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

greenface

teckniq wrote: »

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?

big one half full

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

they wont compare

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

your not supposed to and you know it

Thanks very much in advance

//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.\\

What do you mean they tried to charge you ?? did they ?? Why not if not ?
Was it over 32kg or not ? can't work out if they were MEAN or WRONG or NICE

misscomickat

When I went out, my bag was 21kg. I hardly bought anything during my time in the city, so I don't see how my case could have been 11kg heavier. I also managed to get to the airport by myself on the subway and don't think I'm capable of lifting such a heavy weight. When I went to check in, the check in woman had a bad attitude and told me I had to pay $150. I actually thought she was joking. I moved to the side and literally took out two magazines and put my coat on. Went to another line and it was fine. I saw the same woman do the same thing to quite a few other people - some of them had small cases and I can't imagine they could have been 32kg or more, unless they were packed with bricks!

Savvy_Sue

teckniq wrote: »

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

check your airline's baggage restrictions, can you have two bags/cases in the hold? If not, then it's a big case, only half full on the way out. As for buying there or taking one with you, do you want to spend time shopping for a new bag?

teckniq wrote: »

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

As already said, they won't compare, but they will check. I was told our cases seemed really light on the way home, but then I'd not been allowed to go shopping.

teckniq wrote: »

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

:money: Only if you have nothing to declare ... check the limits before you go (phatbear will remind us all again if we ask nicely!) and stick within them if you don't want to pay duty on everything you've bought.

JailhouseBabe

teckniq wrote: »

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

thank you

Our taxi trips were all less than $10 (apart from the airport run). We tipped 20%, and if that worked out at less than $2, then we tipped $2. We were in a nice hotel (not luxury class) and left $2 on our pillows each morning for the chambermaid; we only tipped the porters when we were leaving - $5 for the guy who put our cases into the storage room, and another $5 for the one who got them out (we weren't sure if that was enough/too much though).

With regard to bags,can't you fit a spare bag into your suitcase?

M4RKM

misscomicat... most airlines have a limit of 25kg per bag... and allow 2 bags on a tatl flight.. so if your bag was 21kg on the way out, and OVER 25kg on the way back, then you will get charged..
32kg is the MAXIMUM the bag can weigh, even though it is subject to excess baggage charges!

M

misscomickat

Well if that's true, the woman could have explained it in a normal way without barking at me. I tried to find out repeatedly before my flight what the allowance was, and could only find something about 32 kg.

M4RKM

who did you fly with?

misscomickat

Delta, unfortunately. I actually booked to fly with Air France but they have some sort of code sharing thing. Not recommended.

ronaldo1903

Hi all, been reading through almost all this thread and thanks for all the tips.

I'm going to NY next month on my own for a few days, staying in Times Square. I arrive at 3pm, is the drive in really worth seeing?
Since will be paying for transport myself was thinking prob just go with the skytrain/subway rather than a taxi but would be good to get to see the journey in, not sure if the extra $40 or so is worth it.

I'm fine going about by myself during the day but was wondering of any reccomendations for bars/activities etc to do at night. Was thinking might try get a broadway show for my first night but will be too late for the cheap tickets at the booths so might leave that for the 2nd night.

misscomickat

Nah, just get the subway. Quicker and cheaper. It's pretty cool when you climb up the stairs out of the subway and bam, there you are in the middle of everything.

Most of the theatres do a ticket lottery at about 6pm - go at around 5, put your name down, they draw tickets for the front two rows, and it's not expensive - the ones I saw were around $26.50. As you're on your own, you'll be at an advantage.