Marrakech By Air vs The Best Quad Ever

The cheapest Marrakech balloon seat saves you exactly one dollar

The best quad ever sells a 6am shared seat at $145. That's the lowest shared price in everything collected here, and it's the reason you're reading this page. Marrakech By Air's 6am seat is $146. So the saving is one dollar, and you can stop thinking of this as a budget decision, because it isn't one.

Where the gap actually opens up is the 5am slot. Marrakech By Air charges $152 at 5am and The best quad ever charges $146, so six dollars separate them at the more popular departure. Both listings advertise 5 hours with hotel pick-up and drop-off included, which means you're paying almost the same money for the same block of your morning. The difference is what's written on the inclusions list, and there it stops being close.

Insurance and a flight certificate aren't on The best quad ever's inclusions list

Here's what each listing actually promises to hand you once you've paid, straight off the two booking pages.

Included	Marrakech By Air ($146 at 6am)	The best quad ever ($145 at 6am)
Hotel pick-up and drop-off	Yes	Yes
Balloon flight	Yes	Yes
Professional pilot named on the list	Not listed separately	Yes
Food before the flight	Mini breakfast before the flight	Light refreshments
Food after the flight	Berber breakfast in a Berber tent	Traditional Berber breakfast
Flight certificate	Yes	Not listed
Insurance	Yes	Not listed
Camel ride	Yes	Not listed
Guide	Yes	Not listed

Insurance and a certificate turn up on most Marrakech balloon listings as a matter of routine, which makes their absence from a $145 page worth a second look rather than a shrug. A certificate is a souvenir and you'll survive without it. Insurance you'd rather have in writing before you climb into a basket. The camel ride and the guide are the other two things you're quietly giving up, and a camel ride is not nothing for a dollar. Our what's included page lays the same lists out across all four operators if you want to see how both of these compare to the rest.

13,734 reviews against 318, at ratings of 4.8 and 5.0

The best quad ever holds a perfect 5.0. Marrakech By Air sits on 4.8. Those two numbers look like a win for the cheaper listing until you notice the sample sizes: 318 reviews against 13,734.

A 5.0 from 318 people means nobody has had a properly bad morning yet, and that's genuinely good news. A 4.8 from 13,734 means thousands of mornings in every wind condition and every season, with the duds included in the average and the score still holding. If you want the operator that has already been tested at volume, that's Marrakech By Air by a factor of about forty. Our ratings and review counts page goes through what each listing's score is actually worth.

The 4.50am departure is the earliest slot in Marrakech, and it costs $146

The best quad ever is the only listing collected here that sells a 4.50am start, priced at $146. That's a dollar more than its own 6am seat at $145, and the same price as its 5am. Marrakech By Air starts at 5am for $152.

The pre-dawn slot has a real appeal. You're at the launch field while the balloon is still being inflated in the dark, and the listing specifically promises you can watch that and photograph it. What you're buying is time on the ground before take-off, not extra time in the air. If you're weighing departure times generally, the 5am and 6am slots page covers which ones put you airborne for sunrise.

Marrakech By Air confirms pick-up at 6pm the night before, The best quad ever gives a 60 minute window

These two operators handle the most stressful part of the morning, the bit where you're standing outside a dark riad wondering if anyone's coming, in noticeably different ways.

Marrakech By Air sends a WhatsApp around 6:00 pm the day before with the exact pick-up time and location, and spells out where to stand: outside the front of a hotel, the main entrance gate at a residence, and for riads in the medina, the nearest accessible meeting point shared a day ahead. The best quad ever also confirms by WhatsApp, but publishes its pick-up as 0 to 60 minutes before the activity, with the exact time depending on sunrise, season and weather.

Practically, the Marrakech By Air morning runs like this:

1. A WhatsApp lands around 6:00 pm the evening before with your time and exact pick-up spot, so check the number you gave at checkout is the one you're carrying.
2. You're collected by air-conditioned vehicle and driven out to the launch site in the countryside.
3. Mini breakfast on arrival, pastries and coffee, while the crew rigs the balloon.
4. You fly, in front of the Atlas Mountains and over the valleys and hills.
5. Berber breakfast in a Berber tent, then the certificate and the camel ride.
6. Drop-off back at your hotel.

Our hotel pick-up page compares how all four operators handle addresses that a van can't reach.

Each listing refuses a different group of passengers

The restrictions barely overlap, so read the column that applies to you rather than assuming they're the same rules.

	Marrakech By Air	The best quad ever
Children	Not suitable under 3 years or under 3 ft (90 cm)	No age limit published
Pregnancy	Not listed	Not suitable for pregnant women
Heart problems	Not suitable	Not suitable
Fear of heights	Not listed	Not suitable for people afraid of heights
Weight	Maximum 110 kg per person, contact in advance if over	No weight policy published
ID	A valid ID may be requested, and can be refused without one	Not mentioned

The fear of heights line matters more than it looks. If someone in your group is nervous, the listing that explicitly says the experience isn't suitable for them is the wrong booking, and our page on flying when heights worry you explains what the basket is actually like. If anyone's near 110 kg, that's a Marrakech By Air conversation to have before you book, not at the launch field. Both operators' full rules sit on the safety and restrictions page.

Private baskets: $1,284 at 5am against $1,329 at 4.50am

Both sell the whole balloon. Marrakech By Air's private flight is $1,284 at 5am, with breakfast as an option. The best quad ever's private sunrise flight with Berber breakfast is $1,329 at 4.50am, so you're paying $45 more for the earlier launch and the smaller review base. At that money the inclusions gap stings a lot more than it does at $145. The private versus shared page works through whether a whole basket is worth it at all.

Only Marrakech By Air sells a Comfort Flight upgrade

If you want more room than the standard shared basket, The best quad ever has nothing to sell you. Marrakech By Air lists a Comfort Flight at $169 for 5am and $157 for 6am, both still 5 hours. That's $17 over the standard 5am seat and $11 over the standard 6am, which is a modest premium in a market where the next step up is a $1,284 charter. What actually changes in the Comfort basket is set out on its own page.

What happens when the wind says no

The best quad ever publishes the clearer weather policy. Its listing says a flight can be rescheduled or cancelled in unsafe conditions, that you'll be offered an alternative date, and that if you turn the reschedule down you get a full refund. Marrakech By Air says the forecast is checked before your pick-up time is confirmed, which is why that 6pm message exists, but doesn't spell out the refund route the same way.

Both offer free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund if you're the one changing plans. Details for every listing are on the cancellation and payment page.

What reviewers actually complain about on each listing

Two themes are worth knowing before you pick. On Marrakech By Air, pick-up gets praised for running on time and the breakfast gets praised too, but more than one person has come away feeling the flight itself was short. On The best quad ever, the flying and the crew get glowing write-ups while the food is described as fine rather than as advertised. So one listing might underdeliver on air time and the other on breakfast, and only you know which of those you'd mind more. What each operator actually feeds you is broken down separately.

Should you book the $145 seat or the $146 one?

Book Marrakech By Air unless the 4.50am launch is the specific thing you want, because one dollar is not a discount and insurance, a certificate, a guide and a camel ride are a lot to hand back for it. Take The best quad ever's 4.50am at $146 only if watching the inflation in the dark and being first off the ground genuinely matters to you, and go in knowing 318 reviews is a small sample to trust with your one balloon morning.

FAQ

What is the cheapest hot air balloon in Marrakech?

The best quad ever's 6am shared seat at $145 is the cheapest collected here. Its 4.50am and 5am seats are both $146, and Marrakech By Air's 6am is $146 too, so the whole cheap end of the market sits within a dollar or two. Every price is lined up on the prices page.

Is insurance included on the cheapest Marrakech balloon flight?

It isn't listed. The best quad ever's inclusions cover hotel pick-up and drop-off, the flight, a professional pilot, a traditional Berber breakfast and light refreshments, and nothing else. Marrakech By Air lists insurance explicitly, along with a flight certificate, a guide and a camel ride.

How early is the 4.50am Marrakech balloon flight pick-up?

The best quad ever collects you 0 to 60 minutes before the activity, so a 4.50am start can mean a knock at your hotel entrance not long after 3.50am. The exact time depends on sunrise, season and weather, and it's confirmed by WhatsApp after you book.

Which Marrakech balloon operator has more reviews?

Marrakech By Air, by a distance: 4.8 from 13,734 reviews against The best quad ever's 5.0 from 318. The perfect score is real, it just rests on a much smaller sample.

Can you fly if you're afraid of heights or pregnant?

The best quad ever says its flight isn't suitable for pregnant women, people with heart problems or people afraid of heights. Marrakech By Air's list excludes children under 3 years, children under 3 ft (90 cm) and people with heart problems, and caps passengers at 110 kg.

How long does each flight take in total?

Both listings advertise 5 hours from pick-up to drop-off, including hotel transfers both ways. That's the whole morning, not the time in the basket. How long a balloon trip takes splits that total into transfer, flight and breakfast.