[THREAD CLOSED - SEE PART 2] Anything & Everything New York

pcg2001

Hi, everyone,

I have been looking at flights from London to New York for July/ August next year and the lowest non-direct flights in either lastminute and expedia.co.uk are around £560. :eek: Is this what I should expect for this time of year? Or are there likley to be offers as times progresses? Which are the best places to track and check if prices decrease? Any airline newsletters I should keep an eye on?

Finally, it occured to me it might be cheaper to fly somewhere else in the US and then take a connecting flight to New York. Any tips there? I have only been to LA and Las Vegas, so another destination would even be welcome on top of New York. Also, I might be able to fly from another departure airport in the UK, if it made a difference.

Thanks in advance.

M4RKM

replies very briefly..

1 - opentable.com is great - bubble lounge isn't really that food orienated, walked past it, decided against it.. Tribeca Grill is awesome though..

2 - message the seller on ebay, and see if they ship to the UK.. the price for the simcard alone in the states will be more than the simcard on ebay and shipping!

3 - i take everything in cash - but it is personal preference!

4 - woah.. expensive on the flights.... aim for around £350 i'd say...

M

JailhouseBabe

We just got back yesterday - what a weekend!!

A couple of tips that I hope may help others:

If you intend to visit the revolving bar at the Marriot Marquis on Times Square, the views are great at night but be sure to get there before 9pm when there's no surcharge; we arrived 10 minutes later and had to pay a $7 surcharge each. DD and I had only 1 beer each (no atmosphere in there), it cost me $35 incl tip. Most expensive beer I've ever had!!

Welshguy - happy birthday for December. My daughter turns 20 next weekend - she only got ID'd twice. Once at a gig where I was given a bracelet to buy beer, she got marker on her hand to show she was under 21. She went inside and washed it off, I bought all the beers but nobody stopped her drinking them. Out of 5 other places where we drank (3 Irish bars, Planet Hollywood, the Marriot) she only got ID'd at 1 Irish bar. She also got served in a liquor store. God, we sound like right alkies! We're not that bad - honest!

Having our names in lights on Broadway was impressive ($5 in Hershey's on Times Square for15 minutes interspersed with adverts) - although when we were in the taxi heading back to the airport, we spotted a huge board a little further down and across the street saying you could put your own picture on it. Not sure who owns it or the cost, but might be worth a look for.

ssepple

Any suggestions anyone, looked at available restaurants on opentable.com then looked at reviews on menupages.com and all they seemed dismal

Also what's transport like on Christmas day, are we better off to make sure its walking distance stuff?

Thanks and hope not asked too cliched questions

JailhouseBabe

floydy wrote: »

top of the rock, turned up at tkt booth near ice rink and walked straight up and spent the most amazing couple of hours taking in the birds eye views, ab fab ($20each, credit card only)

Credit card only? We paid cash - $18 each with a leaflet giving $2 discount. Although we paid in the main entrance lobby rather than by the ice rink, maybe the ice rink one only accepts cards?

It's worth looking at the leaflets in hotel lobbies, lots of them offer discounts. Also when you get your discount card from the visitor centre in Macy's, there's a stand with what look like little info cards - we used one of these to get $6 each off entry to The Bodies exhibition at Fulton Street Market.

M4RKM

ssepple wrote: »

Any suggestions anyone, looked at available restaurants on opentable.com then looked at reviews on menupages.com and all they seemed dismal

Also what's transport like on Christmas day, are we better off to make sure its walking distance stuff?

Thanks and hope not asked too cliched questions

erm... in opentable.com click on the bit where it tells you about the restaurants that are NOT available... most decent places don't accept reservations more than 30 days in advance!

some places might be booked up.. some places mighe take reservations now, but not via opentable... this is where the old fashioned telephone can come in useful..

teckniq

hi Guys may be such a silly question but i need to ask.

I am going New York (wahoo!) tomorrow evening and was wondering a few things about luggage. I will be going there for my first time for a shopping trip (talk about pick the greatest time!lol)

1- Should i take a bag out with me or just buy one when i get there?

2 - will they check the weight of my luggage and compare when i arrive and when i leave?

3 - When coming home do i just walk through "nothing to declare" section?

Thanks very much in advance

teckniq

Also considering this is mine and my partners first time to NY how much should i tip cabs and concierge people?

thank you

teckniq

Oh also! (VERY VERY Sorry lol)

when going through immigration how long will it take roughly? i am giving 2 hours? is this reasonable?

misscomickat

Shouldn't take two hours unless you're unlucky. It depends how many other flights land at the same time as yours, time of day, lots of factors.

They won't compare the weight of your luggage going in and out..but the JFK check in people can be really MEAN. They tried to charge me $150 and I am pretty confident my bag wasn't over 32kg.

There are suitcases on sale everywhere so it would be easy to pick one up there. Personally if I was only going for a week's shopping trip, I'd just take a big case with me- half pack it, and fill it up with whatever I bought.