Everything & Anything New York City

duchy

Sounds a fun roadtrip if the kids are good travellers. For a cheaper first night if you don't want to hit the road for the first day or two -you could get the air coach to the Port Authority and the local bus an extra 20 mins out to East Rutherford (bus is $4 and stops right outside the Fairfield Inn and Residence Inn -great for kids as suites are roomy -have pool , barbeques etc Space to shake off air travel and run around before starting the roadtrip . Car hire would be cheaper from there as it's 1 Not NY and 2 Lower tax and you'd be starting from the "right" side of the city heading south. Easy enough to go back into NYC for the day before you hit the road if you want to -bus is a coach rather than a standard bus and very reliable and frequent. Did this in December with severe doubts but funds were tight-and it worked out brilliantly for us. We'll do it again when Manhattan hotel rates are especially outragous

Last time we went tothe West coast we downloaded SatNav maps from the net for NV, UT and CA and it was incredibly cheap compared with hiring a SatNav and after we'd bought them saw them even cheaper on Ebay. I'm sure the East coast would be the same.

roshydoshy

hiya i just want to update you with my story - i dipped in and out of this thread before my trip so excuses if I don't reply!

We were due to fly out c5pm on 17th December and our flight got cancelled due to the snow (Delta emailed me about 7.30am about this saying they had tried to call me but I received nothing except this email - when we got to the airport some people hadn't even had this!). Delta rebooked us onto the next flight about 5hrs later.

Once on the flight, I could not fault the service of Delta or anything on board! The food was good and plentiful, they provided a pillow and blanket for everyone, and there were LOADS of films/tv programmes (UK and US - surprised to see Misfits on it actually :rotfl: )/music. The flight was calm and we landed on time!

When we landed, as we approached passport control at JFK the TV screens were showing up the weather back home! It was mental, we left with a few flakes of snow and the TV were broadcasting images of blizzards - even the security officers were saying they were amazed we made it out

The holiday itself was good, we booked a car to pick us up from JFK to take us to Bayside, in Queens the side nearest to Long Island from Carmel cars and a lovely car turned up with a friendly driver and it only took about 20mins. We stayed in Queens as we wanted to see 'real' neighbourhoods seeing as we were so close to christmas, and see the lights and bayside had a real family feel about.

We did the usual touristy things and we also took the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road - get it from Penn Station by Macy's (34th/33rd Street and 7th/8th Ave) the other way to Manhasset where they had a shopping village. If you go there they have high end designers such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel as well as Abercrombie & Fitch and H&M. A&F had a 40% flash sale when we turned up so our £80 UK price hoodies were being bought for the equivalent of £27! I would recommend catching a bus or taxi from the station to the shops as although its roughly a 20min-half hour walk, it is quite confusing to get to and it is uphill there! On the way back unless you buy LOADS the walk takes about 15mins and is pleasant.

The flight back was much the same as the way there. We were worried about not being able to fly back for christmas (depart 11pm on 23rd(american time) and land 11am UK time christmas eve!) due to the snow but we had no problems, and there was only a slight hour delay iin the airport which the pilot caught up on to land 15mins late due to circling the airport!

The weather was a LOT warmer than here - the week before we went we were experiencing temps of c -2 to -10 celcius in the UK and the coldest it reached in NY was 0c! We were expecting snow and only saw the lightest snow fall for 5 mins on the day we left!

I can't wait to go back but in our hotel they said we should go back in late spring time/summer next time as there is a multitude of activities on, such as events in central park which don't happen in the winter - it would almost be like going to another city!

Hope I didn't bore you with my rattling! Hope you all have lovely trips!!xxx

LJC17

Hi am new to posting on these boards did do a little research here before my first to NY last year and see that everyone seems so helpful thought I would post as we are looking to head back there again this year in May time.

We are looking to stay at the New Yorker again as we loved the location and the staff etc and at the moment expedia are throwing up prices of £657 for flights with BA and 3 nights at the hotel ( flight times are good that we get most of the last day in new york before heading back to the airport)

This sounds quite reasonable to me but do any of you NY experts think there will be better deals out there nearer the time or booking seperately? any advice or tips would be great!

Thanks

Y5VEE

LJC17 wrote: »

Hi am new to posting on these boards did do a little research here before my first to NY last year and see that everyone seems so helpful thought I would post as we are looking to head back there again this year in May time.

We are looking to stay at the New Yorker again as we loved the location and the staff etc and at the moment expedia are throwing up prices of £657 for flights with BA and 3 nights at the hotel ( flight times are good that we get most of the last day in new york before heading back to the airport)

This sounds quite reasonable to me but do any of you NY experts think there will be better deals out there nearer the time or booking seperately? any advice or tips would be great!

Thanks

From another newbe, welcome. I'm going with a party of ladies to the New Yorker in June. Should have been ten of us and one just dropped out. I've just tried to check online to see if they have any tripple rooms because we now have an odd number and don't really want to pay double room rates for the odd (me!) person. I can't remember the exact cost but think flights from manchester and hotel for 4 nights is around £735. We would like advice on the best way to get from JFK to the hotel for all nine of us. Also, since you have stayed there what is the hotel like and any advice on places to eat nearby.

greenface

My problem is the price are quoted per person and your saying "we" that tells us nothing about your journey and who "we" is. Where are you flying from ? how many? if two from Heathrow/Mankchester etc. Thats say 340 flight each and 317 for your hotel (£634)about $1000 if 3 of you 340 flight + £950 for your hotel. The New Yorker is a classic iconic hotel with a great history youve stayed there before and see the good in the place and the area. But i am sure you can get a better rate for 3 nights than over $300 per night (unless youve upgraded ) but often it suits people using internet to serch for holidays and getting deals from Expedia will often be cheaper than high street TA (i booked a great deal using last minute . com before now)and these companys are big we now know and nearly trust them , and saves worring about anything. Often Flights/hotel/tickets/food/transferes even shows can all be booked as deals now.

lyndytes

Hello good people
We go to NY on the 12th for 5 nites, I have a couple of questions- can u buy tickets out side the knicks games as we would like to see them play on the 14th. We are planning to go to Philly for the day so what the best day if any dif what are the main sights to see and where would we get the bus from in NY.

Cheers everyone

Lady_S

There are touts selling tickets outside the game, but I personally wouldn't bother with them and would just get some from stub hub or from the madison square garden site directly. Less worry that way.

you can get the bus from a variety of places, and it would be best to see which carrier you are going with and where they collect from. Although it is a long way for a day trip. Have you considered going by train? might be quicker. The trains for Phili leave from Penn Station ( which is right near Madison Square Garden/Macy's)

Just had a quick look on the amtrak website and the trains from NYC to Phili take between an hour, and an hour and twenty minutes and the prices for travelling tomorrow are between $117 to $48.

lyndytes

Lady_S wrote: »

There are touts selling tickets outside the game, but I personally wouldn't bother with them and would just get some from stub hub or from the madison square garden site directly. Less worry that way.

you can get the bus from a variety of places, and it would be best to see which carrier you are going with and where they collect from. Although it is a long way for a day trip. Have you considered going by train? might be quicker. The trains for Phili leave from Penn Station ( which is right near Madison Square Garden/Macy's)

Just had a quick look on the amtrak website and the trains from NYC to Phili take between an hour, and an hour and twenty minutes and the prices for travelling tomorrow are between $117 to $48.

Thanks Lady
Was looking to go the grayhound and see some of the sights on the way, it's only 2hrs and 48 dollars retun for 2 but I'm not sure where to get the bus from?

Lady_S

I have had a look on the greyhound website and it states

- port authority, 625 8th Avenue
- Penn Station jct 34th and 8th

Personally I would go to the Port Authority, but I would also be weighing up the time I had in NYC, as it will go all too quickly.

roshydoshy

the queues near Penn for coaches were always mental whenever we passed them!