People shop for advertising balloons by size. The number that actually decides whether it works is altitude.
Height beats size
Double the size of a balloon and it looks twice as big from the same spot. Double the height and it becomes visible from roads it could not be seen from at all.
Those are not the same benefit, and the second one is worth more. We fly at 120 feet, which clears rooflines, sign clutter and the trees that hide most street-level signage.
A bigger balloon at thirty feet is still hidden behind the building next door. That is the trade people get wrong.
Why 120 feet specifically
Below 150 feet above ground the FAA is not involved. Flying at 120 leaves comfortable margin under that line and keeps the paperwork at zero.
The one exception is controlled airspace. Within five miles of it, you call the local tower and ask. In forty years we have never been refused. Johnny Mulder, who runs the company, holds an FAA commercial pilot certificate, which is why that answer is a fact rather than a guess.
The part that decides whether it keeps flying
The first inflation takes some reading. After that it is about ten minutes and one person.
Ten minutes sounds like nothing until you ask whose ten minutes it is. If nobody owns that job, the balloon stops going up by the third weekend and ends its life in a box. That is the single most common way this purchase fails.
In greater Phoenix and Tucson we remove the problem entirely by running it for you.
Ask for a quote. Call 1-800-791-1445 or email sales@arizonaballoon.com and tell us the size and whether you want it printed.
More at balloonrentals.com.