When to book New York?

hlhassall

Hi there,

I am trying to plan a trip to New York in September (22nd - 27th) as a surprise for my husband's 30th birthday. I have found some flights for £333 each, which I think is quite good as that's direct from Edinburgh, which is where I want to fly from. Also seen the radio city apartments which have been recommended on here a lot for £529 for 5 nights.

I am not sure whether I should try and book these now or wait until nearer the time and see if any better deals come along? I am tempted to book the flights as I think they are more likely to go up. I thought I could also book the apartments as I can always cancel the reservation if I see anything better.

Has anyone stayed in a studio at the radio city apartments? Was it big enough as a crash pad? Also wondering if they have left luggage facilities as check out is at 11am.

Any advice greatly appreciated. Many thanks for your help.

alison74

My advice is to grab that Continental flight now, it will only go up. They have x amount of seats at a certain price and once they are sold, it goes up to the next price level.

Radio City Apartments seem good, do a search on this forum , they have been discussed over the last couple of days.

The Continental flight is great from Edinburgh, check in online the day before and get to the airport 2 hours before hand is more than enough.

You will also get to choose your seats at time of booking.

My advice, grab both while you can, RCA get booked out quickly and you might not get such a good deal elsewhere

New York in September is a good time to go, nice weather, leaves changing colour etc in Central Park

alison74

My other advice would be to get the early flight out of Edinburgh (around 9am ??) and if flight is on time, you could be at your hotel by 2pm New York time, having the rest of the day and when coming home, get the later flight (about 10pm ?) as if you get the one that leaves earlier, you would need to travel to Newark in peak rush hour, where if you get the later one, you will be at the tail end of rush hour.

hlhassall

alison74 wrote:

My other advice would be to get the early flight out of Edinburgh (around 9am ??) and if flight is on time, you could be at your hotel by 2pm New York time, having the rest of the day and when coming home, get the later flight (about 10pm ?) as if you get the one that leaves earlier, you would need to travel to Newark in peak rush hour, where if you get the later one, you will be at the tail end of rush hour.

Thanks Alison, I think I will just go for it and book the flights and apartment. I can always cancel the apartment if something else comes up.

Thanks for the advice on flights too, that's helpful.

alison74

£529 for 5 nights in New York is pretty damn good. I can't see you getting anything better. I assume it will be the studio apartment you are booking which will be enough as you really will only be sleeping there.

Do a search on this forum for things to do in New York, look at www.tripadvisor.com and the New York forums there. Because you are there for 6 days, it would be worth you getting the metro pass etc

Also, with Continental you get 23kg allowance, but for an extra $25 you can get 32kg ! When I came back the other week, I was 31.5kg !! BUT, you can also take pretty much anything you want in your hand luggage as it's an 18kg limit ! You just have to pull it about Newark as they don't have any trolleys through security

And I assume you have a NW card already..................

hlhassall

alison74 wrote:

£529 for 5 nights in New York is pretty damn good. I can't see you getting anything better. I assume it will be the studio apartment you are booking which will be enough as you really will only be sleeping there.

Do a search on this forum for things to do in New York, look at www.tripadvisor.com and the New York forums there. Because you are there for 6 days, it would be worth you getting the metro pass etc

Also, with Continental you get 23kg allowance, but for an extra $25 you can get 32kg ! When I came back the other week, I was 31.5kg !! BUT, you can also take pretty much anything you want in your hand luggage as it's an 18kg limit ! You just have to pull it about Newark as they don't have any trolleys through security

And I assume you have a NW card already..................

What's an NW card?!!

alison74

A Nationwide Card (or similar) so that anything you buy on holiday, you don't pay overseas transaction fees on and get good rates to the £.

Look at the thread in this forum - 'cheapest spending overseas' and soak all the info in !!

If you are going to New York you are going to spend LOTS, and having a card with no fees is going to save yo a lot of money

hlhassall

Oh right - yes I have a nationwide card so that is ok. Had that from when I went travelling after uni.

I am getting rather excited now - and worried about how much money I will spend when I get there! I will be lured by all the bargains!

pin

Can you fly today or tomorrow? BA have very cheap flights on at the moment cause of the strike cancellation.

Tinkerbell21_2

I am going for my visit to New York in November for 5 nights and have booked the Radio City Apartments for £529 which is a great price for the location. The reviews are good too.

I have noticed that they do book up quickly so I would go for it

Your flights are a good price, we are paying £286 each with BA flying from Heathrow.

Tinkerbell21 x

hlhassall

Thanks everyone - all booked now!

Had to change the dates slightly as the flights had gone up in price but still got them for £333 each so very pleased. Also got a confirmed booking with Radio City Apartments.

I am very excited now so going to start planning what to do while we're there!