NYC Megathread Archive 2

JohnG18

Going to New York for 7-8 Days from 11th October to 18-19th. Checking on ebookers Delta seems to be the cheapest and on the better plane the 767 ( I don't wanna be cramped for a long flight). Just wondering is Delta reliable?

Also looking to go Wicked on Broadway. Now the tickets on the website are really expensive is there any way to get them cheaper?

Pigletlover

miko wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if anybody has gone to new york for xmas before, im going with my family from the 24th to the 28th, anybody got any advice on things to do, where to get a good xmas dinner and stuff! were staying at the W hotel times square so if you have any advice on stuff to do and see around that time it would be great!

Me too! My parents and brother are going and convinced me to go with them, also flying out on the 24th. Some Christmassy stuff that would be nice to see would be the window displays on 5th avenue, especially Saks and Lord & Taylor, the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Centre and carol singers at South Street Seaport. The Radio City Christmas Spectacular is popular and there's a Winter themed Cirque du Soleil show on in Madison Square Garden over Christmas.

Caked Karen

JohnG,

im just back from NYC and flew with Delta from Shannon to JFK direct.
found them great to be honest. seats were comfy enough - had a few good movies on the plan - few tv shows and music aswell.
food was ok for plane food - enjoyed the ice cream going over and the brownie on the way back thou

only thing i would say was the delta terminal [terminal 3] at JFK was carnage when we got there to come home. it was wedged but then again it was a sunday evening and it was just messy but got through it eventually. dont need to get there too early as there is not much to do bar eat and have a quick browse!

not sure bout tickets on broadway cause didnt get to it but better to go to the booth in times square i think. alot cheaper. shows that have not sold out will have tickets available there and are usually alot cheaper. The Lion King is meant to be great.

Hope this helps

Gatsby

Heading to New York next week and thinking of booking a room in an apartment I've found on craigslist. Has anyone else visiting New York ever booked accommodation this way and what was the experience like?

5500

Just a quickie,booked flights to NY and there not due to fly out of Dublin untill 5pm,does this mean i'll have to clear immigration in JFK or will it still be done in Dublin?

If its done in JFK how long of a delay should i expect?

Cheers

lynchie

You'll clear immigration in JFK. Length of time to clear depends on the number of flights arriving at the same time. Can be anywhere from 20 mins - 40 mins. At least when you clear your bags will be waiting there for you!!

5500

Thanks,is it possible to pre clear now online via an online form do you know?Or is that only if your being cleared here?

BuffyBot

eireal - on top of the forum are two useful stickies - one on New York, and one on the ESTA.

Merged into the big NY sticky.

You can't "pre-clear" online. If you see the other sticky about the ESTA you can fill it out, but this doesn't mean you can skip over all the other immigration stuff.

waghag

Be very careful. Go to the new york forum on tripadvisor.com , there's some good advice re. apartments. A neighbour of mine booked an apartment on craiglist , sent a $500 deposit and showed up to find that the apartment building didn't even exist!

jayteecork

Thinking of finally realising a life-long dream and going to New York.

Will be going for one week, by myself.

If someone could recommend me a place to stay that would suit me, I'd be eternally grateful. Preferably reasonably priced and in a "not bad" location.

JT.

Hotel I recommend to everyone is the New York Helmsley. Its a very very good hotel and not badly priced. Also the Quality Times Square is supposed to be good and obviously great loaction.

lynchie

lynchie wrote: »

No, Delta run their own service to NY. It is not an Aerlingus plane. Why does it matter if they use Aerlingus planes as all three offer the same service over. Neither of them are better than each other, although if I remember correctly Delta use 757 for their NY run, so only 1 aisle down the middle which is a little more cramped than the 2-4-2 config Aerlingus use.

I flew delta last time round and they're much planes than Aer Lingus, great food, service etc. HOWEVER they overbook flights as a rule, and there were people supposed to be on our flight who had booked and checked in, and then when they got to the gate they were told it was overbooked!!! I'm serious, there was murder over this last year around november time, it's total madness. Do google this you will find lots of info on it. Also, if you fly Delta you come back through a much smaller terminal so don't plan on doing any last minute shopping - mistake I made!!!

kizzyr

I just booked flights to NY with Aer Lingus for myself and my boyfriend. All went through fine, flights return incl fuel surcharge cost €842 to and from JFK. However thing I noticed is that at no stage was I asked if I wanted to book a bag in and if so how many. I was so uneasy about this that I twice started to book afresh just in case I was messing things up! yet was never asked.
Is this a new thing with Aer Lingus now that you are allowed to bring bags on a long haul flights without having to pay or declare them in advance?

snubbleste

You've always been able to bring bags on Aer Lingus long-haul and it's free up to a certain amount of kilos. Look at the website again under baggage - both checked and cabin.

kizzyr

snubbleste wrote: »

You've always been able to bring bags on Aer Lingus long-haul and it's free up to a certain amount of kilos. Look at the website again under baggage - both checked and cabin.

Thank you, just checked (as per your advice) and can bring 2 bags for free. Suppose I just didn't think it all through and have obviously spent too much time on Ryanair flights:D

kizzyr

Has anyone stayed in the Milford Plaza in NY? I'd appreciate any feedback you have as accommodation is scarce to say the least!

Third_Echelon

kizzyr wrote: »

Has anyone stayed in the Milford Plaza in NY? I'd appreciate any feedback you have as accommodation is scarce to say the least!

Yeah, stayed there once before....

For the money you pay its fine... and at the end of the day you are only going to be sleeping there.

Its an old enough hotel, so the rooms and décor are a bit dated to say the least. Main thing is though the location is good and the rooms, from my experience are clean. Staff were friendly enough if I remember correctly as well.

kizzyr

Third_Echelon wrote: »

Yeah, stayed there once before....

For the money you pay its fine... and at the end of the day you are only going to be sleeping there.

Its an old enough hotel, so the rooms and décor are a bit dated to say the least. Main thing is though the location is good and the rooms, from my experience are clean. Staff were friendly enough if I remember correctly as well.

Hi, thanks for replying I appreciate the feedback. Booked the Club Room for both of us and it seems to be nice enough. Will post my review upon my return.

robo

I also heard of a group of people who lost approx $1800 by booking and apt on Craiglist. So be careful and maybe if you use a credit card to book, it might be safer than bank transfer.

hockeygirl

Deleted User wrote: »

I flew delta last time round and they're much planes than Aer Lingus, great food, service etc. HOWEVER they overbook flights as a rule, and there were people supposed to be on our flight who had booked and checked in, and then when they got to the gate they were told it was overbooked!!!

Ok I think this has happend to me. Just checked my flights delta have chnaged so Im flying home the next day. Im trying to find out if I can get a refund and I'll fly with aerlingus instead.

Ive just posted a thread on this if anyone can help me or has experienced this before

JohnG18

Just booked tickets from 11th to 18th of October. Will be staying in NY city hopefully. Where is the nearest outlet mall. And best way to travel to it? Like buses.

chiefwiggum

everyone will tell you jersey gardens or woodbury common..ive been to woodbury myself and its brill..buses leave every half hour from central bus station a couple of blocks away from times square gate 13 i think and roughly 20 dollars return..bring big bags maybe a suite case with wheels or big sports bags...youre gonna need them trust me!!!

workaccount

Yeah go to woodbury commons. That bus station is called port authority and you will find it easily on google maps.

I'm just back from NY and we went to Jersey gardens which wasn't great at all. Depends on what your into though - do some research.

Pinarello

Hi all,
Heading to New York this Friday.Just wondering does anybody know of a company who would pick you up from the airport and bring you to your Hotel?A friend of mine told me about Mears Transportation but when i searched for them they don't exsist in New York only Florida.Any help would be greatly appreciated.

JohnG18

Ok one last question.
Looking for cheap resonable acommadation (the place I was looking at doesn't look great) in New York. Hotels, B&Bs just like around €60-€80 per night per room. Just 2 of us so just one room.

MuddyDog

Ruu wrote: »

Fill in the green I-94 form, the white customs form for when you land in the US and have your passport ready at immigration (if going direct, it will be in Dublin unless a stopover is required in Shannon, if a stopover in London or elsewhere, immigration will be stateside). Don't be smart at the immigration booths, just speak when spoken too and you'll be good to go.

where can i get these forms?

robinph

The airport.

mikedragon32

Pinarello wrote: »

Hi all,
Heading to New York this Friday.Just wondering does anybody know of a company who would pick you up from the airport and bring you to your Hotel?A friend of mine told me about Mears Transportation but when i searched for them they don't exsist in New York only Florida.Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Why not just take a taxi? Fare is fixed ($45 last time there) and there is a supervised rank right outside the terminal at JFK.

Your hotel can arrange a minibus transfer back to the airport coming home and that will cost about the same, but I'd recommend it over a taxi as they meter the fare out to JFK and it can be a bit dearer.

Shamrogue

mikedragon32 wrote: »

Why not just take a taxi? Fare is fixed ($45 last time there) and there is a supervised rank right outside the terminal at JFK.

Your hotel can arrange a minibus transfer back to the airport coming home and that will cost about the same, but I'd recommend it over a taxi as they meter the fare out to JFK and it can be a bit dearer.

I too thought it was fixed from JFK but not back. However, when there last April it was fixed back to JFK as well.

Found this -
'Flat Fare from John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport:

For trips between (to and from) Manhattan and JFK International Airport, the flat fare is $45.00 plus any tolls using Rate Code 2 on the meter. Surcharges will not be added.'
Here
http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/passenger/taxicab_rate.shtml

Regards,

Sham

Ponster

Cheers for that. I never realised it was flat-fare back to JFK.