Everything & Anything New York City

super_mario

Hi everyone hope you all had a merry xmas,Just after some help I'm after hotel and flights from Manchester to NY budget is around £750 fm 26 Oct-30 Oct 2013 5x adults I'm just being put off by some of the hotel reviews (Carter hotel) I know the room is only to sleep in but it's for my daughters 21 birthday lots of shopping etc so want to get it right any help would be appreciated thanks in advance.
ps would it be cheaper booking hotel/flights separate and (central location if possible)

cubegame

A pointer on the Long Island City hotels that M4RKM mentioned is the good offer from RatesToGo which gives you 20% off.

This would bring down a stay on those dates (arriving 13th Feb) to $225 for three nights at the Country Inn and Suites. And you would get free cancellation if something better comes along.

I did the same to book the Verve hotel which looks like a better option.

If you chose the Country Inn then you could also use this deal (http://www.holidaypirates.com/uk-ireland/club-carlson-gold-elite-status-free) to get a few perks.

For me Long Island City and the small extra "commute" is a no-brainer at these prices considering you're getting bigger rooms and breakfasts.

KarenG

hellokitty08 wrote: »

Hello,

Hope everyone had a nice christmas. I still havent booked my holiday yet and I am getting a bit worried. I think my problem is I have nothing fixed, so searching for a deal is a bit of a nightmare.

Bascially I want to go for my 30th Birthday on 15th February, but I dont mind when I go in February. Also I dont mind flying from London, although I would prefer to fly from Birmingham.

I have a fixed budget of £1100 for three nights for two people. (twin room) I am planning to go to staten island, so somewhere near the ferry would be good.

Can anyone offer any help?

Hi

My birthday's also 15th Feb

As you've alady had flight advice, I will chip in with a deal that's popped up on Travelzoo today which looks like a nice hotel in a great location, within your budget. I can't recommend it personally but would imagine its worth checking out on Trip Advisor to see if it is a bargain? Looks to be available for your dates which is why I'm posting here.

It says it's £94 / night with breakfast and an upgraded room.

If you can go for four nights rather than three, I'd highly recommend that.

M4RKM

super_mario wrote: »

Hi everyone hope you all had a merry xmas,Just after some help I'm after hotel and flights from Manchester to NY budget is around £750 fm 26 Oct-30 Oct 2013 5x adults I'm just being put off by some of the hotel reviews (Carter hotel) I know the room is only to sleep in but it's for my daughters 21 birthday lots of shopping etc so want to get it right any help would be appreciated thanks in advance.
ps would it be cheaper booking hotel/flights separate and (central location if possible)

The Hotel Carter is the worst hotel in NYC. You do not want to book it at all.

KarenG

Here is the link to the Travelzoo deal.

http://www.travelzoo.com/uk/hotels/usa-canada/-94-NYC-Manhattan-Boutique-Hotel-w-Upgrade-Breakfast-1380209/?placement=Top%2020-DealLink

Grandad_81

malkie76 wrote: »

Firstly, remember you can earn Avios on AA too (or any oneworld carrier). Also remember you can get premium economy tickets for economy prices if you start your journey in Europe rather than London (even though you still route through London). You can similarly get business tickets for premium economy prices doing the same.

Secondly, can I ask what you are saving the Avios for? NYC is a very easy route to find redemption or upgrade availability. Premium economy ticket (even a cheap sale one) and 20k points gets you a business class return. It's only 80k for full redemption, or 120k in First. I appreciate its a very short flight though.

Lastly, always price up a flight and hotel option at BA which can save you hundreds and get extra nights, free breakfast and room upgrades. It also earns you significant numbers of Avios too. You can then double-dip by earning hotel points which you subsequently convert to Avios (I got 12.5k Avios from a recent Marriott stay). Lastly you can triple-dip by paying with an Avios earning credit card.

Hope that helps

Hello and thanks for the advice.

Re: your first point, I've never used my avios just been saving and at about 100k. I'm assuming that if getting a flight from mainland Europe via London for Prem Economy at Economy prices or Business at Prem Economy prices you can't ignore the first leg of the journey and would have to get on in say Paris, otherwise wouldn't people always book like this?

To your second bit, I was saving them to upgrade on a future planned holiday in 3 years to South Africa for my wife and I to use as many avios as we could to upgrade from Economy to Premium, however I'm quite tempted to do the same for the New York trip and just worry about the South Africa one later. Regarding 20K avios to upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy, I've seen this said in a few places but either I'm misunderstanding or I'm really going about researching it the wrong way. I've looked up on the BA website on a few randomly picked dates (as there doesn't seem to be much availability showing for part cash part avios upgrades in Nov/December at the moment) and an example that illustrates what I found quite well is here:
Flying out on 3rd April and back on 8th is coming up at £499 for a straight economy ticket, but the same flights as cash and upgrade with Avios is £806 plus 20K miles. Looking at the exact same flights with just cash in Premium economy is £819, so the 20k avios is saving just £13! Surely I'm doing something wrong? This is unless I've been being particularly dense and my avios are in my Household Avios account not my executive club one and it's giving me the price as both cash plus the cost of buying the Avios on the BA website?

Re: your last point, will look at hotels with the flights as well but as I'm probably going to be looking at some of the hotels recommended in this thread will most likely stick with just the flights via BA, but worth looking out for, thanks.

malkie76

you can't ignore the first leg of the journey and would have to get on in say Paris, otherwise wouldn't people always book like this?

Correct. You'd need a cheap Easyjet or RyanAir positioning flight. You can ignore the last leg though and stop at London. Still saves you thousands if buying business tickets.

upgrade from Economy to Premium,

You can only upgrade the more expensive economy tickets to prem, which means its usually cheaper to buy prem outright (which you note in your calculations). Using Avois in this area only makes sense at last minute when you need a flight and only expensive tickets are left.

Conversely ALL prem econ tickets can be upgraded to business - even cheap sale ones.

General rule is using Avios to get business or first tickets makes sense, whereas economy or prem it does not. (Unless you are buying at short notice).

South Africa is a tricky route to find Avios seats, so you'll need to be organised. You may need to book prem econ seats then wait for upgrades to be available, which they often do towards your date if travel.

bb69

hellokitty08 wrote: »

Hello,

Hope everyone had a nice christmas. I still havent booked my holiday yet and I am getting a bit worried. I think my problem is I have nothing fixed, so searching for a deal is a bit of a nightmare.

Bascially I want to go for my 30th Birthday on 15th February, but I dont mind when I go in February. Also I dont mind flying from London, although I would prefer to fly from Birmingham.

I have a fixed budget of £1100 for three nights for two people. (twin room) I am planning to go to staten island, so somewhere near the ferry would be good.

Can anyone offer any help?

Hi !
What a fab birthday trip. Don't worry you will find something!

Here is an option:
Ba website


Flight
BA1516 Depart Heathrow (London) 14 Feb 10:45 Arrive John F Kennedy (New York) 14 Feb 13:40
Operated By: American Airlines


Hotel
Holiday Inn NEW YORK CITY-MIDTOWN-57TH ST., NEW YORK CITY, 14 Feb - 17 Feb 2013, 2 DOUBLE BEDS NONSMOKING - with Room only



Flight
BA0184 Depart Newark (New York) 17 Feb 18:50 Arrive Heathrow (London) 18 Feb 06:40
Operated By: British Airways

Price £1078 (2 people sharing)

To note the arrival and departure airports are different. I have done this before and never found it to be problematic.
I have not stayed at this hotel before but check out reviews on here or trip advisor.
You also get until early afternoon on the 17th to explore the city too if you don't have to rush back to England
I'll keep looking

bb69

And another one...

BA0185 Depart Heathrow (London) 02 Feb 11:00 Arrive Newark (New York) 02 Feb 13:55
Operated By: British Airways


Hotel
The Milford Plaza Times Square, NEW YORK, 02 Feb - 05 Feb 2013, DOUBLE 2 DOUBLE BEDS-SUPERIOR - with Room only



Flight
BA0174 Depart John F Kennedy (New York) 05 Feb 18:55 Arrive Heathrow (London) 06 Feb 07:00
Operated By: British Airways

Total £1078 (2 people sharing)

A couple of options to get you started (if you haven't found something) I also checked Virgin, but found BA had better deals and searching options..
Hope this helps

Savvy_Sue

Grandad_81 wrote: »

To your second bit, I was saving them to upgrade on a future planned holiday in 3 years to South Africa for my wife and I to use as many avios as we could to upgrade from Economy to Premium, however I'm quite tempted to do the same for the New York trip and just worry about the South Africa one later.

I think I'd do what you're suggesting: presumably the Avios scheme isn't guaranteed to still be running the same form in 3 years time, or running at all ...