New York shopping -my tips

Pal

For Xmas shopping weekend in NY here's my advice on the best way.

Bring an empty suitcase

Fly to Newark with Continental (cheapest)

Overnight in any brand name lodging in Elizabeth NJ
half the price of NYC,
better hotels
walk to shopping
free coutesy shuttles to/from airport
5 minutes to Newark Airport

I stayed here. recommended.
http://www.countryinns.com/specialoffers/offerdetail.jsp?offerId=219534

Shop in Jersey Gardens
No sales tax
Discount book show passport
Huge
Spotless
not congested
No long journey like Woodbury Common.


enjoy..........

IrishMike

Done just that not 2 weeks ago
was coming home missed plane in newark so had to stay 24 hours
no space on flights due to the marathon
jersey gardens is good but there are better shops in pa
king of prussia mall is good bout an hour from the airport

ballooba

Cut tags off purchases?

IrishMike

Goes without saying
And if u buy an ipod etc leave the box in the bin at the hotel
carry it in your pocket because customs will screw u given the chance

Tom Dunne

IrishMike wrote:

And if u buy an ipod etc leave the box in the bin at the hotel
carry it in your pocket because customs will screw u given the chance

In all the years I have been to the US, I have never once seen customs at the airport. I came back last year with around 10 suitcases (yes, 10), full of stuff and not a sign of a customs person.

TBH, I think the fear of customs is greater than the actual risk of them being there.

bombidol

yeah I've never been stopped and i've only ever heard of one person getting stopped

okidoki987

Wait until other flights come in and then walk behind some kids and if (big if) there are any customs, they think you're part of that family.

Genghis

Hi Pal,

How difficult would it be to get from that hotel to NYC (is there rail link or anything?). And how far is it from JFK (flights already booked)?

Pal

Genghis wrote:

Hi Pal,

How difficult would it be to get from that hotel to NYC (is there rail link or anything?). And how far is it from JFK (flights already booked)?

30 minutes NJ transit train Newark Airport to Penn Station (34th street). 1 stop.


If you are already flying to JFK, then you are a long way from Elizabeth NJ so forget about staying out at Newark..

PADDYPOKER

This Wednesday RTE1 Off the Rails are doing a NY Shopping special.
Probably mainly for womens clothes mind you

jesus_thats_gre

Genghis wrote:

Hi Pal,

How difficult would it be to get from that hotel to NYC (is there rail link or anything?). And how far is it from JFK (flights already booked)?

You can get a bus from the Port Authority. If I remember rightly, it took about 40 mins and was surprisingly comfortable.

shabbyroad

I was stopped once coming back from NY when I was on a business trip. I used to do 3-5 a year, now maybe 1-2 and haven't been back to NY for some time.

I had a small Fender amplifier in a cardboard box. Nothing made it stick out apart from the fact that it was a small plain cardboard box.
Opened it for the customs guy who was very polite and explained what it was and that I paid about $75 for it.

No duty or any other searching . . . which was probably a good thing because I had two Roland samplers, a bunch of RAM, an AKAI add-on board in one suitcase and some jewellery for my missus in my carry-on luggage.

(excellent advice OP on going to New Jersey to avoid sales tax and take advantage of the malls built just for that purpose - when I lived there we used to do our shopping there when possible)

Genghis

Cheers. Will keep your info in mind for next trip so!

IrishMike

tom dunne wrote:

In all the years I have been to the US, I have never once seen customs at the airport. I came back last year with around 10 suitcases (yes, 10), full of stuff and not a sign of a customs person.

TBH, I think the fear of customs is greater than the actual risk of them being there.

Sorry mate but there is no airline on earth that would allow a passenger to have 10 bags
Were they all the size of wallets or something ? :rolleyes:
I was in jfk 2 weeks ago and the woman in front of me had to leave 2 bags
behind as continental wouldnt allow her check any more than 2 bags and
have one bag as hand luggage

Kristok

Dont aer lingus have a 2 bag policy cant see how youd be allowed 10.

The problem I see with staying in NJ is youve a commute to manhatten and back every day so unless your not planning on going there more than once or twice it would be a pain to be doing that every day.

Pal

Kristok wrote:

The problem I see with staying in NJ is youve a commute to manhatten and back every day so unless your not planning on going there more than once or twice it would be a pain to be doing that every day.

For an overnight shopping trip, Newark and Jersey Gardens is the best option.

If you want to do Manhattan sightseeing, then this is not for you.

goldenbrown

my new york tip, might be...don't shop there... coz can u ever recover your hotel taxi plane expenses through the price differences? :v:

aaf

goldenbrown wrote:

my new york tip, might be...don't shop there... coz can u ever recover your hotel taxi plane expenses through the price differences? :v:

It's also a holiday

Pal

goldenbrown wrote:

my new york tip, might be...don't shop there... coz can u ever recover your hotel taxi plane expenses through the price differences? :v:

Yes.

if you spend €1000 on Tommy Hilfiger for example, the equivalent stuff would cost over €3000 in Dublin.

Same goes for Timberland, Polo, etc.,

Tom Dunne

IrishMike wrote:

Sorry mate but there is no airline on earth that would allow a passenger to have 10 bags

Well "mate", as any seasoned traveller knows, if you pay an extra baggage charge, you can bring as many back as you like. I was moving back to Ireland from the US and it cost me almost $400 in charges.

FrankGrimes

Just saw another thread on ski gear here and will be going skiing for the first time in march. Anyone know of any places in or around New york that do good deals on ski gear as I could pick it up when I'm there next month? Nice one

Pal

The ski shops at the ski slope are cheaper than the NYC downtown places.

I bought my skis in Dublin cheaper than NY