New York Spending Money

neilbond007

little_miss_muppet_face wrote: »

Thinking about order the new york pass today,
its on special offer at $190 each adult.

Just wanted to check if anyone else had bought one and if
it is definetly worth getting rather than paying on the door for places,

Anyone know...

http://www.newyorkpass.com/prices.aspx

I used one a few years ago. It's VERY good if you're planning on doing the touristy places. The only "problem" is you (well I did anyway) basically planned my days to get as much in as I could from the pass.

I never got the hop on / off part. $60 per person seems very steep to me. If you're smart you only need to use the subway once / twice per day.

Here's some of what I did from memory....

I was there for 3 days and did 1 day uptown
NBC Studio Tour
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
American Museum of Natural History
Madame Tussaud's New York

1 day south manhattan
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Immigration Museum Ferry

1 day midtown
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises (excellent. highlight of trip)
Empire State Building Observation Deck (and skyride)
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Madison Square Garden, All Access Tour

breaking NY in to sections saves on all the traveling...

ferf1223

neilbond007 wrote: »

Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises (excellent. highlight of trip)

Was ours too - it's probably the only touristy thing I really remember without trying too hard.

As for the subway, we live in London so are used to the Tube, but were totally confused by the subway if we didn't have our New Yorker friend with us...generally we just jumped in a taxi if we weren't walking to our next stop (we walked quite a lot as it is very easy to navigate on foot). Not very MSE, but not terribly expensive either.

We also found that, very much to our surprise given the reputation that New Yorkers have, every single time we stopped somewhere, stepped out of the way of foot traffic to consult our map to make sure that we were going the right way...someone stopped and asked if we needed help or needed directions. I've tried doing that in London - and mostly people look at me like I'm going to mug them and scurry away...so I kind of stopped trying.

claire16c

The first time I went to NY the subway confused me - because I didnt realise you had to go into the correct entry point to get the line in the right direction. I just assumed it would be like the tube where you just go in the entrance and THEN find the right line. Then to add to that, one of the trains we got on, had the wrong sign up in the window, so we ended up all the way at Jamaica station by mistake!!

The 2nd time we found it much easier and used it to go absolutely everywhere.

googler

Last time I was there I took my bank card (Maestro?) with enough money for the first few days and drew cash from the ATMs locally.

Might have had a premium on it, but it meant I wasn't carrying $1000 around on the inward jorney.....

little_miss_muppet_face

Ok, will buy a metro card (presume we buy it in NY),
think i will leave the new york pass, as not sure how much use we would get out of it really, will probably just pay as we go..
Thanks for all your words of advice.. very helpful..
if anyone has any more then feel free to let me know
:T

scoobyju1

little_miss_muppet_face wrote: »

Ok, will buy a metro card (presume we buy it in NY),
think i will leave the new york pass, as not sure how much use we would get out of it really, will probably just pay as we go..
Thanks for all your words of advice.. very helpful..
if anyone has any more then feel free to let me know
:T

Yeah, you can buy your Metro card when you get to NYC.

Are you getting the subway into Manhattan from the airport? If so, you can buy a weekly pass when you get there for around $25/$28 however, be warned that the last time I did this, I paid my $20 odd dollars, they gave me the pass & surprise, it only lasted for 1 journey so they ripped me off/or it was a genine error.

You can only buy a single trip ticket from the machines at JFK now so next time I go, that's what I'll do & then buy my pass when I get into the city.

little_miss_muppet_face

No, we have arranged for a bus to collect us, we bought it as part of our flights/hotel package..

scoobyju1 wrote: »

Yeah, you can buy your Metro card when you get to NYC.

Are you getting the subway into Manhattan from the airport? If so, you can buy a weekly pass when you get there for around $25/$28 however, be warned that the last time I did this, I paid my $20 odd dollars, they gave me the pass & surprise, it only lasted for 1 journey so they ripped me off/or it was a genine error.

You can only buy a single trip ticket from the machines at JFK now so next time I go, that's what I'll do & then buy my pass when I get into the city.

Bob_the_Saver

Don't forget it's very rude to tip, just pay the amount stated no more,
I never do.

little_miss_muppet_face

Really ? is that for bars restaurants etc...?

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

Don't forget it's very rude to tip, just pay the amount stated no more,
I never do.

Bob_the_Saver

I never tip. Why should I nobody ever tipped me and in many countries it is not expected or even rude.