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

lisadolphin

i'm worried wont get any flight nxt weds 4wks before going. or price going sky high

CM66

lisadolphin wrote: »

thx v much mark

however i cant book til nxt weds 11pm when paid. unless get 300 flight this weds at a push but pref nxt week as have bills to pay. sorry about confusion.

returning 5/11 lhr to jfk

Hi Lisa,

I just had a very quick check on Opodo for the dates you mentioned and the most expensive flight for the dates is £308 going down to £267 with a stop! Looks like plenty of options for you to choose from, including some morning flights for the outward!

Hope that helps,

Clare

lisadolphin

thanks v much for taking time to help clare. will check it out.

pjjafc

Hi

Booked my flights ages ago through Virgin at £298 (Saturday to Saturday.) brilliant!

But just booked my hotel for New York on the 1st of October for 2 nights.

Got a amazing/silly deal £225 for the 2 nights for the Courtyard Marriot.

Anyone else stayed there?? got any pros/cons?

thanks in advance

M4RKM

there are at least 3 Courtyard Marriot's that I know of in New York City, JFK Airport, Upper East Side, and Times Square, so it's hard to know without knowing exactly which one you've booked the pros and cons of it.


If it is the JFK airport one, the con is it is about 45 minutes away from Manhattan.
If it is the Times Square one, well lets not get into that.
If it is the Upper East Side one, it's kinda cool up there..

M

pjjafc

its Midtown east???

i took a gambel on priceline. Cheapest I could find on the net was just over £320 and I got £225!

M4RKM

Ok, make it four Courtyard Marriots that I know..

Midtown East... well, it's a nice area for heading to the tourist attractions, you have the 6 subway train close by, and that's good for getting around, and easily takes you downtown, which is nice.

The area itself, IMO (and I've stayed nearby at the Affinia 50), is really a bit dull at night. Corporates close, the bars are kinda boring, and aimed either solely at business people / tourists, so you'll end up paying $7 for a beer, whereas a bar on the UWS or LES/Tribeca, Soho areas will be $4 or $5 for the same thing!!!

It is much quieter and away from the hustle and bustle of times square, which is always a good thing, but gives you a great base to explore from. Over on 1st or 2nd avenue there will be good bars and restaurants, but 3rd is just on the cusp of being tourist/business haven.. you wander down a street, say 50th street, and it'll be corporate - hotel - hotel - corporate.. bit like a scooby doo cartoon background just repeating itself, but it is, as i've said, a great base for exploring midtown, and many things are within walking distance.

Bear in mind, I go to NYC for totally different things now, so I notice these things. As a first timer you'll be looking up to the sky, and going, wow things are so tall..

M

greenface

Mark doesnt the sheer height of the city still take your breath away . There is no European comparison so worldwide maybe Dubai or Hong Kong come close . Paris has Eifel and as a stand alone structure that was (felt )taller than ToTR or ESB because it never had other buildings around it. I have a good view of Liverpool seafront from where i live and i feel lucky but if the same view was of Manhattan id be like a dog with two collars

M4RKM

greenface, would I keep going back if i didn't like the buzz and everything of the city. No I wouldn't.

NYC is so unique it is an amazing city, the pace, the lifestyle, the architecture, always takes my breath away. ToTR for me gives the best views, as you get an iconic ESB view to the south, and a beautiful Central Park view to the north. These iconic views are what makes NYC for me, and even on my last day in NYC, I did the obvious tourist thing.

Got on the subway in Brooklyn at Marcy Ave, and this goes over the Williamsburg Bridge. So coming into Manhattan, I peered out of the window like a tourist and just smiled, and admired the view. It's there for a reason and I'm not going to just leave NYC without saying goodbye to it.

Some things seem to confuse me though, as to why people want to visit "Ground Zero". I wandered around that area, on the way to Century 21, and there isn't anything there apart from a building site. The sidewalk where you could stand and peer in, is now gone, and there isn't anything there. Wouldn't it be better to go to the proper memorials to pay respects, rather than try and get run over by cars, trucks and cranes, just to see what will become another iconic view of the Freedom Tower.

Of course the city takes my breath away, but with going so many times now, it does it in different ways. Different views of Manhattan, like the one from Williamsburg looking over to the east side of Manhattan is gorgeous, something most tourists don't think of doing, So here it is...

If you have time, do it, it's easy and will only take about an hour out of a day. Get the L train to Bedford Avenue, and walk out of the Bedford Avenue Exit, (don't go to Driggs Ave), double back on yourself, and your on the corner of North 7th Street and Bedford. Walk down North 7th, all the way to the end (4 Blocks), then to the right, you'll have an entrance to a reclaimed land, and it's a great park, with some tables and you can walk right down to the rivers edge, and see manhattan.

I went, and forgot my camera, but did take one on my iPhone - http://img14.yfrog.com/i/zcxc.jpg/ - Wish I had gone back on a sunnier day and taken some good photos, but just ran out of time!

I'll keep going back, as it is a great holiday for me, and it works. I've done other places, and enjoyed myself, but in NYC it just feels right, and people seem to remember me, which is never a bad thing!!


M

M4RKM

lisadolphin wrote: »

i'm worried wont get any flight nxt weds 4wks before going. or price going sky high

naa.. you'll be fine..

found this on kayak.co.uk which is one of my preferred ways of searching...

American Airlines
Outbound - LHR 12:15 - JFK 16:20
Inbound - JFK 23:50 - LHR 11:35

Direct Flights each way, book on aa.com for £288

I've then gone onto aa.com confirmed that flight does exist at that price, but you also get a few more options.

I like the late late return, but it is rather late, however does give you the full day in NYC (however, no hotel during the day, most hotels wills tore your luggage)

Now, if you slide your trip by a day earlier (27th - 4th) you can get great flights at the same price

LHR - 08:30 - JFK - 12:20
JFK - 21:32 - LHR - 09:35

but if you stick to the dates you want, these tickets are rather expensive, however, you can go onto aa.com and search, and you see a rather nice matrix, with the prices of each flight, what you want is the ones at £189 going out, and £110 coming back!

M