Everything & Anything New York City

gregg1

Daughter and friend are staying in NY in June for a week then travelling to Miami with Delta from JFK. Does anyone know, is there a way of pre-selecting seats with Delta or is it a case of doing it at check-in?

M4RKM

countrybum wrote: »

Hi guys, hope you can offer a bit of guidance. DH and I are thinking of NYC at either end of April or middle of may this year for 7 nights from Manchester. I've been to a travel agent today and got a price of £2034 (ouch!!) for both of us, direct flights with accomodation at Milford Plaza Times Square. Initially, I was hoping to get the week for about £1500 with central accomodation - is this unrealistic?
Do you have any suggestions to alternative accomm? What about hostels or apartments?
thanks for any suggestions

£1500 is being unrealistic. The Mildew, sorry, Milford Plaza ain't a great hotel either.

Look at it this way. $200 per night for a decent hotel, (125 per night), and £550 each for flights.

Apartment rentals are mainly illegal in NYC, so I'd ignore them as an option, but what I'd look at is hotels that are just out of Manhattan, so things like the Country Inn & Suites in Long Island City. That way you're 10 minutes away from Manhattan, but still at a decent hotel, at a cheap price.

M

M4RKM

thatsfabulous wrote: »

My last experience with Delta was not a good one, I got shouted at on the plane for asking for cream with my coffee and the airport staff at JFK were awful I sent a complaint letter in I will never fly with Delta again.
With BA you have complimentary food/drink, good luggage allowance, much nicer staff/crew and lots of flights each day i'd personally rather pay the extra.

bleepandbooster wrote: »

We have always found it the other way round .......... with the American crew being nicer and more helpful , the last time we flew BA I was shouted at to return to my seat ! It just happened that I
was in the loo when the seat belt light came on. I just shouted back something like "That's where I am heading" But I muttered to myself hope your next poo's a Hedgehog !

thatsfabulous wrote: »

The airport Delta staff at JFK were much worse than the crew mind.
Onboard it wasn't a nice experience but just had to laugh at some of the crew. I only wanted some creme i'd just woken up and when he said do you want creme? I said no as I was sleepy and misheared. When I then asked him for the creme, gosh you would have thought i'd asked him to turn the plane back to NYC:rotfl:

So you made a mistake and won't ever fly an airline again because you "got shouted" at. I find it funny. I never drink coffee on an airplane so at least will never get "shouted at" because I refused "creme" and then wanted "creme"

I also don't see how BA's complimentary food/drink is any different from what Delta offer (free food, beer, wine, etc on both), and 23KG is still 23KG on Delta and BA.

Lots of flights each day is the ONLY difference in the airline, with BA flying 6 times daily from LON - NYC and Delta only fly 3 times daily.

My point being, this is why choosing an airline to fly with is difficult and asking people on the internet makes it even more so. Petty reasons not to fly with airlines ever again, apart from the fact that they offer exactly the same service.

So, with the reviews you've had, 1 recommendation of Delta, 1 person being shouted at on Delta, and 1 person being shouted at on BA, you're still no further on.

I've flown all airlines that have been mentioned and none offer anything significantly different, and they're all much of a muchness. I book either Delta because they offer more legroom than any other TATL carrier, or if they're substantially more expensive, I book whoever is cheapest.

ajwolf

M4RKM wrote: »

7 night holiday in June. The flight is a great price. However, hotels in NYC are expensive, and you really have to be realistic with your budget. Would you get a hotel of Aloft Standard in Glasgow for £78 per night in Summer? I'd lean towards no straight away, and you're wanting the Aloft Brooklyn for that kind of money. If you were more realistic, and set aside £1000 for the hotel ($1600 including taxes, therefore $200 per night before taxes), then you should be good. NYC ain't cheap, and if you want luxury, you pay for luxury. Prices always fluctuate, however June is sometimes cheap, because the weather can be unbearably hot and humid, and people are not holidaying in NYC at that time (as much!).

Thanks for your help, I realise New York is an expensive place. I'm not necessarily looking for luxury I just came across Aloft and liked the look of it. When I originally looked it up (just before Christmas) I could have booked a week in June for £750.

Really I'm looking for a nice base for a stereotypical holiday to New York. I would be going to see the usual sights, do some shopping, maybe catch a sports game (depending on what's on), possibly a show (haven't really looked into this yet) and just to experience the city. I've looked at 'The Pod' as it's a cheaper option, £820, if you share a bathroom (which I don't mind as long as it's clean). Has anyone got any views on 'The Pod', especially the shared bathroom option?

I'm open to other suggestions for a hotel.

Thanks

countrybum

M4RKM wrote: »

£1500 is being unrealistic. The Mildew, sorry, Milford Plaza ain't a great hotel either.

Look at it this way. $200 per night for a decent hotel, (125 per night), and £550 each for flights.

Apartment rentals are mainly illegal in NYC, so I'd ignore them as an option, but what I'd look at is hotels that are just out of Manhattan, so things like the Country Inn & Suites in Long Island City. That way you're 10 minutes away from Manhattan, but still at a decent hotel, at a cheap price.

M

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply, its much appreciated.
Its such a minefield as there are so many hotels to look at! I think we'll up the budget to 2k and possibly find central hotel (could you recommend one?). I'll also have a look at the one you mentioned just out of Manhattan - thanks.

duchy

I flew mainly UK based airlines to the US until 9-11 and then as my own private show of support made a point of flying AA my first trip after. I realized the American carriers offered better value for money and flight attendents with less attitude. I've now flown with most US carriers and don't find BA offer anything better for the money. After the BA strikes when BA staff made it clear what contempt they had for their customers I stopped even considering BA as an option.

The American carriers in general have better (for me) frequent flyer programmes too.

BA and Virgin were both exceptional airlines in their way once -sadly no more.

pm04gn

Thanks for all the opinions on airlines.
Think Ill go with Delta based on the extra legroom.

kathryn2

Hi everyone,

So, I'm off to New York in mid-May for my 30th birthday, staying six nights. I managed to get a flight with airmiles before they changed the Avios system, but my three friends had to pay for theirs. So my hotel budget was always going to be higher than theirs! Unfortunately the budget they came up with was sub-£600 each for 6 nights - which either meant going for Hotwire/Priceline or staying outside of Midtown, and as it was a couple of people's first time in New York, they wanted to be central. We looked at MSE-favourite Cosmopolitan, but that was too expensive.

So, we went for Hotwire, knowing it was a risk. We want a bed each, so we searched for 4 people in each room, thinking that for 4 adults a room has to have two beds. We found what looks like a fabulous deal - £1590 for two rooms, less than £400 each! We went for it.

We got the Holiday Inn Midtown, which we thought must be fine, since Holiday Inns have a pretty set standard. But then I made the mistake of reading some TripAdvisor reviews last night. Eeek! Bedbugs, mice in the rooms, unhelpful service, overcharging, rooms stinking of ciggarette smoke, noise, and one person who had booked 3 rooms through Priceline for 10 people being given 3 King Bed rooms and having to kick up a fuss to get moved.

So I'm now thinking we've fallen into the 'too good to be true' trap, and am berating myself for being incredibly stupid and not insisting that we pay more for a hotel and I cover the extra cost.

So, really, I just wondered if anyoine else has stayed in Holiday Inn Midtown and can reassure me that it won't be all that bad! Or booked rooms through Hotwire and managed to score two beds in the room.

M4RKM

ajwolf wrote: »

Thanks for your help, I realise New York is an expensive place. I'm not necessarily looking for luxury I just came across Aloft and liked the look of it. When I originally looked it up (just before Christmas) I could have booked a week in June for £750.

Really I'm looking for a nice base for a stereotypical holiday to New York. I would be going to see the usual sights, do some shopping, maybe catch a sports game (depending on what's on), possibly a show (haven't really looked into this yet) and just to experience the city. I've looked at 'The Pod' as it's a cheaper option, £820, if you share a bathroom (which I don't mind as long as it's clean). Has anyone got any views on 'The Pod', especially the shared bathroom option?

I'm open to other suggestions for a hotel.

Thanks

If you want a stereotypical holiday to NYC, then staying in an up and coming area of Brooklyn isn't going to do that for you. The Aloft is lovely, and the area is great, but I would really think about recommending it to someone who is a repeat visitor to NYC, and wants to explore more obscure places in NYC rather than the tourist trail.

Now, This hotel recommendation applies to the poster below too, and if you want a great hotel in an area out of Manhattan to keep costs down, then look at the following hotels.

Country Inn & Suites - Long Island City
Verve Hotel - Long Island City
Hotel Vetiver - Long Island City
Z Hotel - Long Island City.

Now, you may see some kind of theme there with the location. It's about a 10 minute ride into Manhattan where there are your stereotypical tourist attractions, but some of the hotels are much cheaper, others offer great 4* boutique accommodations for the price of a budget hotel like the POD or the Jane.

I've just glanced at random dates in June, and the Country Inn & Suites is coming up at $128 per night. That's CHEAP!!!

countrybum wrote: »

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply, its much appreciated.
Its such a minefield as there are so many hotels to look at! I think we'll up the budget to 2k and possibly find central hotel (could you recommend one?). I'll also have a look at the one you mentioned just out of Manhattan - thanks.

Yeah, see above for the recommendations of hotels in Long Island City. If you want budget accommodations in Manhattan then look at the oft recommended Cosmopolitan Hotel in Tribeca. The GEM hotel in Soho, or the New Yorker in Midtown. (the latter being the worst area, as it's dull, corporate, boring and nothing special!)

kathryn2 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

So I'm now thinking we've fallen into the 'too good to be true' trap, and am berating myself for being incredibly stupid and not insisting that we pay more for a hotel and I cover the extra cost.

So, really, I just wondered if anyoine else has stayed in Holiday Inn Midtown and can reassure me that it won't be all that bad! Or booked rooms through Hotwire and managed to score two beds in the room.

People complain quickly. Ignore the reports of Bedbugs, what probably happened is that person brought them with them, fabric suitcases bugs love to hitch a ride on. As for the other complaints, they seem a bit far fetched. I always like to get rid of the over emotional worst and over gushing best reviews, and read the middle ones, or the well written ones, for a fair overview of the place.

Most places like Priceline offer 1 bed in the room, and I'm pretty sure Hotwire will show the room configuration on the page, but it's tough to say. You could contact the hotel, and ask to see what they've got booked, but unless your booking states 2 beds, then you might be sorely disappointed.

Whether it is too good to be true, only time will tell, but reviews are reviews, but I'm pretty sure that hotels that are under £100 a night in NYC are always basic at best. You could have got a better hotel outside of Manhattan for less money too! (See Country Inn & Suites, above, great accommodation, cheap prices!)

M

kathryn2

M4RKM wrote: »

Most places like Priceline offer 1 bed in the room, and I'm pretty sure Hotwire will show the room configuration on the page, but it's tough to say. You could contact the hotel, and ask to see what they've got booked, but unless your booking states 2 beds, then you might be sorely disappointed.



M

Hotwire state that rooms will always accomodate the number of people, but don't give you room configuration/type. Hence booking for 8 adults in two rooms - surely not even a budget NY hotel will attempt to put 4 adults in one bed?!

Oh well, will see how it goes, and report back. Will give them a call to check they got the booking through ok and check they'll give us two beds per room. I guess we can cope with a rollaway bed.

I wasn't expecting luxury at that price at all, but even basic accomodation should be clean and offer enough beds for the number of people!