Give The Gift Of Flying In Los Angeles

Name: You Fly LA
Address: 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA, 91406, US
Telephone: (818) 330-1318
Price range: $189-$399

A discovery flight is the gift the recipient will still be talking about next year: they fly a real airplane over Los Angeles from Van Nuys Airport, with an FAA-certificated instructor beside them, and land with a signed logbook entry that counts toward a pilot license. The easiest way to give one is a You Fly LA gift card: it arrives by email within minutes, has no blackout dates, is valid for five years, and can be used on any flight or simulator session, so they choose the date, the route and the airplane. If you would rather give a specific experience, every flight below is gift-ready and can be scheduled later by phone.

Which Gift To Pick

Four amounts map onto four different gifts, and every one is a credit — if the person you give it to wants something different, the value simply goes toward whatever they book.

$189 — the full-motion flight simulator experience. Sixty minutes with an instructor on a moving platform, indoors at the field. The right amount for a nervous first-timer, for anyone over the airplane weight limits, or for a date that cannot move, because the simulator has no weight limit and is never canceled by weather.
$229 — the discovery flight in Los Angeles. The classic: sixty minutes, one person in the pilot's seat, the Hollywood Sign, Griffith Observatory and downtown, a real logbook entry. This is what most people mean when they say they want to give somebody a flying lesson.
$299 — the discovery flight for two over downtown Los Angeles. Sixty minutes with two people aboard, one flying and one riding along with a headset and a camera. The anniversary and milestone-birthday amount, because the second seat is the whole point.
$399 — the 90-minute Malibu coast flight for two or the Cirrus SR22 flight for two. The big-occasion amount, and the recipient chooses: the coastline out to Point Dume at golden hour, or sixty minutes in a glass-cockpit Cirrus with leather seats and a whole-airframe parachute. This is the proposal flight.

Not sure which? Buy the amount rather than the flight. It sidesteps the awkward questions — weight limits, nerves, who they bring, when they are free — because they pick and we handle the details when they book.

How Gift Cards Work

Choose an amount on the gift card page, add the recipient's email and a personal message, and check out. The card arrives by email with a redemption code, normally within a minute; send it to them directly, send it to yourself to forward or print, or pick a delivery date so it lands on the morning of the birthday rather than three weeks early. They book their flight online with the code, or call (818) 330-1318 and we schedule it for them. Any amount can be topped up at checkout, so a $229 card also works toward a flight for two, and an unused balance stays on the card for next time.

Delivered Today, Flown Any Day

Because delivery is by email, last-minute gifting works: buy it the night before and it is there. The flight itself can be any day we are open, 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week, with no blackout dates on weekends, holidays or summer evenings. The card is valid for five years from purchase, as California law requires, is transferable, and is weather protected — if we cancel a flight for weather, nothing is charged and the certificate is untouched, with free rescheduling up to 24 hours before. If you would like something to hand over in person, call and we will prepare a printed certificate for pickup at the airport. Full terms are on our how gift cards work page.

Popular For: Father's Day, Birthdays, Holidays

Father's Day and Mother's Day are the two busiest gift weekends of our year, usually for someone who has talked about flying for decades without doing anything about it. Round-number birthdays — forty, fifty, sixty, seventy — are the most common first flights we fly. Anniversaries and proposals go to the two-seat flights, graduations to the $229 flight (there is no minimum age to fly with an instructor, and the hour is logged toward a certificate), and retirements to whichever flight finishes the unfinished business. For the holidays, the delivery-date option means you can buy in November and have the email arrive on the morning itself. For corporate gifts, client thank-yous and team days, see groups and events or call us.

Gift FAQ

Can I Choose The Flight For Them, Or Do They Pick?

Either way. Buy a specific flight, or buy an amount and let them choose. Most people buy the amount, because the recipient then picks a date, a route and a companion that suit them. The code works for anything.

What If They Are Nervous About Flying?

Mild nerves usually dissolve in the ground briefing, once the instructor has explained what the airplane will do. If the airplane is a step too far, the $189 simulator is a genuine first flight with none of the altitude, and many people fly the simulator first and book the airplane a month later.

What Are The Weight Limits?

180 lb per person and 360 lb combined in the Piper Warrior; 200 lb and 400 lb in the Cirrus SR22; no limit in the simulator. If you are not sure the recipient is inside those numbers, buy an amount rather than a booked flight so the conversation happens privately when they book.

What If They Never Use It?

It stays valid for five years and the balance does not shrink. If they are getting close to the end and still have not flown, call us and we will find them a slot.

Can It Be Used Toward Flight Training?

Yes. The full value applies to training as readily as to a single flight, and the discovery flight hour itself is logged dual instruction that counts toward a private pilot license. If the gift turns into a hobby, nothing is wasted — start at learn to fly in Los Angeles.

Questions before you buy? Read Is A Discovery Flight A Good Gift?, browse the FAQ, or call (818) 330-1318, 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week.