Ask me anything about New York and Manhattan (NYC)

[CoffeeAddict]

I've got a question for y'all
I'm heading to NYC on Sat and i'm wondering if any of you have tried the $20 trick there before? I'm thinking it can't hurt to try but if anyone has had any prior experience I'd be all ears.

A lot of googling last night pretty much just turned up anecdotes about Vegas bu nothing on any other cities. This includes the multipage thread on flyertalk

[902linger]

I've got a question for y'all
I'm heading to NYC on Sat and i'm wondering if any of you have tried the $20 trick there before? I'm thinking it can't hurt to try but if anyone has had any prior experience I'd be all ears.

Absolutely! I just got back from 4 days in NYC, used the $20 trick really well. Following the fatwallet standard..

Hotel: Millennium Broadway (booked thru Priceline)
Date: August 22-26
Time: 4 p.m.
Airport or Hotel Check-in: Hotel
Clerk Gender: Male
Clerk Age Aprox.: 25
Tip Amount: $20
Success?: Yes
Reserved Room: Standard, low level floor
Upgraded To: 47th floor deluxe room, corner view

How It Happened:

I've tried the $20 trick before (non Vegas) with mixed results. Both times were in Niagara Falls, no upgrade at the Doubletree but a mild upgrade at the Mariott. I was a little nervous those times, but I felt more comfortable now. I folded up the $20 between my license and creditcard before I approached the counter. Clerk asked my name and pulled up my information. Before he even asked for my ID, I asked if there was any way we could at least be upgraded to a non-smoking room with a king bed. I handed him my cards and he immediately saw the $20. He asked if the $20 was for him, I responded "of course" and told him I'd really appreciate anything he could do. He slipped the bill into his pocket like he's done it a hundred times before.

As he was typing we chatted a bit, talked about where we were from, he'd been to Toronto for Caribana before so we talked about that for a little bit too. He kept typing and typing and typing, finally told me that he got us a 47th floor (there's only 52 floors) room with a corner view, asked if that would be OK. I shook his hand and told him again how much we appreciated it. The room was a pretty significant upgrade, too... the standard has two double beds with a 27" TV... ours had leather club chairs, king bed, flat panel LCD, an awesome view but not of times square (that would have been on the other side). The bathroom was HUGE - it was almost bigger than the room we stayed at last time we were in NYC!

We paid $230/nt for the room, roughly $100/nt discounted from the rack rates for the stay. I looked up the room we were given, that would have been another $70/nt more than the room we would have had otherwise. I've heard stories of people being mistreated for booking through priceline, our clerk didn't seem to even notice.

[902linger]

Try iconparking.com as well
Any chance you can leave your car outside the city? A good option might be to leave your car at one of the airports and take cab or transit into town.

Since I was going for work, I didn't mind parking downtown (expensed it). I found a lot about a block away from where we were staying (using nyc.bestparking.com) and payed $132 for 4 nights (compared to parking with the hotel for $50/nt)

[CoffeeAddict]

Thanks much for the detailed report 902!!!
I think i'm going to try
I've greased the wheels a few different times but never with hotels before. I've just used charms to get my way I'm staying at the Sheraton this weekend so I'll let you guys know if the $20 trick works there anyway.

[x5-452]

Can you give me an idea what the temperature is like during November?
Were planning on going there in the 2nd week of November.

Thanks!

[CoffeeAddict]

Just got back from NYC and I'm exhausted!
I've got some restaurant reviews for you all but for now just wanted to give a brief update on the $20 trick at the Sheraton New York Towers. Didn't get anyone that looked agreeable to the trick but the guy I got at the front desk was very friendly. I talked it up with him a bit and basically just asked very nicely if there was anything he could do to put us in a nice king size bed. He told me that if I wanted to take a smoking room that he could put us up in a king size bed on the 47th floor (of 50 floors) on the club level. I said sure and the room was small but clean and the view was north onto Central park! It was absolutely fantastic.

Under priceline this is considered a 4-star hotel but i'd probably rate it a 3.5 star at best. Nothing about the service or anything was bad but the room was not up to the strict standards of a 4-star.

Having said that I wouldn't hesitate to go back to that hotel. Location was awesome! Corner of 7th ave/53rd st. Above a central subway line, blocks from Times Square and yet outside of it, blocks to central park and the TimeWarner Center. Blocks from 5th ave shopping and Madison etc etc etc.

[CoffeeAddict]

Just updated the where to eat section at the top of this thread.

Also to answer the question about weather in NYC in Nov. It's pretty much the same as here in Toronto. Maybe a bit warmer and sometimes a bit snowier. It's not like you need a North Face parka in one extreme or just a tshirt in the other extreme.

[daisyweird]

I am thinking about hopping on a Greyhound bus from Toronto to Buffalo then catching a flight to New York city. I wonder how I can get from Greyhound station to the airport. Should I take a cab? If so, how much would it cost?

Thanks.

For what it's worth, here's what I'd do. Get someone to take you to the Buffalo airport. If not, take the bus to Buffalo (Greyhound - From Toronto is $36.00 Canadian return) and book a flight on JetBlue for $79US each way.

It might be slightly more than bussing from Toronto but you don't spend 20 hours getting there/back either.

I have taken the Greyhound bus to Buffalo before and there are shuttles to the airport. I booked a flight on JetBlue's website for this weekend. The cost was $79 each way per person. Some days they even have $49 each way specials.

You land at JFK. You can take the subway or local train to downtown Manhattan for about $10 each way.

[Kali]

I am thinking about hopping on a Greyhound bus from Toronto to Buffalo then catching a flight to New York city. I wonder how I can get from Greyhound station to the airport. Should I take a cab? If so, how much would it cost?

Thanks.

Hi, I did a similiar trip last summer. I took a bus to Buffalo and then flew Jetblue to New York. After a few days in New York, I took a $15 bus to Boston and then flew Jetblue back to Buffalo. From there, I took a bus back to Toronto. The whole trip cost me less money than taking a Greyhound bus or train to New York in about half the amount of time.

If you have time and not a lot of luggage, the Buffalo transit buses aren't a bad choice.

It is only $1.75 US for an express bus to/from the airport. The bus stop is right outside the Greyhound station and it takes you right to the airport. I took this bus on my way to New York. I believe there is room on the bus for luggage, just don't bring a whole set!

http://www.nfta.com/metro/airport.asp

I took a taxi from BUF to the Greyhound bus station in downtown Buffalo for about $26 or $27 US.

I needed to take a cab because if I took the transit bus, I wouldn't have made the earliest bus back to Toronto and the next bus was another 5 hours later in the middle of the night. I was a female travelling alone so I didn't want to wait that long at the bus station because it didn't look like the safest area to be in at that time of night.

Hope this helps!

P.S. I just looked at the Jetblue website and there is a new promotion. Buffalo to New York from only $30 US one way! After tax, it is only $80 US for a roundtrip ticket! A return greyhound ticket is about $46 CAD. So in total from Toronto, it would be around $130 CAD or so.

This is an awesome deal!

Here is the info from the Jetblue site:

Between New York City and Buffalo - $30
Fare requires a 7-day advance purchase. Tickets must be purchased on or before September 21, 2007. Travel must take place on or after September 26, 2007. Travel must be completed by November 14, 2007. Travel must take place on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and/or Saturday.

http://www.jetblue.com/traveldeals/

[CoffeeAddict]

That's a very good, detailed post on flying cheap to NYC
That's a lotta transportation though
What was the total travel time from door to door?
If it's less than 4 hours one way it could be tempting but i'm guessing with the toronto -> buffalo bus it's closer to 5 hours?

[Kali]

That's a very good, detailed post on flying cheap to NYC
That's a lotta transportation though
What was the total travel time from door to door?
If it's less than 4 hours one way it could be tempting but i'm guessing with the toronto -> buffalo bus it's closer to 5 hours?

I wish it was 4 hrs! It was more like 6 1/2 hrs from when I left my downtown condo to go to the bus terminal.

I took a Coach Canada bus at 6:45 am to Buffalo and arrived at around 10:15 am at the downtown Greyhound station there. The bus was over an hour late because it got held up at immigration because of a very suspicious looking and acting passenger. As soon as I saw him on my bus, I kinda swore under my breath because I had a feeling we would be held up.

Thankfully, I still had time to spare and was able to take a transit bus to the airport for my 11:40 am flight. I got to JFK at 1 pm.

I selected the earliest bus to Buffalo because I wanted to give myself a little extra time in case I needed it and it turned out that that was a good idea because of the border delay.

[CoffeeAddict]

Well 5.5 hours minus your delay isn't TOO bad
I think i'd still dish out the extra money and fly out though
It just sucks that such a short hop flight requires so much time and money relative to say flying to europe

[daisyweird]

Hi Kali,

Thanks for your reply and the detailed information. It's very helpful!

[CoffeeAddict]

Just made some minor updates to the first 3 posts including Kali's excellent post on how to do the bus/plane thing from toronto -> nyc

[willyxjai]

Me and my friends are planning to have a trip to the Big Apple. What we're gonna do I've still haven't figured out yet but its most likely gonna be shopping, checking out tourist attractions and perhaps the nightlife. Any recommendations on the malls/outlets I should check out? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard theres a pretty big mall where they have ArmaniExchange Banana Republic oulet.