A licensed helipad, an airport apron, or a private site with the owner’s permission and a firm, level, obstacle-free surface. Beaches, docks, resort lawns, and golf courses are often workable but need local permission and sometimes a permit. We confirm the site before we quote, not after.

Over land, in daylight, a single like the 407GXi or H125 is the sensible economic answer. Over water, at night, or in marginal weather, take a twin — H145, AW139, or Bell 429. Some operators and most over-water routes to the Bahamas require twin-engine, twin-pilot dispatch.

IFR-rated twins with de-ice — the AW139, H160, and Bell 429 among these — handle far more than a VFR single. But helicopters are more weather-sensitive than jets, and a low ceiling can move a departure by an hour or send the leg by car. We always brief a ground alternative on time-critical connections.

Soft bags, and fewer than you expect. Five to eight for most of these, with hard cases only on the H145, AW139, Bell 429 and H160. Golf clubs and skis are fine on the clamshell-door aircraft. Tell us the bags at booking — weight and balance is genuinely tight.

That is the most common way we use them. The helicopter meets the jet on the ramp, bags transfer directly between aircraft, and you are moving within minutes of landing. It is billed as one itinerary with one advisor across both legs.

No on effectively all of these, and some AW139 tails aside, plan without one. Legs are typically twenty to ninety minutes, so it is rarely an issue — but on a longer over-water hop we brief the timing before departure.