Weeked in New York from Norn Ireland

leolion2177

Hiya Folks

Looking to treat Mrs L to a weekend in New York for our anniversary as we havent been away in years.

Any idea the cheapest way to do this?

Try and get every thing sorted and booked myself or travel agent package deal?

Thanks in advance.

Leo

belfastgal

Book the flight with continental airlines and then check out the hotels on trip advisor and then book a car from dial 7 to pick you up at the airport in Newark....very easy........
i booked my flight with asda travel and hotel on expedia though you can book refundable ones ( check travel zoo.com ) and then cancel if you get a better deal...i wasnt confident enough to do this tho.....
there is lots of help on the New york thread on here also
far cheaper to do it yourself........

Milko

Package deals are currently the cheapest but not necessarily the best depending on the sort of break you're hoping for.
We've been a few times & done it by booking a package the 1st time which was cheap but not a great hotel (if its only somewhere to sleep, does it matter???)
Next couple of times we booked flight only with Continental and booked the hotel ourselves ($468 per night room only :eek:) but out of this world.
This year we're not sure how we're going to do it as currently you can have a package deal staying in the Wellington (not great) for £469 or do a flight only for £350ish & know that we'll have to fork out more on a decent hotel.
I should also point out that obviously certain times are more expensive than others but if its a shopping trip, then the dearer time to go (ie. Thanksgiving) could be outweighed with the heavily discounted sale prices on black Friday.
Either way ... this will not be a moneysaving experience
It will be very enjoyable though, so happy aniversary :beer:

johnnyinbelfast

Milko, where'd you get the package deals from? A travel agent or online somewhere?
I'm also thinking of going to NYC this year but it's looking very expensive for 5 days in may (approx £900 per person for flights and hotel) - that's getting flights on continental (~£460pp) and a hotel near Time Square.

Milko

Hi Johnny,
Knock travel (Bangor) where offering me 4/5 days in February (returning Monday 14th morning on the Sunday night flight) for £469 each. This price was quoted back in November but I also know that American Holidays quoted my parents the same price in the last week of December but for another hotel.
For £900 each, you'll get flights & a very nice hotel. If you don't mind going via London, BA are currently quoting £315 per person flight only.

johnnyinbelfast

I think I'll have a chat with the travel agents at the weekend.
Thanks for the info

BigAndy_79

New York is class. Be sure to check out this place when you're there - it is awesome !!!

http://www.daleandthomaspopcorn.com/

chunter

Pay the extra money and fly Virgin from Heathrow. If you're going to spend 7 hours on a plane, you may as well enjoy it. TVs in the back of every headrest, choice of a dozen films you can pause and play at any time.
I've done the Aer Lingus and it's a bit boring to be honest.

My tip for New York is go to the Mariott Marquis Hotel in Time Square (not to stay, too dear). Revolving restaurant at the top, glass elevators up the middle, suchi bar and fantastic cocktails.

Oh for a lottery win...

caz2703

Both times we've been we've booked the hotel on its own (Sofitel, 45 W44th between 5th and 6th) and the flights have been booked with Continental either as part of a package (multi-stop in the US) or via Expedia. It's only a couple of minutes to the end of the block and you're on 5th Avenue then just a block or two after that to Times Square. It's close enough to the hustle and bustle without being noisy or in your face.

The Sofitel is lovely to stay in and only a couple of doors down in the fab Red Flame diner. It does an amazing hearty breakfast for peanuts and we even popped in there late at night when we ran out of ideas.

If you're after a fancy dinner reservation then I can highly recommend the River Cafe across the river in Brooklyn. We had our wedding dinner here and although the food is more towards Michelin type food it was lovely and the view of the Manhattan skyline is to die for.

I could go on and on about NY but most of it wouldn't interest you but I'm sure there are plenty of people on here that could answer pretty much any question you throw at us.

Jock221

Hi there I went to new York in dec past for 4 days thought I would treat myself and fly to heathrow to go virgin. Ok they have t v on the back of your seats and we flew economy plus it was expensive and not all it's cracked up to be. I have flown with quantas and long haul to Singapore With Singapore airlines They would win hands down. Virgin dumped us in stanstead because of the snow at heathrow and because madonna was on board and had to be given special treatment, kept us delayed at JFk as she was 2 hours late, then kept us 8 hours in baggage to get the luggage and then no transport to get to heathrow terrible service disgusted all the crew left the airport and failed to communicate with any of the 280 dumped passengers.. If you want a good priced hotel right at the back door of maceys try the metro hotel it was do quiet and right beside o Reillys and the playwright Irish bars good atmosphere and good food all within walking distance to times square wee tip always get a yellow cab the black private hire ones will always stop bug prepare to be ripped off. We took a bus to jersey gardens shopping centre took About 3o minutes bout 200 shops and no tax unlike new York bargains were super amazing go to times square and go to bubba gum shrimp factory restaurant not too dear an a real experience. My advice keep the extra money for shopping and fly aer lingus that's the wAy I'll be going next year virgin cost us a fortune.

caz2703

I can understand wanting to travel in comfort but to be honest, Continental, although not luxurious, were a damn sight better than Ryan Air and they're not bad for the price. The baggage allowance was very good although I think it has since changed and for an average 6 hour flight I can't see the point in flying 1 hour away from NY to fly right back overhead again.

Depending what time of year you go, Newark can be busy in the Continental terminal and in June 2008 I recall sitting in a queue watching 30+ planes take off and probably the same number land before we got a slot. Thankfully we were on the right side of the plane to see the runway and I found it amazing watching one plane come in just as one had taken off or as one was landing (a biggie), a little plane taxiing right behind it!