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

thatsfabulous

black_pearl wrote: »

I'd love to take my boyfriend to new york as a surprise for his 30th birthday next year. before i get too excited and start making plans, i want to check if my savings are sufficient. if not, then i'll look at somewhere closer to home instead.

i know budget questions are very much like asking 'how long is a piece of string'. I guess what i really want to know is whether its possible to get to new york and do all the tourist trap stuff on my budget. I have £1300 saved for flights and hotel, and will be able to get around £1k by the time we come to go.

I'd like:
* direct flights from bristol, gatwick or heathrow,
*stay for 3-5 nights (budget allowing)
*at least a 3* hotel. I'd prefer to stay near the action, but if staying futher out and travelling in means the difference between going or not then i am prepared to compromise.
* travelling the week after easter or 1st week of june (im a teacher so dates are non negotiable).

is it do-able, or is it just a pipedream?

if it is feasable, am i likely to get better value for money booking flights and hotels separately, or booking a package?

I know that there is a wealth of info on these boads and i'm looking forward to reading though the threads, but i don't want to get my hopes up only to find that i cant afford NY after all.

any advice or thoughts would be fab.

cheers,

BP

Where is everyone?????..........

Just had a very quick search for you on expedia and 1st week in june with direct flights with BA and Edison hotel for 5 nights is £1096. So yes its do-able

Edison hotel is a 2 1/2 star location times square. I know people who have stayed here and said it was fine, nothing fancy but clean. Reviews on TA are good.

If you look on tripadvisor at hotels and last minute/expedia for flights/hotel you can try and get them cheaper if booked seperate.

cas-kitt

thatsfabulous wrote: »

Yes I would definatly take photocopys of your passports. I know i'll be taking my passport out with me when i go to bars/macys for discount etc so i will be keeping a photocopy in the safe.

You can inform the bank of you going away, no harm and piece of mind for you.

Have a great time and done forget to give us a report on your trip on your return :T

thanks "thatsfabulous", have informed banks, now just have passports to do, oh and book taxi for the airport, hope i have not forgotten anything else,:D

M4RKM

black_pearl wrote: »

I'd love to take my boyfriend to new york as a surprise for his 30th birthday next year. before i get too excited and start making plans, i want to check if my savings are sufficient. if not, then i'll look at somewhere closer to home instead.

i know budget questions are very much like asking 'how long is a piece of string'. I guess what i really want to know is whether its possible to get to new york and do all the tourist trap stuff on my budget. I have £1300 saved for flights and hotel, and will be able to get around £1k by the time we come to go.

I'd like:
* direct flights from bristol, gatwick or heathrow,
*stay for 3-5 nights (budget allowing)
*at least a 3* hotel. I'd prefer to stay near the action, but if staying futher out and travelling in means the difference between going or not then i am prepared to compromise.
* travelling the week after easter or 1st week of june (im a teacher so dates are non negotiable).

is it do-able, or is it just a pipedream?

Doable. I spend less than £1300 for 1 person for 7 nights, so you should easily be able to get across there for 3 nights for 2 people. One good thing is that hotels are per room, not per person per night, so you two basically pay half the cost of what I do (did that just make sense?!)

One thing I'd steer away from is saying you MUST HAVE a 3* hotel, as *'s in the US are a different level than in the UK, so if you want a 3* UK equiv, then I'd say your budget is too low. One thing I say, and people realise when they come BACK from NYC, is how little time you spend in the room, so you don't need luxury, minibar, concierge etc etc, if you do your research. (research does include asking questions on here, so you're onto a good start!)

Flights, to keep the flight budget low, Heathrow (LHR) is your best bet. You can fly to any of the New York Airports, the main 2, Newark Liberty (EWR) and John F Kennedy (JFK) are kinda equidistance to Manhattan.

Stay near the action. What do you mean by action, do you want an amazing nightlife and restaurants on your doorstep, and don't mind travelling to see the tourist attractions, or do you want the tourist attractions on your doorstep. If it is the latter, then you need to stay in Manhattan. Manhattan has loads of nightlife, but it's a bit more scattered around the island. Manhattan is about 3 miles wide, 12 miles long, and honestly, you can stay anywhere on this little patch of land, and you'll be near the tourist attractions. Mainly on the basis of that they are all not close by, you will have to travel around to use them, and the NYC Public Transport system is cheap and easy to use (subway, bus). A last resort IMO is a taxi, but later at night these are useful.

Now, if it is the first one, and you've already said you don't mind to travel a bit, and you like a good nightlife with plenty of bars and restaurants all in a nice small walkable area, you could consider Williamsburg in Brooklyn. It's kinda a hipster haven, with loads of places of different types, and it's all walkable. I've stayed there only once, but fell in love with it when I was there. It's also only 2 stops on the subway through to Manhattan, 4 stops to Union Square, so less than 10 mins to be in Manhattan, 30, and you can be queuing to get up the top of the rock...

So you do have some choices to make there... ok.. next?!

black_pearl wrote: »

if it is feasable, am i likely to get better value for money booking flights and hotels separately, or booking a package?

I know that there is a wealth of info on these boads and i'm looking forward to reading though the threads, but i don't want to get my hopes up only to find that i cant afford NY after all.

any advice or thoughts would be fab.

cheers,

BP

Personally, I like to book things separately. Some people think that the package is the way to go. However, one thing I find is that packages only really package in the bigger "tourist" class hotels, and leave the smaller "boutique" hotels to fend for themselves.

Finally, you really need to set a date, i've done a quick search, and can get you both to NYC, 4 nights in Brooklyn, for £1140 (flying delta from LHR, staying at Hotel Le Jolie in Williamsburg, Brooklyn), for the thursday 8th April 2010, flying back mon 14th april, landing tuesday.. bear in mind a Saturday night stay is really needed to make the flights cheaper!!

or for a hotel in Manhattan, you could get something like The Standard Hotel in Meatpacking District, Manhattan (over the new highline park, and it's a really posh, nice, unique boutique hotel, with floor to ceiling windows), for £1289 (oooh £11 in your budget still!) for the same dates. And at least with staying in an area like Meatpacking distance, there are still great bars and restaurants that locals frequent!

EDIT - oh.. the Le Jolie, and the Standard beat The Edison, and it's shoddy plumbing hands down, on location, style, and amenities. I've stayed at the Edison, and the Le Jolie, and the Le Jolie wins, I'm staying at the Standard in March, just because rooms at $195 a night is HALF the normal price, and it's too big a bargain to miss.. The Edison is just off Times Square, which is always busy with tourists, always bustling, and you pay more for beers in bars nearby, as (i feel) that everything around there is aimed at tourists. By all means visit, I do at least once on my holiday, because it is "the crossroads of the world" etc etc, but it's just not anything else but flashing lights and fellow tourists!

So, now you know it's doable.... anything else we can help with?!! *grins*

Mark

P.S - I do not recommend staying in/near times square, This is a personal preference, as I just don't find it gives me "New York" as I want. It is a great location for a photo stop, and wander around, but I do not like to have to centre my holiday around TS. Some people disagree with me, but my opinion is my own.

greenface

great advice from start to finish

jcartlidge

Arrrggghhhh! So annoyed this morning.

Have booked to go away from 19th-23rd December to soak up the famous NYC atmosphere at Christmas. Problem is American Airlines have contacted me today to infomr me that my flight times have changed both outbound and inbound! I am was meant to be flying out at 8:30 am (now 10:30 am) and returning at 11:30 pm (now 9:30 pm) all in all i've lost 5 hours of my holiday.

Checked other carriers and there are no better options for me now in terms of times and price (paid £450 each) has this ever happened to anyone before? and is it usual?

My other problem is the hotel i have booked for the night before is now not required as i can travel down for the 10:30 flight no problems. Do you think it is worth asking AA to reimburse my costs as the room is non-cancelable.

greenface

how does that work out as 5 hours ??
ask AA i think they will say no because they can shift or delay flights for a certain amount of hours without compensation being sought or offered.
But explain about hotel booked and time traveling ask for a upgrade or VIP pass IMOif you needed a hotel means you live a fair distance from a runway I would still take the hotel option as you can have a better lie in(you prob still want to be in airport for 7.30 so still early)so hotel will be a few minutes but home could be a while depending on traffic and maybe a transfere.P.S enjoy NYC and if you want to have a small taste of American xmas if you feel up to it Ronnie Spector is doing her Xmas Party on the 19th and 20th night. What a start to Xmas in NYC happy Holidays.
http://www.bbkingblues.com/schedule/moreinfo.cgi?id=1957

M4RKM

2 hours for the first flight, and 2 hours for the return flight equals 5 doesn't it?

greenface

suppose so never did skool much meself specially mafs

Only went to skool to make up the numbers in the footie team

Savvy_Sue

jcartlidge wrote: »

My other problem is the hotel i have booked for the night before is now not required as i can travel down for the 10:30 flight no problems. Do you think it is worth asking AA to reimburse my costs as the room is non-cancelable.

I'm with greenface, I'd keep the hotel and although you've lost time from the NY bit of the holiday I'd make up for it at this end ... enjoy the hotel, enjoy the lie-in, nice meal the night before etc.

lowrig

Hi all, have recently finished reading this thread (part 2 anyway) - there's so much info!

I am going to New York with a friend on 14/11 - 17/11, staying at the Salisbury. We want to get tickets for Broadway and go to Ellis Island/SoL, so thought it'd be easiest to go down to South St Seaport before 10am for the tickets, then go across to Battery Park to get the boat to SoL as it seems really near. Do you think it's practical to be able to queue and get tickets for a show at SSS, look around and shop a bit (A&F) and get to Battery Park by about 1 for a booked boat over? Or is it best to just do them on separate days so can get an earlier boat to SoL? And if you do think both on same day is doable, which day would be quieter for queuing, Sunday or Monday?

Thanks in advance!