Heli or plane
Seven of the twelve combinations on this page fly by fixed-wing aircraft and five by helicopter, and the helicopters cost roughly twice as much. The difference is not speed and it is not the view of the fiord. It is that a helicopter can land on a beach, a snowfield or an alpine ridge, and a plane cannot land anywhere except an airstrip.
Quick answer
A plane costs from $431, flies higher and faster, and carries more people; a helicopter costs from $777, flies lower and slower, takes four to six, and can put down where there is no runway. Both cross the same Alps and both end with the same cruise. If you want the mountains from above and the best price, take the plane. If you want to be among them, or to stand on one, take the helicopter.
What a plane does better
Above the peaks, half the price, and far more reviews.
Height. A fixed-wing aircraft crosses the Southern Alps above the peaks. You see the whole spine of the range at once, the glaciers laid out flat, and the fiord opening up ahead. It is the postcard view, and it is the one most photographs of this trip are.
Price. About half. The cheapest plane combination is $431; the cheapest helicopter is $777.
Evidence. The plane listings on this page carry far more reviews, because they have been flying this route for decades and carry more people per flight.
Comfort. Quieter, warmer, and steadier in moving air.
What a helicopter does better
Among the walls, and it can put you on top of one.
It flies among the mountains rather than over them. A helicopter route follows valleys, crosses saddles and passes rock faces at a few hundred metres. The scale reads differently at that height — you get the height of the walls rather than the shape of the range.
It can land. This is the whole of the price difference. Three listings here put down on a beach at the mouth of the fiord, on a snowfield, or on an alpine ridge. There is no road, no trail and no boat to any of those places.
Four to six people. Everyone gets a window, the pilot talks to all of you, and you are not queuing to board.
Book direct
The cheapest plane, our top pick, the helicopter that flies both legs and the one that lands.
★ 4.9 · 1,831 reviews
★ 4.9 · 322 reviews
★ 5 · 34 reviews
★ 5 · 5 reviews
Five things people get wrong when booking a Milford Sound flight and cruise
These come up in the reviews on both sides.
It is not. A plane crosses the Alps more quickly; the helicopter takes a lower, more scenic line.
It can — there is an airstrip beside the water, and the fixed-wing combinations use it. What it cannot do is land anywhere else.
The fiord looks much the same from both. Book the helicopter for the mountains or for the landing.
In settled air it is not. In moving air both move, and the helicopter moves differently rather than more.
The plane listings carry hundreds of reviews and the helicopter ones carry tens. That is a difference in evidence, not necessarily in quality.
Common questions
Only if you want to fly among the mountains or land on one. For the fiord itself and for the price, the plane wins.
Roughly double: from $777 against $431.
The plane — quieter, warmer and steadier. The helicopter is a small cabin with a lot of noise outside it.
The plane for the whole range at once; the helicopter for scale, because you are closer to the walls.
Yes. Every combination on this page includes about two hours on the water.
No. Only the helicopter listings land off-airfield, and that is what the extra money buys.
What the extra money actually buys
Height, and the ability to stop.
A fixed-wing aircraft crosses the Southern Alps at three to four thousand metres. A helicopter crosses them at one to two, following valleys and crossing saddles. Neither is better; they are different pictures of the same mountains.
From a plane you see the range as a system: how the glaciers feed the valleys, where the passes are, how the fiord relates to the sea. It is the view that explains the geography.
From a helicopter you see scale: a wall going past the window at a few hundred metres, with nothing in the frame to make it look small. It is the view that explains the size.
And only one of them can stop. Every helicopter Milford Sound flight and cruise on this page can put down somewhere a plane cannot, and that is what doubles the fare.
Which to book, in five lines
If you recognise your case here, the decision is made.
The cheapest Milford Sound flight and cruise by plane is $431 with 1,831 reviews.
From $777, and it flies among them rather than over them.
From $808, with 196 reviews at 4.9.
Quieter, warmer, steadier and more seats to move between.
Height gives you the whole spine in one frame.
In short
Plane for value, helicopter to land.
Plane. From $431. Higher, faster, cheaper, more reviews. The right first Milford Sound flight and cruise for almost everybody.
Helicopter. From $777. Lower, slower, four to six seats, and it can land. Roughly double the fare of the same Milford Sound flight and cruise by plane.
Neither sees more fiord. The cruise is identical and the fiord is identical. What you are choosing is the forty minutes at each end.
What it is actually like in each one
A row of seats, or a glass bubble.
In a light aircraft you sit in a row, the engine is a steady drone through the headset, and the aircraft moves slowly in pitch. The windows are small and curved, and the wing is in the frame on one side. It is comfortable and it is a little removed.
In a helicopter the cabin is a bubble with glass down to your feet, the noise is physical rather than background, and the aircraft moves in every axis at once. You see downwards, which a plane does not let you do, and the ground is closer.
Neither is frightening and both are loud. If you have flown in neither, the plane is the gentler introduction; if you have flown in both, you already know which you would pick.
Go deeper
From $431 for the whole day, and what the helicopter adds.
The verdictTwelve combinations, and the four worth your money.
Road or airTwelve hours of coach against four and a half in the air.
LandingsBeach, snow and alpine ridge — the stops no road reaches.
BookingWeights, weather rules and what sells out.
When to goMilford has 182 rain days a year, and that is the point.
Queenstown: Milford Sound Flight and Cruise
★ 4.9 · 322 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h