Anything & Everything New York (PART 2) - [please search thread before posting]

M4RKM

ninestonecreature wrote: »

Markymoo, you are great and have been VERY helpful on this forum, but it has to be said, the New York City forum on Trip Advisor is brilliant. The experts are mainly New Yorkers who will help with any question and don't mind repeating themselves time and time again.

I find it hard to get much of a response from this forum to be honest, its always a case of 'look through the forum' but sometimes you just want a personal response, and to get engaged in a conversation, makes it a little clearer in your own head I think.

With regards flights and hotels, there's good info on here, but I would recommend anyone wanting lots of advice on all things New York to check Trip Advisor out, they're excellent.

oh, i do think that people on TA hate repeating themselves, and they point people in direction of the FAQ'S plenty of times, lots of times, and dont' even speak to them about an apartment rental, as they jump down your throat..

we really don't have the scope like TA do, as this is an overseas holidays forum, not a new york forum, so we're limited, just to the 1 sticky that we have, and the guides i've written.

i think that you've had responses from here, but this thread is a lot smaller than a forum, and also, if we don't know, we don't know, especially when it comes to hotels that we've not stayed at.. then we tell people to read the reviews on TA..

if there is a guide for something that is a question, then obviously we're going to point people in that direction, and maybe for some things reading and researching is a good way of finding stuff out, rather than lettting someone else do it all for you..

M

becky_rtw

markymoo wrote: »

First bit of feedback, i'll try make it a bit better then for the Newark to Penn public transport run...

Not tonight though... over the weekend!

I am dense though so dont worry too much - and arent both stations called Penn - that was confusing

Have to say the train was very uncomfortable and was $15 each - next time I'll go into JFK tbh but if I ever get landed with Newark again I'll order a car service I think , since even the taxi on the way back came to $60 ish

twinkler

Hi all

Im planning a surprise trip to NYC (our first time) for my husbands 30th this Dec (19th -22nd) & want to thank everyone for their comments.

After reading pages and pages of suggestions on this site i have finally booked a hotel today.
I managed to book Hotel 373 (on 5th Ave) for little over £250 via priceline. Im thrilled!!!!

Next thing is flights...i am aware of the 3 month rule however does this apply to flights over the christmas period? Are they likely to rocket if i leave it too late?
I have an ok price (£850 for the both of us) with air france via Delta but i was really hoping to fly with either BA or Virgin.

Do you think it is worth hanging on?

ninestonecreature

twinkler wrote: »

Hi all

Im planning a surprise trip to NYC (our first time) for my husbands 30th this Dec (19th -22nd) & want to thank everyone for their comments.

After reading pages and pages of suggestions on this site i have finally booked a hotel today.
I managed to book Hotel 373 (on 5th Ave) for little over £250 via priceline. Im thrilled!!!!

Next thing is flights...i am aware of the 3 month rule however does this apply to flights over the christmas period? Are they likely to rocket if i leave it too late?
I have an ok price (£850 for the both of us) with air france via Delta but i was really hoping to fly with either BA or Virgin.

Do you think it is worth hanging on?

Hehe, I'm not the only one it seems, are partners are lucky !!!!!!s ;-)

Hotel 373 gets great reviews on Trip advisor....
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g60763-d624442-Reviews-Hotel_373-New_York_City_New_York.html
well done, great price ) Good old priceline, I used hotwire, but same kind of thing! I would recommend it to anyone!

Flights Markymoo can help you on, I'm sure he'll advise you best he can.

I go a week tomorrow...can't wait!! I surprise my partner in 4 days....roll on friday )))

jaycat62

Hi,

My partner and myself are going to NY next year after our Civil Partnership. I have a couple of questions to ask please.

After reading the thread, I am unsure whether to book now with an agent, or do it ourselves, if we do, do we risk leaving it 3 months before? We don't want to mess it up being such an important time for us.

Also has anybody found it makes any difference to fly Friday rather than Saturday? We'd prefer to fly out Friday, but if it's easier or less hectic....

We are looking to stay in Greenwich too, as alot of people here seem to think it's a good place.

Thanks for your help, great and very helpful thread too.

M4RKM

first questions, why were you wanting to fly with BA or Virgin?

IMO, a flight is a flight is a flight. It'll still get you from LHR to NYC.

£425 is pricey for a flight, and i've just done a search through kayak, and found direct flights from Heathrow for £360 which IMO are a good price (air france codeshare - aka delta flights!)

if you're adamant you want to fly BA, £366 gives you a direct flight

neither of these are good flight times. so, £384 gives you a BA flight with a reasonable flight time, or £370 with AF/Delta

all these prices are taken from kayak.co.uk which i searched a few minutes ago!

M

twinkler

Thank you marky moo. I hadnt looked there for flights (new to all this).

Have only ever flewn with easyjet - not sure why wanted BA or Virgin - direct flights where my only real must have as only there for a short while and want o make the most of it!

The prices you fund sound great - far better than i got - do you think its worth waiting until Sept time or not?

indiegirl_2

OK I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I'm going over to NY next week for a few days with work at short notice. I'm going to be a lone female traveller and am not 100% certain (having never been before!) what I can do in the evenings on my own.
I'm not sure I want to be wandering the streets but likewise I won't want to be sat in my hotel room twiddling my thumbs!

Can anyone suggest any 'safe' options for me so that I may at least get to see something in the evenings? Is it safe catching a cab to places / shops - I'm staying on E 50th St so I think it's quite central (I hope!), I'd like to get to Bloomingdales at least!

Lady_S

twinkler wrote: »

Thank you marky moo. I hadnt looked there for flights (new to all this).

Have only ever flewn with easyjet - not sure why wanted BA or Virgin - direct flights where my only real must have as only there for a short while and want o make the most of it!

The prices you fund sound great - far better than i got - do you think its worth waiting until Sept time or not?

We have flown with Virgin twice when we went, purely because I couldn't face long haul without a bit more space, so went premium economy.

For me it was worth it. We had extra space, and because we plumped for Virgin we also got to prebook our seats for the flights.

Lady_S

indiegirl wrote: »

OK I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I'm going over to NY next week for a few days with work at short notice. I'm going to be a lone female traveller and am not 100% certain (having never been before!) what I can do in the evenings on my own.
I'm not sure I want to be wandering the streets but likewise I won't want to be sat in my hotel room twiddling my thumbs!

Can anyone suggest any 'safe' options for me so that I may at least get to see something in the evenings? Is it safe catching a cab to places / shops - I'm staying on E 50th St so I think it's quite central (I hope!), I'd like to get to Bloomingdales at least!

Cab's are safe, but they cost. Personally I am not a fan of the subway there, but have caught the bus regularly and it worked for me. I know lots of people swear by the subway.

Where are you staying? you are only about 9 blocks down from bloomingdales, but it depends what your avenue is as to how close you are.