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

Angelina-M

markymoo wrote: »

All airlines are much of a muchness, and I would in no way say that BA, VA, or AA are better than each other... Delta, Continental, US Airways all fall into the same boat too.. there isn't anything "posh" about economy class on any of the airlines, with most offering 31" pitch, on a standard seat, and some having varying differences of in flight boredom, i mean entertainment.

I always say to go with the one that has the right price for your budget. By all means, spend money just because you want to fly with AA, or BA (i've flown both, along with US Airways, Air France, Delta, and United) and have found no real difference with anything... Also, I'm suprised to say that you could fly BA from Manchester, but all that does is make you change in London, so it's only an internal flight, so you don't have to check in as early as an international direct flight. 90 minutes before is right for that, as you're still 2 - 3 hours ahead of your international leg.

M

Many thanks guys for the info. I've gone ahead and booked the Continental flight. Mind you it goes into Newark rather than JFK but I was offered a shuttle to my hotel (The New Yorker) for just £11 per person so i've gone for that route.

All booked and ready to go now. I just have the ESTA forms to fill in but no rush for that.

Exciting times ahead

Thanks again

thatsfabulous

Marky, how was your trip? Hope you had a great time:T

foxy-roxy

I'm going with AA because there flight times are better, it is a little more expensive but i don't want to get to NYC at night as it would be a wasted day, although i have never flown with them before so not sure if there any better than any other airline.

lisadolphin

Thanks a lot for your replies.

It's ok Mark I know the guy and he owns the apartment.

M4RKM

lisadolphin wrote: »

Thanks a lot for your replies.

It's ok Mark I know the guy and he owns the apartment.

he owns the apartment? or every apartment in the building.

If it is the latter, then it's probably ok. If it is the first, then he's still breaking the law, as the building won't be classed as transient accommodation, as you're staying less than 30 days.

Lady_S

markymoo wrote: »

Don't fly into Newark, discount that straight away, as it is really only a tunnel option to get into manhattan. You can't use the subway, as that is all in tunnels, so even getting around NYC will either be lots of walking, or expensive taxis!!!

M

Or the option that everyone seems to ignore, Bus.

The buses in Manhattan are amazing. They run on every street and avenue, they are easy to find and clean and comfortable.

The option isn't limited to taxi/walk if you don't like ths subway.

mynameisnotfred

I am back today! Had an amazing time - don't think I could have wished for a better trip. As I got so much from the posts on here, vowed I would come back and do a quick report of my own, so here goes...

Flew with AA. Cheap (as we booked it during their sale) and had good flight times (got in to JFK at 11am on the way over, and then an overnight flight back to Heathrow). It was fine but I would be keen to experience other airlines to see if you do get slightly better service - food was pretty standard but some of the staff did seem a bit grumpy (and old!) and the video service was a bit limited.

Stayed in the Upper East Side which I loved, particularly as our hostel was a real bargain. It's a nice neighbourhood with lots of classy apartments, restaurants and shops, and definitely doesn't feel overly touristy, which I liked. Close to what I would class as one of the nicest areas of Central Park too. I also enjoyed re-exploring the East Side, Soho and Greenwich Village neighbourhoods. Didn't get a chance this time but need an East Side bar crawl!

Loved the baseball! Very very American atmosphere but it was great for that alone.

Had to be done but my least favourite day was probably the one where we vowed to fit in all the typically touristy things, so Staten Island Ferry for Statue of Liberty, WTC, Wall Street, Rockerfeller Centre etc. Bit dissapointed with Rockerfeller in all honesty. It is superior to The Empire State Building because of price/lack of queues and general experience but they are still pretty much the same views. It's still probably worth doing but to get the biggest impact, I'd actually recommend only going up at night when the city is all lit up, rather than during the day or going up earlier and then waiting for it to get dark.

Loved hanging out in Central Park! Definitely has the most atmosphere over the weekends too, and the good weather really helped us make the most of it. We rented bikes from the place by the boathouse which was okay. At least it made us think we were burning off a few of the extra calories we were consuming! Speaking of those, really recommend the awesome chocolate brownies you can get from the cafe type place there (not the posh restaurant).

As an aside, having the gorgeous Kelly Ripa jog past us in the park on Tues almost made my week!

Did Brooklyn just so we could say we had but pretty dull, really. Didn't go to the museum or botanical gardens but neighbourhoods we visited very quiet and Prospect Park was nothing special. It's just a park - not sure what I was expecting!

Last time I went to Chinatown it must have been during a festival or something because it was all decorated and pretty, but not this time around. We actually struggled to find a place we really wanted to eat in there, too. But there is definitely plenty of choice.

East Tenement Museum was great. Really insightful and interesting if you're into that sort of thing (New York social history, basically). They've done up an old tenement building on the Lower East Side so it represents how it would have looked and felt over a hundred years ago and then do tours about some of the people who actually lived there. Cheaper rates for students too.

Shunned Broadway but we went to see an off off brodaway play in the East Side called The Bereavement which was very funny, quirky and New Yorky! Wednesday night is the company's 'pay what you can afford night' as well, so very MSE! They ask for a minimum of $5 each which is a proper bargain considering how entertaining it actually was (but does have !!!!! reviews everywhere else)

We went to see the Harvard Sailing Team at the People's Improv Theatre on Friday night, which was also great and only $10 each for tickets. Lots of funny sketches with young comedians - sure at least a few are destined for bigger things.

Already gone on MUCH longer than I'd planned to but can also recommend Bianca's in Little Italy for a great cheapish Italian (best lasagne ever!) and EJ's in the Upper East Side for a nice typical American diner experience.

Oh yeah - can't fault the subway at all really, but don't forget that they do 'local' and 'express' trains. We did and it wasn't a great jet-lagged introduction to the city as we tried and repeatedly failed to get off at the correct stop!!

The Sony Wonder Technology Lab is another very MSE thing - a free science museum basically, but better! (although heavily Sony-promoted) Probably more one for your young families though, or just big kids!

Sure there's more I've forgotten so will let you know if anything else comes to mind.

scrungebucket

Going there for a couple of nights, anyone know a good place to stay? Nothing too expensive and near Broadway if possible.

Ta
x

Nordictat2

Don't know your dates but give this a lookie...

http://hotelscombined.com/SearchResults.aspx?fileName=New_York&languageCode=EN&brandId=null&checkin=2009-10-07&checkout=2009-10-09&locationId=49422&currencyCode=NOK&Adults=1&Rooms=1&lowRate=120&highRate=5440&pageSize=15&sort=MinRate-asc&tabId=Details&rateTabId=rateViewSimple

You can change the dates at the top of the page

M4RKM

Lady_S wrote: »

Or the option that everyone seems to ignore, Bus.

The buses in Manhattan are amazing. They run on every street and avenue, they are easy to find and clean and comfortable.

The option isn't limited to taxi/walk if you don't like ths subway.

New York City Bus only runs in New York, and not New Jersey when you're at the airport. There really isn't a way, bus, train or
otherwise to avoid a tunnel getting into Manhattan from EWR, which was the first question. Why I miss bus from an option when in Manhattan, well for $2.25, it can take an hour to get uptown, which would be 20 minutes in a taxi, or 10 minutes on a subway, so however amazing they are, IMO they are NOT an option for uptown / downtown travel. However, they are useful for Cross town travel, where your only current options are the S/7 subway, and the L... the E somewhat, but only if you start at 8th avenue, and want to be Central Park South/East corner.

There is one way to get from EWR to Manhattan without taking any tunnel, and that is via Helicopter. There are currently offers with Continental, that make this only $59 til the end of this month.

M