telstarbox
Established Member
I've just been to New York for a week with Mrs Telstarbox, so I've put together a few notes mostly on the transport side of things in case it helps anyone else thinking of going there. We were on a bit of a budget not helped by the current £ to $ exchange rate, but we found ways to save on costs as described below. Don't ask me about train classes or unit numbers as I wasn't looking for them 
Flights: We flew with Virgin Atlantic from London Heathrow (LHR) to Newark (EWR) and I would fly with them again. The economy cabin and service was good, with a couple of meals each way (plus more drinks on request) and a good range of entertainment on personal screens. Although I'd heard about long immigration queues to enter the US, it only took us about 45 minutes from leaving the aircraft to the taxi rank. However on the return journey it took about half an hour for check-in and security at Newark Terminal B. We booked the "Go Airlink" shared minibus to/from our hotel - this company has mixed reviews online but the vehicles were on time and they got us there quickly in both directions.
Travel in NYC: a 7-day Unlimited MetroCard worked out as excellent value for the number of trips we made at $32. You can also buy Pay As You Go credit for single journeys. Live departure information is shown in the Google Maps app if you have data or WiFi access.* The Staten Island ferry is free and provides good views of the Statue of Liberty and back to Manhattan.
The Subway lines run frequently except late at night. On some lines there are "express" services which miss out some stops served by the "local" service (for example on the west side of Manhattan, the (1) is a local and the (2) and (3) are expresses). In summer the stations are hot and the air-conditioned trains are chilly! Even late at night there were lots of people on trains and stations and overall it felt as safe as London - there are quite a few beggars and buskers on the network but they are harmless.
We used a couple of bus services on Manhattan and Staten Island, which are sometimes quicker if your journey doesn't start or end at a Subway station.
We also took a day trip on the Long Island Rail Road from Penn Station to Syosset. This was a commuter train with comfortable 3 plus 2 seating and has its own fare structure.
Attractions: we partciularly liked the Museum of Modern Art (free on Fridays but busy), Central Park (which feels surprisingly rural in some bits), the MTA Transit Museum (which has a range of historic Subway cars in a disused station) and Williamsburg in Brooklyn.
Other stuff:
"Link NYC" is a free WiFi network provided via hotspots at bus stops and road junctions. Once you've signed in for the first time, your device should automatically pick up the signal whenever you're in range of one and this saves on mobile data (expensive on my phone deal!)
You can download offline maps onto Google Maps, again to save on data.
Our hotel room had a kitchenette - this was good as we got breakfast bits and snacks in the supermarket which helped our money go further.
Drink prices in bars seemed to vary widely even in the same street, although they were generally cheaper away from tourist traps like Times Square.
Tipping expectations seemed to be $1 per drink in bars, or a 15-20% on the overall bill in restaurants.
We used the Monzo card/app which charges no fees for foreign transactions and was accepted everywhere.
Hope this helps someone and let me know if you have any questions!
Flights: We flew with Virgin Atlantic from London Heathrow (LHR) to Newark (EWR) and I would fly with them again. The economy cabin and service was good, with a couple of meals each way (plus more drinks on request) and a good range of entertainment on personal screens. Although I'd heard about long immigration queues to enter the US, it only took us about 45 minutes from leaving the aircraft to the taxi rank. However on the return journey it took about half an hour for check-in and security at Newark Terminal B. We booked the "Go Airlink" shared minibus to/from our hotel - this company has mixed reviews online but the vehicles were on time and they got us there quickly in both directions.
Travel in NYC: a 7-day Unlimited MetroCard worked out as excellent value for the number of trips we made at $32. You can also buy Pay As You Go credit for single journeys. Live departure information is shown in the Google Maps app if you have data or WiFi access.* The Staten Island ferry is free and provides good views of the Statue of Liberty and back to Manhattan.
The Subway lines run frequently except late at night. On some lines there are "express" services which miss out some stops served by the "local" service (for example on the west side of Manhattan, the (1) is a local and the (2) and (3) are expresses). In summer the stations are hot and the air-conditioned trains are chilly! Even late at night there were lots of people on trains and stations and overall it felt as safe as London - there are quite a few beggars and buskers on the network but they are harmless.
We used a couple of bus services on Manhattan and Staten Island, which are sometimes quicker if your journey doesn't start or end at a Subway station.
We also took a day trip on the Long Island Rail Road from Penn Station to Syosset. This was a commuter train with comfortable 3 plus 2 seating and has its own fare structure.
Attractions: we partciularly liked the Museum of Modern Art (free on Fridays but busy), Central Park (which feels surprisingly rural in some bits), the MTA Transit Museum (which has a range of historic Subway cars in a disused station) and Williamsburg in Brooklyn.
Other stuff:
"Link NYC" is a free WiFi network provided via hotspots at bus stops and road junctions. Once you've signed in for the first time, your device should automatically pick up the signal whenever you're in range of one and this saves on mobile data (expensive on my phone deal!)
You can download offline maps onto Google Maps, again to save on data.
Our hotel room had a kitchenette - this was good as we got breakfast bits and snacks in the supermarket which helped our money go further.
Drink prices in bars seemed to vary widely even in the same street, although they were generally cheaper away from tourist traps like Times Square.
Tipping expectations seemed to be $1 per drink in bars, or a 15-20% on the overall bill in restaurants.
We used the Monzo card/app which charges no fees for foreign transactions and was accepted everywhere.
Hope this helps someone and let me know if you have any questions!
Last edited:
