Everything & Anything New York City

rachd03

Hi Sneasel,
I just wanted to advise that me and my partner live in Birmingham but are flying from Heathrow as the flights are cheaper. We are getting a national express coach on the day we fly from birmingham coach station to heathrow at a cost of £26 for both of us (cheaper than giving someone petrol money for a lift)! Just another option for you to look at as there will be alot more flights to choose from and it will most likely work out cheaper

(ps. 1 week today we go :j)

sneasel1

rachd03,

THANKS! I looked at Heathrow, and the flights are marginally cheaper, about 410 I think, compared to 440 from Birmingham, they also go to JFK, and not Newark, which is a bonus. I'll check out Heathrow

Edit: How did you manage to get it for £26 for 2?? You got a great deal there, National express is telling me £33.40 for 1!

(Have a great trip, and i'll quiz you about whats hot, and what not when you are back! )

llydaw

Just returned from NY had a good time. Just a few things I thought worth mentioning if anyone travelling anytime soon. It took us just over 1 hour to get from the airoplane to getting our passports checked when arriving in JFK.

We went up the Empire State and had already booked our tickets but I didn't purchase the fast track tickets. I would recommend doing this we had to wait for over 1.5 hrs to get to the top.

Normally we arrive 3 hours at an airport to check in before our flight. We happened to arrive 5 hours before as we were ready to leave. It took just over 2 hours to get through the one que to a British Airways desk to check in. People were being taken out of the que as they were in danger of missing their flights. so top tip if travelling soon arrive at the airport early.

I did think though that JFK makes our airports in Britain look positively fantastic. The TGI in Times Square is currently closed and the one a few streets away is awful. Food nowhere near as good as in the uK and it was dirty.

Went to Woodbury Common outlet, we loved this, but did have to que for the bus on the way back, so worth getting to the bus stop earlier than you planned.

Hope this helps

mkgirl1981

hey guys i'm hoping to pick someones brain for a bit of advice.
i went to NYC in march 2011 and had an amazing time and was really lucky with the weather, only a bit of rain on one day and one day when it was gloriously sunny
i really want to go back again and im looking at maybe going january time, i've been doing some research online and it seems that january is a good chance it will snow. has anyone here been to NY in jan and what was your experience? i know it will be cold regardless but im much better in cold then i am in hot weather.
thanks in advance for any help

mkgirl1981

sneasel1 wrote: »

Merchcon, Mark,

When looking at the flights seperatly, they are about £1000pp, this deal came from expedia, and we could have either the Ravel Hotel or the Verve Hotel, both costing £649pp (Just checked 08:51am - 23/08/2012).

I did mention my only concern was flying into Newark, but unfortunatly, thats the only place Birmingham Intl goes direct, so staying in queens or brooklyn is still going to cost us alot to get there

I understand what your saying about the arae Mark, but if its costing the trip between 150 and 200 less, to stay 10-20 minutes away on the subway, I can't justify it myself, im happy to travel, and walk to areas, and stay in areas late at night.

We really just want the hotel as a base in which we are able to jump on the subway, and explore the city. I'd stay in a hostel if it was upto only me...

I'll see when it comes to the 31st, as that's when it will be getting booked.

Thanks again,

Sneasel

hey, i dont know whether this will be helpful for you at all but it might be worth a punt, if your flight is getting into newark but you wanna stay in manhattan might be worth seeing if any of the hotels your thinking of staying in organise any kind of car transport or shuttle bus into manhattan from the airport. when i came back i flew from newark to LHR and my hotel put on shuttle buses to the airport for $24.
dont know whether they do it the other way round but couldnt hurt to drop them an email and see

Philippa36

mkgirl1981 wrote: »

hey guys i'm hoping to pick someones brain for a bit of advice.
i went to NYC in march 2011 and had an amazing time and was really lucky with the weather, only a bit of rain on one day and one day when it was gloriously sunny
i really want to go back again and im looking at maybe going january time, i've been doing some research online and it seems that january is a good chance it will snow. has anyone here been to NY in jan and what was your experience? i know it will be cold regardless but im much better in cold then i am in hot weather.
thanks in advance for any help

I've not been there in January but I have been in November for Thanksgiving and in February. Both times I experienced incredibly cold weather but also reasonably warm days. In November we stood around from 8am to watch the Macy's Day parade wrapped in 3 layers of clothing hugging hot cups of coffee and in February we arrived to thick snow on the ground and had a snow ball fight in Central Park! If you don't mind cold and I mean freezing biting winds then go in January but be prepared

greenface

mkgirl1981 wrote: »

hey guys i'm hoping to pick someones brain for a bit of advice.
i went to NYC in march 2011 and had an amazing time and was really lucky with the weather, only a bit of rain on one day and one day when it was gloriously sunny
i really want to go back again and im looking at maybe going january time, i've been doing some research online and it seems that january is a good chance it will snow. has anyone here been to NY in jan and what was your experience? i know it will be cold regardless but im much better in cold then i am in hot weather.
thanks in advance for any help

When we have been in Feb it was bitterly cold . But you are informed and take the right clothing in layers to keep you right . It wasnt the cold that bothered me but the roasting hot shops as we walked in with huge coats on . Feb 17th-22nd 2007 was -7 on the ground -17 ToTR wind chill was about 4million below + at least. Impossible to say if it will snow . But what the hell its NYC in Jan enjoy.

mrsnow101

Hi - looking for some guidence if you dont mind!

We are looking to go to NYC on 18th October for 4 nights - would a budget of $300 per night inc. taxes be sufficient for a hotel 'in the thick of it'??

Could anyone throw in any suggestions??

Also - I am really keen to take in a sporting event - not overly bothered by the type of sport. I believe the Giants are playing at home on the Sunday - would I realistically have a chance of getting tickets??

Cheers in advance.

M4RKM

mrsnow101 wrote: »

Hi - looking for some guidence if you dont mind!

We are looking to go to NYC on 18th October for 4 nights - would a budget of $300 per night inc. taxes be sufficient for a hotel 'in the thick of it'??

Could anyone throw in any suggestions??

Also - I am really keen to take in a sporting event - not overly bothered by the type of sport. I believe the Giants are playing at home on the Sunday - would I realistically have a chance of getting tickets??

Cheers in advance.

Depends what you want, depends what the thick of it is. If you want to be surrounded by other tourists, then Times Square is the place to be. If you want to be in an area with great nightlife, then look at East Village or the Lower East Side. If you want a village kinda atmosphere, then Greenwich Village or the Upper West Side.

Saying all that, you could stay anywhere and still experience all those kind of atmospheres by using the Subway to get around, which is cheap and easy. It really doesn't matter where you stay.

As for the NFL, you could see Giants play RedSkins at home, and the only place you'll get tickets from (it's always a sell out), is to get them from either StubHub, or Ticketmaster TicketExchange. Expect to pay at least $125 for a seat.

Hotel Budget should be OK for something...

rachd03

Hi Sneasel,

I have no idea how we managed to get such cheap tickets, its just what came up when we searched on the national express website. bear in mind that going from B'ham airport to Heathrow was £65 so much cheaper to go from the airport! its called a 'funfare' what we have booked and its also the fastest coach down. When I originally looked it wasnt there so they may just release them closer to the travel date
Personally I prefer flying from Heathrow and always have done to NYC, there is more selection of flights and better airlines to choose from (after a horrendous LH flight with Thomas Cook once im quite fussy now)
I hope you manage to find the right deal as it really is worth it, it will be my 4th time but my partners 1st so cant wait to show him everything!
not sure if it would interest you but we are staying in the Financial District which was a cheaper option than others when we booked.x