Readily Accessible Fly 4th ed

[HMS Invincible]

The time is rapidly approaching that my party will start looking for ways to fly easily and often. The most likely choice in a griphon mount. How will flying change my sessions? They are about lvl 8, a rogue, barb, paladin, ranger, druid, and swordmage.

[Belobog]

From what I've seen, flying is really more of Epic tier power. You may get abilities that allow flight of some sort earlier than that, but for reliable flight that you can use often, you're most likely going to have to wait until mid-high 20s, when sandals/cloth armor/etc that offer flight as a property start cropping up.

The earliest thing I can think of is the Dragonborn racial Paragon Path, which gives you wings. No idea when it gives you them.

[NPCMook]

The Dragonborn Racial Paragon Path grants you a wings at level 12, which takes place of your level 12 Utility.

Favored Soul also gives you Wings.

[Alteran]

Sorcerers get a level 16 at-will utility power called Dominant Winds. It's a close burst 5 that allows them to fly themselves or any ally within the burst a number of squares equal to their dexterity modifier. By the time they get the power, their dex mod is probably at least 5. It's my favourite way to get free flight at lower levels. The flight isn't as good as the Wizard's Fly spell, but it can be used all day and it doesn't need a minor action to sustain. Just keep in mind that it doesn't let you hover, so unless you fly at least 2 squares on each turn you'll fall.

There's also the Elixir of Flying, a level 21 consumable that gives fly (8) hover for an entire encounter.

[Master_Rahl22]

The most obvious answer to how it will change your game is the monsters and obstacles you throw at them. A giant canyon too wide to jump/teleport over is no longer a problem. Big nasty melee monsters that can't fly can now simply be picked off by ranged basic attacks. Keep those in mind and you should be fine.

[Tiki Snakes]

Sorcerers get a level 16 at-will utility power called Dominant Winds. It's a close burst 5 that allows them to fly themselves or any ally within the burst a number of squares equal to their dexterity modifier. By the time they get the power, their dex mod is probably at least 5. It's my favourite way to get free flight at lower levels. The flight isn't as good as the Wizard's Fly spell, but it can be used all day and it doesn't need a minor action to sustain. Just keep in mind that it doesn't let you hover, so unless you fly at least 2 squares on each turn you'll fall.

There's also the Elixir of Flying, a level 21 consumable that gives fly (8) hover for an entire encounter.

Sorcerous Sirrocco gives you and an ally a fly movement/encounter from level 2. Good old Forgotten Realms phb. :D

Also, in case of flying-character abuse, see flying and crashing rules in the dmg. ^_^
Crashing is brutal.

[Burley]

The Dragonborn Racial Paragon Path grants you a wings at level 12, which takes place of your level 12 Utility.

The Utility requires that you land at the end of the move action. Fly 6 is more like... taking 10 on a jump check.
Not only that, but the Scion of Arkhosia gives you Overland Flight (flight, but not in fights) with a speed of 12. That's at 16th.

[Tengu_temp]

I'd like to point out that the OP is not asking how to access reliable flight (which is easiest done with mounts - Hippogriff costs as little as a level 9 magic item), but how would it change his game.

[Aharon]

In an all-arcane group, Phantom Steeds are also an option. I'm away from books, but with 5 players, the caster gets a +8 competence bonus. With the rest of the boni, this should be sufficient to get flying steed around the same time the ritual pops up.

[Kurald Galain]

The time is rapidly approaching that my party will start looking for ways to fly easily and often. The most likely choice in a griphon mount. How will flying change my sessions? They are about lvl 8, a rogue, barb, paladin, ranger, druid, and swordmage.

Level eight isn't anywhere near the level where 4E characters can fly "easily and often". Don't worry about it for about a dozen more levels.

Overland flight for travel purposes doesn't really change your sessions. In-combat flight, that depends on how you interpret the vague 3D rules. It mainly means that they cannot be hit by enemies that don't fly, teleport, or use ranged attacks, and that they ignore most kinds of terrain. Fly isn't really such a big deal, but altitude in combat can be annoying to keep track of.

[Ninetail]

The time is rapidly approaching that my party will start looking for ways to fly easily and often. The most likely choice in a griphon mount. How will flying change my sessions? They are about lvl 8, a rogue, barb, paladin, ranger, druid, and swordmage.

Basically, travel becomes easier and they can bypass any ground-bound challenge (at least when outdoors).

Frequent easy flight isn't that common in 4e, though. You shouldn't start seeing it until mid-paragon tier, at the earliest. A few mounts might come into play a little earlier -- as noted, the hippogriff is around the cost of a level 9 item, which means it's easily affordable around level 13 or so without impacting on the "big 3" gear pieces. But these are also very dangerous, after the first few levels. A level 19 flying critter might have some problems hitting the level 19 character, but that level 5 hippogriff is a pretty easy target...