Remaining days in NYC

NYC Checklist

1. Central Park

2. Lots of Shopping 

3. New York Public Library

4. Walk ALL over the freaking place 

5. Eat Halal food from one of those street vendors...definitely eat the white sauce (sounds weird, I know)

6.Arsenal v. Red Bulls Game 

7. PIZZA

8. Jazz 55 Bar, go early it's tiny and gets packed

Logistics

Okay, here's the boring post with the numbers and the explanations and all that other good stuff.

Flight:

A nice trick to getting a cheaper flight, especially if you are booking a multi-destination flight is to buy two one-way tickets. Since we were booking from SLC>NYC and DC>SLC and booking a multi-destination flight was crazy expensive we did just that.

I always keep a number in my head of my hard line on spending for a flight, the absolute most I will spend on a flight without thinking it's ridiculous. Make sure it's a reasonable number, otherwise you might be in for disappointment. For us, and this trip, we both wanted to be under $500. Another good thing about buying two one-way tickets is that you can give yourself time between purchasing and you don't get hit in the wallet all at once.

So, away we went to Kayak to search. This can take days, don't get discouraged and don't buy right away unless it's a killer deal and you absolutely won't find better.  If you are going to a big city with a ton of close by airports be willing to fly into any of them to get a better deal. With most travel search engines you can check flights into nearby airports as well. For instance, flying out of Washington, D.C. I looked at flights leaving from Baltimore since that is also close by.

Anyway, with that strategy this is where we ended up:
To NYC-
Route:
SLC>IAH (Houston)
IAH>LGA (New York City, LaGuardia)
Airline: United
Cost per Ticket: $184.50 (including taxes and fees)

Returning from DC-
Route:
DCA>PHX (Phoenix)
PHX>SLC
Airline: US Airways
Cost per Ticket: $172 (including taxes and fees)

Grand Total: $356.50!! (I was pretty happy)

Oh yes, something I found myself hitting Google up for was cost of Taxi from the airport to the financial district: $32. Although, we arrived around 10 PM and the traffic was light. Also, if you're not in a hurry you can also take the subway.

Train:

OKay, so...maybe you're now wondering how we got from NYC to DC?

We took a train! Which was way more comfortable than any greyhound bus I have ever been on. Supposedly it's faster and involves less traffic too. If you book early, "Saver tickets" were $49. They go fast, book early!

All I have to say about the train experience is that I would definitely do it again. Way more leg room, way more space to put your stuff and it smells better. If you are able to, bring a blanket because brrrrrrr it was freezing in there. Also, there's a food car so you can eat and drink tasty things while you envision your journey to Hogwarts or whatever.

Hotel:

Because I have family in Virginia we stayed there for free, but in New York we had to book a hotel. And let me tell you, it's crazy expensive. Normally the first thing that we look at is hostels. I know that here in the US they have a bad rap, but Mike and I have had some really good experiences and you aren't going to be spending your whole time in a room while you're traveling so does it really matter if you have the nicest hotel in the city?

We found out pretty quickly that Hostels in NYC are not all that cheap. Especially when you're travelling with 3 people. It was around the same price for us to split nice hotel room so we looked around and ended up in the Hilton Millennium in the Financial District. For the time we were travelling it was going to be about $180-200 per person for the 3 nights at a hostel. We ended up paying $220 each to stay at the Hilton, so we went for that option.



What are your tips/tricks for spending less on travel? Let me know!

Day 1: Things Said

Hello there!

One day I might actually get Mike to use this blog. For now, you're stuck with me!

Day one was pretty much just flights and then a late night arrival in the big apple...BUT...I sat behind a father with his two toddler travelling without mom and there were definitely some hilarious things said that I have to share with you.

IAH>LGA

Most of these things were said because the dad was worried that the girls would make a lot of noise and disturb other passengers.

"We're still gonna party, just not that hard. Alright ladies?"

"Keep it cool, come on...we're the coolest people here!"

And then unfortunately...

"Did you just let air out of your butt butt?"

One of them totally did.

The other interesting thing about this flight was that I sat next to a 12 year old from a tiny town in Idaho who was going to a NYC for the first time. I love kids because everything is so new and exciting for them. As we got close to landing she was glued to the window and kept pointing at things and asking what they were. I wished it wasn't so dark outside so that she could see the New York City skyline from above, but I almost wonder if all the twinkling lights made it more magical.

What was the best/worst flight experience you have ever had? Did you sit next to somebody interesting?