New York tips and discussion

[wideeyes]

I've been looking online at New York hotels and flights for a couple of days now and come out with so many different prices and I don't really know what kind of price I should be looking at as good value and something to use as a budget!

I want to go with my boyfriend in September 2011 for 5 nights. Provisionally I've been using the dates Mon12-Sat17 Sept as my dates for searching but can be flexible if it's cheaper to go more at the end of September or in October? Does 5 nights sound about the right length of time?

You all sound like seasoned NYC travellers and I'd like your advice!

I am not much help. I have seen flights for about £330 and I pay about $200 a night for a hotel.

I have a new ticker! going back much sooner than planned!

 

[scottishgirl87]

I've been looking online at New York hotels and flights for a couple of days now and come out with so many different prices and I don't really know what kind of price I should be looking at as good value and something to use as a budget!

I want to go with my boyfriend in September 2011 for 5 nights. Provisionally I've been using the dates Mon12-Sat17 Sept as my dates for searching but can be flexible if it's cheaper to go more at the end of September or in October? Does 5 nights sound about the right length of time?

You all sound like seasoned NYC travellers and I'd like your advice!

I'm pretty sure according to the TripAdvisor forums that October onwards is one of the busiest times to go to NY so I think you'd be better sticking with September

I am not much help. I have seen flights for about £330 and I pay about $200 a night for a hotel.

I have a new ticker! going back much sooner than planned!

Jealous! Tell all?! Where you staying etc. etc.

I still don't have a hotel sorted for March

 

[wideeyes]

Going for 5 nights at the Roosevelt hotel, sort of an early birthday present as my birthday is the week after. I got tickets to see a Billie Joe Armstrong interview too! Only thing is I have to do indirect flights.

 

[scottishgirl87]

Going for 5 nights at the Roosevelt hotel, sort of an early birthday present as my birthday is the week after. I got tickets to see a Billie Joe Armstrong interview too! Only thing is I have to do indirect flights.

Oh, wow! Even more jealous!! Last time I was in NY we went to see TRL being filmed and Fall Out Boy were the guests We all got given a copy of their new album at the time as well. It was amazing!

And you'll be fine with indirect flights! I actually quite like the getting off to stretch my legs for a while!

 

[wideeyes]

How do you get to do TRL? That sounds like a really cool thing to do.

We are flying via chicago so I think that is further than NYC however it was £200 cheaper and that will pay for us to stay an extra night. Plus if we went for just one less night the flights are more expensive too.

 

[scottishgirl87]

How do you get to do TRL? That sounds like a really cool thing to do.

We are flying via chicago so I think that is further than NYC however it was £200 cheaper and that will pay for us to stay an extra night. Plus if we went for just one less night the flights are more expensive too.

Unfortunately they stopped making TRL about a year or so after we'd been I'm not even sure if the MTV shop is still there in Times Square.

Ahh that's annoying but you won't even realise anyway, lol. When we came home from Vegas in 2008 we flew from Vegas to San Fran to then fly to London, basically going backwards to come forwards!

I've spent hours pouring over hotels again Still no further forward and still driving me nuts!

 

[wideeyes]

I forgot MTV was rubbish now.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Just resurrecting this thread as quite a few of us are going to New York soon.

Has anyone made any additional plans? We would like to see a show but we're not sure which one! We would have chosen BMG but it finishes in March.

 

[wideeyes]

We got back on Thursday after 6 nights in NYC. We saw American Idiot 3 times, it was amazing, much better than I thought it would be. It had Billie Joe Armstrong in but he finishes in February, the rest of the cast were amazing too. It looks like a tough show to preform, very energetic. We also went to an interview with Billie Joe at NY times arts and leisure weekend.

Other than that we didn't do much, just lots of shopping in Greenwich and East Village. We didn't really hit any of the other tourist attractions as my daughter kept asking to go back to Greenwich village as she loved all the little shops there.

Hopefully in April we will see Alice in Wonderland and we will also be seeing AI again as well as some museums.

Have you signed up to Playbill? they send emails of offers for the Broadway shows and plays. I think also off Broadway too.

 

[disney_princess_85]

We got back on Thursday after 6 nights in NYC. We saw American Idiot 3 times, it was amazing, much better than I thought it would be. It had Billie Joe Armstrong in but he finishes in February, the rest of the cast were amazing too. It looks like a tough show to preform, very energetic. We also went to an interview with Billie Joe at NY times arts and leisure weekend.

Other than that we didn't do much, just lots of shopping in Greenwich and East Village. We didn't really hit any of the other tourist attractions as my daughter kept asking to go back to Greenwich village as she loved all the little shops there.

Hopefully in April we will see Alice in Wonderland and we will also be seeing AI again as well as some museums.

Have you signed up to Playbill? they send emails of offers for the Broadway shows and plays. I think also off Broadway too.

I didn't realise your impromptu trip was so soon!

I'm glad you had a nice time. American Idiot three times- wow! It sounds great but I don't think I'm a big enough fan of Green Day to truly enjoy it. I will definitely sign up to Playbill, thanks for the tip.

Where did you stay? Did you buy anything nice?

 

[wideeyes]

We saw it 3 times because Billie Joe was in it, We are big fans. We met some of the cast who were really nice too. It is one of those shows were there is so much going on that you see different things on stage each time so it didn't feel repetitive.

We stayed at Radisson Lexington and booked through Hotwire, I did work out the hotel it was before I booked though. It was a nice hotel, on 48th Street and about a 10 minute walk from Times square and 5 minutes from nearest subway.

We also flew via Chicago with AA as it saved us the cost of 1 extra night at the hotel and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I would only do it again if it saved more than £200 though as it was a long day. We ended up getting a taxi from Newark as my daughter was tired and that cost $90, if it was day time I would get the bus or train.

We brought mostly books, hand made jewelry, Cd's, records, t.shirts and crystals. My daughter loves Crystal shops and she got some Disney comic books.

The snow there is awful though, it falls so fast and the wind blows it right in your face. The cold wasn't so bad as it had been cold here so we were used to it.

 

[scottishgirl87]

Just resurrecting this thread as quite a few of us are going to New York soon.

Has anyone made any additional plans? We would like to see a show but we're not sure which one! We would have chosen BMG but it finishes in March.

Why?! Why?! Why?! After all the NY show is the original!

We want to go and see a show but also can't decide. The only one I want to see is The Lion King but don't know if I really want to spend about £80 on it each!

Claire, I'm soooo jealous! I'd really like to see American Idiot, even without Billie Joe , but alas my parents and boyfriend have no taste in music

 

[sandshal]

Hi Guys, Just read through the whole thread so thought I'd fill you in on our plans!!

Flying LHR to JFK Sunday 24th July with VA in Premium Economy (managed to secure 2 flights with airmiles for £500 for the 2 but got to pay M&M prices for 3 kids ) then onto Orlando with AA on the 27th, back via JFK on the 13th August.

Currently have a 2 bed apartment booked at the Radio City Apartments for the 5 of us and Yankees vs Seatle Mariners tickets for Monday 25th .... yay hotdogs and beer at the Yankee stadium.

Never been to NYC before so super excited .... plan on getting 5 NY City Passes to see Top of the Rock, ESB, Natural History Museum and whatever else we can fit into 2 and a bit days.

Think we're going to take a taxi from JFK but as there are 5 of us this may prove difficult ..... suggestions anybody

Anyway thanks for letting me join in.

Sharon

 

[VITFA]

Fantastic thread - i will be going as part of my mutlicentre honeymoon to Ny in september and the thread has given me lots of useful information thanks guys
L

 

[wideeyes]

We got the air train and subway from JFK. It was easy enough & would do it again that way if we fly to JFK again. You could look into a shuttle bus, but probably end up being more expensive than a taxi for 5 of you. Maybe a private vehicle would be an option.

 

[sandshal]

Cheers for that would definitely have given the train a go had we not got so much luggage. Looked into a private suv but they want nearly two hundred dollars ..... so may try our luck and see if we can find a larger taxi that will take all five of us ..... Otherwise we will need two

 

[meryll83]

Hi all,

We're newly booked to go to New York for the first time for Christmas, so I'll probably have a ton of questions, and I thought what better place to ask than here!

So, here goes with my first two:

1. We're probably going to get the New York Pass - when making reservations for tours etc. when you call do you have to have your New York Pass number? I thought perhaps we could pick up our passes on arrival to save the postage fee, but I want to book tours in advance, so wasn't sure if I could do this without the actual pass.

2. We're on a British Airways 13:30 flight from LHR-JFK - does anyone know if will we get served lunch on this flight quite early on? Just wondering whether I need to budget for lunch somewhere at Heathrow or not.

Thanks in advance!

 

[sandshal]

Hi merrill, that's a good question about the food! Were on the 2.00 pm virgin flight so should we have a brunch before we go? Come to think of it it may be a good idea as the food on the flight was dreadful last time. First time to NYC for us too

Have any of you guys seen or used the blue super shuttle buses ... Theyre quoting $88 for 5 of us in an SUV on a will call basis each way but I'm really not sure what they mean by that rather than meet and greet

 

[scottishgirl87]

Have any of you guys seen or used the blue super shuttle buses ... Theyre quoting $88 for 5 of us in an SUV on a will call basis each way but I'm really not sure what they mean by that rather than meet and greet

I haven't used them but from what I've read people don't recommend them, well not on Trip Advisor or MSE. I believe they basically pick up groups of people and drop them off at their various places in the one trip. So basically you could sit at the airport until they've picked up enough people, then you have to drop them all off at their different locations so you could be first or last off and could end up on the shuttle for 1-2 hours. I think that's possibly what they mean by a will call basis.

 

[Ziggy]

Go for the Palace if it's in your budget!
We paid £135 per night in July which seemed decent considering the standard of the place

That price is fab, who did you book with?