The gift voucher from Air Lagon takes the form of a card bought online, on the same platform as the flights. Eight cards are sold self-service, from 90 to 160 euros, each matching a package departing from Saint-Leu: the Vol Découverte, the Vol Long, the Vol Extra Long and the Vol Panoramique, either plain or bundled with photos and video. Payment is settled straight away and the card arrives by email, attached to the purchase confirmation. The buyer forwards it to the recipient, which makes it possible to give on the same day with no delay. No account is needed to buy, and the card stays valid whatever the flight date turns out to be. The amount is shown before payment, with no booking fee, and nothing is added when the slot at Saint-Leu is reserved.
The card stays valid for twelve months from the purchase. The recipient books a slot whenever they wish, by phone, on WhatsApp or online, quoting the number printed on the document. The team at Air Lagon checks availability and confirms the appointment, taken near Kélonia at the north entrance of Saint-Leu, below the ridge of Les Colimaçons and the Mascarins conservatory. If the weather prevents flying on the planned day, the flight is rescheduled free of charge and the card validity follows the new date, whether it covers Les Colimaçons or the Maïdo. The recipient has nothing to pay on site: the service is already settled, and only the photo and video option may be added at the time of the flight if the card did not include it. The number is single-use: the team at Saint-Leu marks it as spent after landing, on the register of the school Air Lagon, back down from Les Colimaçons, on the heights above Saint-Leu.
Three cases fall outside the self-service catalogue and are handled by phone or on WhatsApp. The Vol du Maïdo, at 299 euros from the heights overlooking the cirque of Mafate, is not among the eight cards. A free amount, chosen by the buyer rather than a set package, is also requested from the team at Air Lagon. Sending a printed card by post goes through the same channel and carries a five euro supplement. In these three situations the team prepares the voucher in Saint-Leu and passes it to the buyer directly: the path differs from a self-service purchase, whose card leaves by automated email. These requests are handled during opening hours, from half past eight in the morning to half past six in the evening, and until six on Sundays, on the Saint-Leu number.
A paragliding flight is given for a birthday, a farewell, an achievement, or at Christmas and Valentine's Day, the periods when cards sell most. The format also suits works councils and groups planning an outing on the west coast. The recipient later picks a slot among the nine offered daily by the school Air Lagon, from seven in the morning to five in the afternoon. Morning flights bring the calmest air above the lagoon of Saint-Leu, while late afternoon gives a light that photographs particularly well. Nothing has to be decided at the time of purchase: the card leaves complete freedom over both the date and the hour. Cards given at Christmas are often redeemed in the dry months, May to November, when the lagoon of Saint-Leu reads clearest from Les Colimaçons.
On the day itself, the sequence is no different from a standard booking. The recipient arrives near Kélonia fifteen minutes before the agreed time, where a shuttle drives the group to the strip of Les Colimaçons, at 800 metres above Saint-Leu. The instructor, who holds the state Brevet, provides the harness, the helmet and the seat, handles the launch and flies through to the landing beside the lagoon. The track passes over the sugar cane fields and the conservatory of Mascarins before reaching the coral reefs. Allow one hour to two and a half hours on site depending on the package carried by the card, transport and preparation included. The recipient leaves with their photos if the card covered them, handed over on site by the instructor from the school Air Lagon.
A gift card covers the flight itself and nothing else, which is worth knowing before giving one. Travel to the meeting point at Kélonia stays the recipient's responsibility, whether by car or on the lines of the Kar'ouest network serving Saint-Leu. Meals and accommodation fall outside the amount. The photo and video option is added on site if the card given did not include it, for twenty euros. The Vol du Maïdo, launching from the heights above the cirque of Mafate, sits outside the self-service catalogue and is ordered from the team at Air Lagon. A card is not refundable in cash, but it can be passed on freely to somebody else. A weather postponement does not consume the card: the team sets a new date from Saint-Leu, free of charge and without shortening the validity that remains.