Everything & Anything New York City

greenface

thats fab & curly girl great posts and thanks. It goes to show even people with agood knowledge of US & NY are always looking to explore more once the "tourist" things are done

johnnyroper

duchy wrote: »

I'm finding it really depressing how bad Virgin have got. Had a right little madam who was rude to lots of passengers-and rude about them to a fellow FA in August. Completely unprofessional. I'm staying in NJ in December and didn't even consider Virgin after that experience. Whenever I've travelled Continental they've treated me well although Newark is my nemesis airport for delays but as we're planning on staying at East Rutherford rather than pay Manhattan prices for December Newark is the obvious choice.

A number of years ago they used to be very good but the past few times the whole service has gone completely downhill,the lgw based fleet is in poor condition and no better than charter in my opinion.

Cost cutting seems to be having a detrimental effect on the quality of the product,AA on the JFK route are far superior not to mention cheaper.

johnnyroper

I was worried about the bed bug situation in NYC prior to going and checked on a website that said no reports at hotel I was staying,never saw any sign of bedbugs when there but did see people in street giving out info about it.
I would certainly follow some of the advice mentioned in this post as they can be a nightmare to get rid of so you really do not want to bring them home.

curlygirl1971 wrote: »

I have read this thread all the way through but that was a couple of months ago and can't remember if much has been posted regarding Bed Bugs. Apologies if this is repetition

Aparantly Bed Bugs are on the rampage in NY and other areas and have been for nearly a year. They are in hotels, theatre, cinemas and on trains - anywhere where there is fabric

A relative over the there and also a local I got talking to on the train gave me the following advice:-

- when you get into a room, before you open your case, check the bed. Pull back all the sheets and look at the mattress seams. Baby bugs will show as black bits. Adult bugs are more obvious.

- take large plastic bags (we used refuse bags). Don't unpack your case. Keep it zipped and place the case in the refuse bag and tie. Someone else said to just leave the suitcases in the bath as bugs can't go over shiny surface.

- take your clothes out for next day and keep in tied plastic bag over night.

- shake out your worn clothes, check under the collar. keep hung up over night before re-packing

- they will bite you but apparantly they carry no disease.

- they don't like extreme cold or heat. So if you happen to take any back in your suitcase the cold of the hold will most likely kill them. However you could still take them back on your person if you get infested and you're not careful. It can cost a lot of money to get rid of them in your own home

The not un-packing thing is a royal pain if you're staying for a few days but as we were ending our trip with a stay with family we felt especially obliged to avoid infestation! We saw some guys trying raise awareness on the street, handing out leaflets etc, and we also saw a very smartly dressed guy stop dead in the middle of the street and comb his hair with a nit comb! I'm still itching now at the mere thought

Not trying to freak anyone out - It's entirely up to you whether you take any of this onboard and bother with the tips

northwest1965

We flew with Virgin 6th October. I have to say I was very pleased with the service. The flight entertainment is superb, a choice of 20+ film, comedy channel, doc channel, radio, games etc, all to watch when 'you' want to watch them. Food could have been a bit better. Staff were very friendly.

Stayed at Grand Hyatt, Grand Central. Excellent location, straight on the subway.
Worst meal - Hill Country BBQ
Best - Cuba, Thompson Street
Agree with other TOTR is far better than ESB

There are some lovely small parks throught the city, take a breather when you can:)

We got married while we were there, so if anyone needs advice, just shout.

Also, I'm not sure if this is allowed but I have a world phone card here with $5 on it, enought to make at least 2 calls home to UK, anyone want it? Just PM me.

claire80

johnnyroper wrote: »

sounds like it when did you fly?

i flew out on 6th oct and back 12th,also had a sky marshall on board going out.

it does make a change last time i flew virgin in march from miami to heathrow the FA's were all collected down the rear galley playing games on iphones or topping up perfume/make up and had very little interest in the passengers.if anyone went to get a drink you got a filthy look for disturbing them

flew out 6th also and back on 10th

andrewmp wrote: »

Thanks for the trip report, my girlfriend will be 5 and a 1/2 months pregnant too when we go next month. It's good to see you still managed to get a lot done!

have a good time , it is a lot of walking i did suffer for a few days after we got back to be honest so you may want to take it a little easier then we did !

duchy

johnnyroper wrote: »

A number of years ago they used to be very good but the past few times the whole service has gone completely downhill,the lgw based fleet is in poor condition and no better than charter in my opinion.

Cost cutting seems to be having a detrimental effect on the quality of the product,AA on the JFK route are far superior not to mention cheaper.

I really like AA -I like that the older FAs know what they are doing and are appropriately polite . They also don't come up with silly or uninformed comments

Last time I flew Virgin to New York I was seated next to a Nigerian vicar wearing a dog collar and holding his bible in his hand -Up tripped the Virgin trolly dolly and trilled at him "Are you the Hindu meal?" DUH

On one flight to Vegas a FA -I can only assume it was her first flight went on from before takeoff until after landing (or at least every time we saw her during that time) about how when she got to Vegas she needed to buy some Factor 30. She went on....and on about it to crew to passengers -everyone. As you say very "charter flight"

I really like AA, Delta and CO for New York flights. There's some great fares using a mix of United and Continental now they are merging too if you use Newark (which is fine with me -just as easy to hop on the airtrain there as JFK and if you're delayed the free bus to the Outlet Mall there beats sitting around in a terminal killing time).

B44

gregg1 wrote: »

We visited the River Cafe a couple of years ago and the bill came to approx £70 per head without any alcohol - it was very expensive and, at the risk of being a killjoy now you have booked it, we were not impressed overall with the food, bearing in mind the prices, BUT we may just have been unlucky. We found the Boathouse in Central Park much better for quality and food (although The River Cafe did do the most amazing chocolate dessert which was a chocolate model of the Brooklyn Bridge)

If you do go, after you have eaten it is well worth going and sitting outside on the terrace with a cocktail where you will have the most fantastic view of the Manhattan skyline just across the river with the Brooklyn Bridge overhead (the restaurant is just underneath the Bridge. If you time it right you will be able to watch as it all lights up - that was an amazing experience. Be careful though as they tried to charge us $25 each just for the privilege of sitting there. We had to point out that we had just spent a fortune in the restaurant before they reluctantly agreed not to charge us!

It is in a fantastic position which is really what you are paying for so hope you enjoy it.

Ah the Boathouse is somewhere we are keen to visit also so we may just do

Yes we are extremely excited, we've never really been to posh restaurants such as the river cafe before so it will be a good experience. Its a shame you didn't find the food that great, I'll have to let you know our opinion on that one lol. We shall definitely taking pictures on the terrace and sit down their (hopefully they wont try to charge us!). It really does look lovely in the pcitures I have seen online.

Thankyou for your advice and thankyou, I very much hope we enjoy it too

curlygirl1971

BTW, I applied for the Halifax Clarity Card recently because

a) MSE said it was great for Holiday Spending
b) I'm a Halifax Reward CA customer and if I put £300 on the card in a statement month I get £5 Cashback

I used it for train tickets in advance of the trip and purchases whilst I was there. Was really impressed with the rates used when I saw my statement.

Transaction Date / Conversion used / Interbank rate for Comparison

21/09 1.55 1.5599
29/09 1.57 1.581
06/10 1.59 1.587
08/10 1.58 1.591

No transaction fees. Can withdraw cash also but you get charged interest from Day 1.

Think I will rely on it a bit more next time and not bother taking as much cash.

We'd ordered our currency from Post Office on 27th (I think, maybe a couple of days earlier) and got 1.54 which was the best local on-line rate on the day. Interbank rate on 27th was 1.583!!

claire80

on the subject of cards and money , i forgot to mention we used the caxton prepaid card inthe end . free to load up and free to withdraw (banks depending) chase banks were free . we had no trouble getting the card accepted and knew how much we were spending as we topped it up with what we could afford to spend. glad i looked into it as our own card would have cost us a fortune. def a easier way than having loads of cash/travellers cheques or getting stung by fees on your cards . also we left it a bit last minute but the card came in 3 working days

greenface

theamazinggem wrote: »

Hey all, before I book, I know that there are some dodgy sites, but has anyone heard of Affordable New York City? they seem legit, but you never know. Also for a B&B/Apartment rental, is a $300 deposit normal?

thanks

As for NYC apartments i personally would steer clear until there is more clarity as to the rules and laws for renal apartments in and around NYC. Hope M4RKs around for more info.NYC apartments that are advertised are often (very often)Illegal or sometimes non existing. Do some reserch plese