Takeaway

When comparing Papillon and Maverick for the equivalent champagne picnic tour departing from the Las Vegas Strip, Maverick is the better value when Papillon has a fuel surcharge in place (Papillon does not always have a fuel surcharge) and Maverick is the better value for prime time flights as they do not charge a higher price for popular flight times.  You can save up to an additional $90 per person with Papillon by flying from Boulder City which will add commute time and remove the flight over the Las Vegas Strip. There are slight variations in details like transportation and food, but overall these tours are very similar and popular for their balance of time in helicopter and Grand Canyon.

Takeaway

When comparing Papillon and Maverick for the equivalent champagne picnic tour departing from the Las Vegas Strip, Maverick is the better value when Papillon has a fuel surcharge in place (Papillon does not always have a fuel surcharge) and Maverick is the better value for prime time flights as they do not charge a higher price for popular flight times.  You can save up to an additional $90 per person with Papillon by flying from Boulder City which will add commute time and remove the flight over the Las Vegas Strip. There are slight variations in details like transportation and food, but overall these tours are very similar and popular for their balance of time in helicopter and Grand Canyon.

Takeaway

When comparing Papillon and Maverick for the helicopter tours that departs from Grand Canyon West and descend into the canyon for a landing, you may assume they are the same as they both are similar price and similar duration.  There is a major difference between the landing options offered by Papillon and Maverick.  Papillon only lands in the area where the boat tours depart meaning you may be sharing a helicopter with people taking the boat ride and your area to explore is where the boat launch is.  Maverick does not have a boat option so their landing area is exclusively for exploring on the ground without seeing boats or the boat area.  The biggest difference between Papillon and Maverick for tours departing from the West Rim is that Papillon services the tour with boat ride while Maverick specializes in the landing tour with time for exploring on the ground. Maverick only use EC-130 helicopters while Papillon may use EC-130 or A-Star helicopters for this tour.  If comparing the Papillon tour with boat ride,  you ignore the Grand Canyon West $49 entry fee included in the $319 price, you will see that the boat ride only costs $10 more than the Maverick Landing tour.