A discovery flight is not a sightseeing charter with a pilot narrating over the intercom. You sit in the left seat, an FAA-certified instructor sits in the right, and once the takeoff roll is done the aircraft is yours: turns, climbs, straight and level, on a heading you picked. The instructor handles the radios and takes the landing. More than 2,000 of these have been flown from this field safely.
The natural route from Van Nuys runs south over the Sepulveda Pass with the Getty Center on the ridge below the right wing, then east along the crest above Benedict and Coldwater until the flats open out under the nose. Franklin Canyon, Greystone, the Century City towers, and on a clear afternoon the coast from Santa Monica round to Palos Verdes. You choose the route at the briefing rather than being handed one.
Discovery Flight For One is $229 for 60 minutes, $299 for 90 and $399 for 120. For two people it is $299, $399 and $499. The Luxury Cirrus For Two, flown in the SR22 Turbo with its glass cockpit and air conditioning, is $499 for an hour, $699 for 90 minutes and $949 for two hours. Whichever you take, the time is loggable and counts toward a license.