I managed to get a balloon ride about 30 years ago. The ride was very pleasant and I'm glad I got the chance. Looking back it seemed to be so weather dependent and then recovery crew availability dependent that I was surprised that anyone finds it worth the effort. After some weeks of waiting I was called at some unearthly dark hour in the morning and given 15 minutes to be ready to leave. We arrived at the launch site before the dawn chorus had got going to find that there was almost no wind (good for inflating but bad for flying) and fog (just bad). After a leisurely breakfast at a 24 hour cafe we were back at the launch site and found the fog beginning to lift. People were starting to unpack and inflate their balloons which, when they rose to a standing position, were touching the bottom of the fog/low cloud. Eventually the fog lifted enough to launch, just, and a few balloons lifted off. A little breeze enabled them to leave the launch field and the cloudbase allowed them to climb high enough to get over the trees and across the next field. When we took off we flew for about an hour but never rose higher than treetop height due to the still low cloudbase. When we landed it took the recovery team about half an hour to find us and gain access to the landing site, this was despite only having flown a few miles. By the time we had packed it away and cleared the landing site we were lucky to arrive at a pub for lunch before the last orders for food. Getting an hour flying had consumed the best part of a day and we still weren't home.
I can see the appeal but the effort and impracticality......... It is not a mode of transport.