in either listing promises it. That is why Free cancellation on both is worth reading before the fare is.
Want the two bookings compared properly rather than priced?
See both bookings side by side→Timing
When to book, and what cancellation is for
This is the calendar of the region and the wording of the listings. None of it is a promise about the morning you pick.
November to April
The wet half
The same two listings are sold through these months at the same fares. What the weather does on any given morning is outside anything the data here can say.
Any month, booked loosely
Where cancellation earns its keep
Both flights carry Free cancellation. On a booking that depends on wind, that line is worth more than the $3 between the two fares.
A single morning in town
The hardest case
With one morning to spend, there is no second attempt if the wind says no. Read the cancellation terms on the listing before you read the fare.
Book direct
Both balloon flights, with the live fares
The flight with transfers from Cairns at $310 and the Port Douglas ride at $313. Fares and review counts are read off the live listings.
Our top pick5 h
5 hCairns: Hot Air Balloon Flight with Transfers
★ 4.9 · 95 reviews
- 5h, above the Atherton Tablelands
- Hotel pickup included
- Bestseller
- Free cancellation
$310
Check availability→ 
Bestseller4 h
4 hPort Douglas: Scenic Hot Air Balloon Ride
★ 5 · 23 reviews
- 4h, above the Atherton Tablelands
- Glass of sparkling wine or juice
- Bestseller
- Free cancellation
$313
Check availability→ The rest of this site
The cheaper listings here do not leave the ground
There are cheaper things bookable on this site, and it is worth saying what they are so that hot air balloon Cairns prices are not read against the wrong number. A guided jet ski tour shows $61 on its card, and a full day to the waterfalls of the Atherton Tablelands with lunch shows $118. Neither is a flight. The lowest fare for getting off the ground here is $310, and that is the figure every other balloon number on this site is measured against.
Common questions
Hot air balloon Cairns prices, answered
How much is a hot air balloon in Cairns?
Hot air balloon Cairns prices run from $310 for the flight sold with transfers to $313 for the ride leaving from Port Douglas. Those are the two listings bookable here, and the gap between them is $3.
Why are the two fares almost the same?
They are two separate listings from two departure towns, priced within $3 of each other. The fare is not where they differ. The review counts are: 95 against 23.
Which flight has more behind it?
The Cairns flight. It carries 95 reviews at 4.9, where the Port Douglas ride carries 23 reviews at 5.0. A score of 5.0 across 23 reviews rests on much less than a 4.9 across 95.
Does the fare include transfers?
The Cairns listing is sold as a flight with transfers and says so in its name. The Port Douglas listing describes the ride and a glass of sparkling wine or juice afterwards.
How long am I actually in the balloon?
Neither listing states it. What they state is the length of the outing: 5 hours for the Cairns flight and 4 hours for the Port Douglas ride, transfers included. This page does not invent a figure for the flight itself.
Can I get my money back if it does not fly?
Both listings carry Free cancellation. Read the terms on the listing you choose, because the window and the conditions are stated there and nowhere else.
Is there anything cheaper on this site?
Yes, but nothing cheaper that flies. A jet ski tour shows $61 and a waterfall day inland shows $118. The lowest balloon fare is $310.
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