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

Philippa36

SparklyPrincess wrote: »

When is the best time to book?
Hope this is in the right place...4 of us are looking to go to New York 2nd Dec 2010. Now it only seems Virgin Holidays have released prices for then and for all of us to stay in one room at the Crown Plaza Times Square were looking at £515 each for the 3 nights with return Virgin flights.
My question is - would you book this (yes we do want to be in Times Sq!) or would you hold out for the magic 11 months before and try and peice together a flight and hotel seperatley?
Also does anyone know when the other tour operators such as thomson and thomas cook be releasing their new york packages?

I would set up a savings account and think about booking in Sept/Oct instead of looking for flights now. We're going to NYC in April and I won't be booking tickets until well into the New Year, they're at their highest at the moment.

I would have a good look around for hotels too, it'll be cheaper to book separately and you'll get a better deal. Check Trip Advisor for their NYC recommendations. The hotels book up more quickly - especially if you want somewhere like the apartment style hotels - but you can still get great late deals.

little_dumplings

("We're going to NYC in April and I won't be booking tickets until well into the New Year, they're at their highest at the moment")

Thanks Philippa...Do you reckon that's the same for a Feb half term trip?

Philippa36

Sign up to Kayak or similar and they'll send you an email and let you know when the flights start dropping again.

I wouldn't panic buy yet!

vanny_v

red_ pad, great report on trip, you have given me some great ideas for my trip next year.
congrats on the marathon.

red_pad

Thanks for your comments guys. Thought I'd add some money saving tips seeing as this is a money saving board an all.

- I used a CaxtonFX card for the trip. Got a better rate than the high street and was a lot safer thatn carrying a wad of cash around. It was free to take money out (as long as you didn't get charged by the bank itself) and free to use as a switch card in shops etc.. A great choice.
- Stayed at the The Salisbury. I know hotels in New York is a massive talking point and are more expensive than most cities. The Salisbury was perfect for our needs. We got 8 nights for £860. Room was massive with a microwave and fridge, bed was really comfy, cleaners were amazing, reception very helpful. No bar which my dad was disappointed at but as there was a church on site this was understandable.
- We either had breakfast on the road in a deli for a couple of dollars or had cereal and juice in our room. This saved a fair bit.
- We walked a lot and made use of the excellent public transport, only used cabs twice I think not including getting from the airport and this was due to me being ill and knackered after the marathon. We preferred buses but these take a lot longer than the subway. You get to see more which is what I liked. On Halloween we got a bus up the parade route before it started and saw everyone getting ready.
- I booked the Lion King well in advance, mainly to make sure we got tickets, we paid $80 each I think. Not cheap but we got good seats. The main shows sell out in advance but you can get big discounts for the lesser ones buy going to the tkts booth in Times Square or South St Seaport.
- I found a great deal for Knicks tickets that someone posted on Tripadvisor, try not to pay full price, I paid $20 for $80 tickets. Keep looking for deals, sign up to their e-mails for offers.
- As stated by many, try and eat away from TS. If you venture over to 9th Avenue (which we didn't) they're a lot of prixe fixe meals. Also Brooklyn is much cheaper.
- We did the OnBoard Bus Tours, tickets were £33 each and were great value. I think this is slightly more than the HoHo buses but the service is better, you're undercover, personal guide etc..

Can't think of anything else, if anyone has any questions just ask.

Thanks

realised

Hello everyone

I was wondering if anyone has ever been to a spa in New york? I was thinking of spending a few hours in a spa when I go in December as beaches are totally off the cards! =(

If anyone knows of any reasonably priced ones please let me know!

Thank you

greenface

$80 for the lion king isnt too bad less than £50 great show you pay that in our west end or for a decent seat at a (decent) football match.

thatsfabulous

OMG 3 days to go. Can't believe how fast it's gone. Super excited.

red_pad- I've got the fairfx card for my trip this year and got a rate of $1.64 which i'm very happy with.
You got a good price on your Knicks tickets.

We havent made any reservations or bought any tickets this time. We seen hairspray last year however and that was excellent.

Has anyone been to 'Legends' restaurant? Not made a reservation but were thinking about going.
http://legendsbarnyc.com/media/legends.html

Fallenangel152

Got back from NYC last thursday, and we loved every minute of it!

We stayed at the Park Central which was great! We'd heard mixed reviews, but we got a good clean room, and the cleaners were working constantly.

We had a big apple greeter meet us on day one, and she was lovely. She took us round Chinatown and Little Italy and showed us how to use the subway (really easy anyway).

We only ate out twice during the week, at Alfredos (good food, but v. expensive and snooty waiters) and another Italian (great but busy). All the rest of the time we ate 'take out' because we wanted to sample city food.

We managed to get $20 Knicks tickets through Tripadvisor and it was amazing, loved it! We went to see Wicked (got $80 tickets direct from the theatre) too. Loved both of them.

The sights we did were: Natural History Museum (good but massive, you need a whole day), Central Park Zoo (brilliant and cheap), Coney Island (pretty dull in winter), Staten Island ferry (miles better than paying to see the statue of liberty).

Didn't do much shopping, we're not really shoppers, but we got some Sketchers since they're cheaper over there, but apart form that not much. We ended up buying some I heart NY t-shirts for friends (don't get less than 5 for $10) and a few other bits and bobs.

Feel free to ask any questions you have!

We're definitely planning to return.

CM66

thatsfabulous wrote: »

OMG 3 days to go. Can't believe how fast it's gone. Super excited.

red_pad- I've got the fairfx card for my trip this year and got a rate of $1.64 which i'm very happy with.
You got a good price on your Knicks tickets.

We havent made any reservations or bought any tickets this time. We seen hairspray last year however and that was excellent.

Has anyone been to 'Legends' restaurant? Not made a reservation but were thinking about going.
http://legendsbarnyc.com/media/legends.html

Only 2 sleeps for me - am soo excited!!