Everything & Anything New York City

John259

Redda wrote: »

Hotels seem a little on the steep side!

Have you considered staying somewhere outside the city and getting the train in? For example, somewhere on the Hudson Line.

FWIW I checked Tarrytown which is about 45 minutes from Grand Central: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarrytown_(Metro-North_station)
There are some hotels in Tarrytown but none very close to the station:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps?q=hotels+near+Tarrytown,+NY,+United+States&hl=en&ll=41.07191,-73.843145&spn=0.046912,0.104628&sll=41.061945,-73.845377&sspn=0.046919,0.104628&oq=hotels+near+tarrytown&hq=hotels&hnear=Tarrytown,+Westchester+County,+New+York,+United+States&t=m&fll=41.070616,-73.840742&fspn=0.046913,0.104628&z=14

Perhaps if that idea appeals to you then you might like to search some of the other towns en-route.

BTW I haven't checked hotel rates so you'd need to see whether the saving was greater than the train fare.

Has the new visa online registration sped up immigration?

You can find the official immigration delay times for various US airports at http://awt.cbp.gov/

pompeyrich

Redda wrote: »

Hi all, looking at surprising the gf and taking her to new york for the last weekend of october (half term, she is a teacher!), flights seem decently priced and might take the plunge to buy in the next month or two.

Hotels seem a little on the steep side! Is this because i am looking so far in advance and would be better booking a couple of months beforehand? As an example 5 nights in thr hilton eastside is £471 in may half term but £890 in october.

Also heard the airtrain is a good way of getting there from jfk or newark.

Has the new visa online registration sped up immigration? I have been to new york twice before but over 8 years ago now and the wait at jfk was over 3 hours each time!

Have you looked at the BA site for flight and hotel? I found it hard to beat their prices. Had found flight prices for around £400 (mid Dec) with BA and Virgin but the hotels were just so expensive that booking seperatly worked out around the same price as flight/hotel with BA. Ok we were looking to stay in the Times Square area as it was our first time, hotels seemed quite a bit cheaper out nearer JFK airport and if you look through this thread you will some recommendations for Brooklyn.

Another plus for booking a flight/hotel deal is there is no requirement to stay a saturday night.

It took us about 2 hours from landing to being outside the terminal, best part of a 90 min queue at immigration, we didn't rush off the plane but looked like it was only our plane in the queue.

We used the air train/subway from JFK into Manhatten it was very easy and cheap, took about an hour from boarding the Air train to arriving at our hotel. $5 each way on the air train, then $30 for a 7 day unlimited subway/local bus ticket, so $80 for 2 transfers and all our trips around NY seemed pretty good value.

Redda

Thank you pompeyrich and john for taking the time to reply.

Ideally i was looking to fly manchester to nyc but london heatrow is about £250 cheaper at the moment (still saving money despite train and hotel but its the pain of extra travel!).

Really looking at staying on manhattan to be amongst it all (previously stayed ay pennsylvania hotel which is the sort of standard looking at - provided its a double bed and NOT a shared bathroom). Although whats it like getting to and from say new jersey and brooklyn? Any cut off points when it comes to subway travel and is it safe late at night? The idea of staying in manhattan is it gives us the freedom to stay out for a bit of the old drinkies and walk back to hotel.

Best flight i can find at the moment is air canada, london to nyc return for £730 and under 12 hours flying each trip (one stop on each leg). Hotel budget ia around £500-£600 for 5 nights in total (saturday 25th to thursday 30th). I dont think i will better the flights but i dont remember hotels being so expensive.

John259

Redda wrote: »

Although whats it like getting to and from say new jersey and brooklyn? Any cut off points when it comes to subway travel and is it safe late at night?

Have a look at the "Getting There" section on the official NYC public transport system site http://www.mta.info

This is a short video explaining how to use the subway system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayp0ZUjfZRA

LorraineM

Hi There,


We have just returned from NY. We spent 4 nights at the Affinia Dumont on 150E 34th Street. We booked on Expedia in early Jan and paid £657 for the 4 nights (plus got 10% quidco cashback which made it under £600).


Rooms were a great size (there were 3 of us) with a small kitchen. Clean. Comfy beds. No bar in hotel but they did happy hour between 5 and 6pm each night with free wine. Asked for a high room and got 2nd highest floor with views over the financial district.


Train Station around the corner. 10 minute walk up to Empire State Building and Macy's (only thing my 10year old liked about Macys was McD's and free internet!!) .


Would def stay again if we are lucky enough to go back.


HTH.

pompeyrich

Redda wrote: »

Thank you pompeyrich and john for taking the time to reply.

Ideally i was looking to fly manchester to nyc but london heatrow is about £250 cheaper at the moment (still saving money despite train and hotel but its the pain of extra travel!).

Really looking at staying on manhattan to be amongst it all (previously stayed ay pennsylvania hotel which is the sort of standard looking at - provided its a double bed and NOT a shared bathroom). Although whats it like getting to and from say new jersey and brooklyn? Any cut off points when it comes to subway travel and is it safe late at night? The idea of staying in manhattan is it gives us the freedom to stay out for a bit of the old drinkies and walk back to hotel.

Best flight i can find at the moment is air canada, london to nyc return for £730 and under 12 hours flying each trip (one stop on each leg). Hotel budget ia around £500-£600 for 5 nights in total (saturday 25th to thursday 30th). I dont think i will better the flights but i dont remember hotels being so expensive.

Brooklyn is covered by the subway system and included in the unlimited metro card. NJ isn't so you would have to factor in the extra cost of getting to and from NJ, not sure of the actual cost, seem to recall paying about $7 each return on the bus.

Assume the £730 is for both of you, Skyscanner has some fights from Manchester but with 2 stops and more like 15 hours flight times for a similar price.

bb69

Bump

Neil49

bb69 wrote: »

Bump

And another bump.

John259

All these bumps! Hope you folks elected for CDW/LDW when you picked up your rental cars

ox-boy

Recently booked a trip to New York flying direct with Virgin.

However on further reading my confirmation the flight is confirmed as Virgin Atlantic - operated by DELTA.

How does this work out?