Spending money for a week in New York?

[Feofjwonxoaks]

Well 6 days. My partner and I, no children. We'd like to book onto some tours etc. As well. Would need some sort of subway pass.
Want to try new places to eat but i don't think we'll be eating in restaurants for every meal, probably some quick takeaway stuff too.
Wondering if £300 each (obviously converted) would be enough?

me and my DD (2 people) £1000 in one week. we did empire state etc and bars, but not a lot of eating out. it is super expensive!

for metro ticket you can just use your debit card as a kind of tap on tap off thing. it works out cheaper than getting a weekly subway card generally as the max it will charge you over a week is the weekly rate. Look into it. We bought metro tickets for the week but it wasn't worth it!

remember tipping is crazy expensive. Also remember you might want to get an uber from the airport (about £55 including a tip) and so on.

everything is madness.

Even in supermarkets things are really crazy expensive (£6 loaf of bread, £5 bag of apples). Yes some stuff can be bought a little more modestly but it all adds up.

A beer is about $10.Try for happy hours in bars. A bit more reasonable. Find a jazz bar with live jazz and a happy hour.

you will spend a lot.

oh and beware that the airport on the way back is criminally expensive. they were charging about £6.50 for a large bottle of water. They have water fountains though if you can find them!

for statue of liberty you can just pay about a few dollars for the staten island ferry return. it's from a distance but you won't regret not paying so much!

one more tip - get a Starling bank account as there are no fees for debit card usage or cash withdrawals. highly recommend

Also Bryant Park have free music nights and activities. Depends on when you go to how many are free. We went to an open air concert with loads of eclectic music. It was amazing!

We got a cheap blanket and took a picnic that we made in the hotel room after going to target! It was random but lots of fun!

This thread is hilarious - with everyone pumping up the spend amount more and more to outdo each other

Bottom line - no, £300 for a week will not be enough.

For anyone stressed about tipping this is the guide I followed when we went back in April, don't let it stress you out! Also if you have a meal/tab for drinks then on the receipt it will calculate the tip at 3 rates e.g. 15/20/25% and you just choose one and leave the amount stated.

We went in August and after reading up on it (Facebook NYC groups are amazing).

Based on reading we thought 15-20% appeared the norm. We found if you pay by card, in restaurants, then the machine gives you choice. It was usually the 10%, 15%, 20% or 25%.

To be honest we never chose 25%! It took a while to get used to but we started basing it on our experience. Go to Five Guys, you get up to order and then get up to collect. They got less as there wasn't table service

We went to a mall and had lunch, it was like Bluewater etc. Choose what you want and take your tray, no tip.

Kids wanted a bubble tea, was sooo much money but their choice. There was an option tip jar. The servers were great so I put a couple of dollars in.

I think it gets easier as you go along. If you want your room cleaned in a hotel. Changer the sign and leave 5-10 dollars. I forgot the first time and they took all the soap and toilet roll! Got more from reception but learnt a lesson. We then turn the sign to do not disturb and gave £10 on the last day.

Tipping is difficult and I think we found as British people it's sometimes embarrassing and then we are uncomfortable. Some of our tips were bigger, some people really make your experience better!

We mostly paid by card, Chase but apparently Revolut is good too. We needed more cash than I expected. Thinks like tips for the maid, also my car didn't work buying the week long metro card. Luckily I had enough cash for 5 of us at $30ish each!

Have a lovely trip, it's a great city. We go to London a lot and thought it would be similar, it's nothing like it!

Not sure the OP is coming back which is a shame as I feel people are trying to be helpful, the bottom line is that even if you go a strict budget holiday £300 is not going to touch the sides, there is every chance over the next week the £ will reach parity with the dollar so £300 will buy you even less, when are you actually going OP? You will need a minimum of 1k each to cover 6 days

£2000 hopefully come back with change. X

£300 each???
You must be joking
I'd say nearer £1000-1500 each thats without going to the shops!!!

"This thread is hilarious - with everyone pumping up the spend amount more and more to outdo each other

Bottom line - no, £300 for a week will not be enough"

@VroomVrooom you're easily pleased. Did you read any of the posts that said it can be done?

"Bottom line" 🤣

@FlounderingFruitcake it was Iguana a few blocks north. You're right though I forgot about sales tax, a week there and I still kept forgetting to add it on!

I really disagree with this, tipping is entirely optional. We found zero pressure to tip at all when there, across all types of services. Some we did (maid service in advance, restaurants/bars where amounts were suggested on the receipt, and chucked change into jars on counters in cafes).

But I didn't tip hotel reception, bad restaurant service, takeout places with no function to. No one batted an eye lid. Have to say on the whole the customer service is leagues above the U.K., and felt very genuine. Even on the street or at attractions, people were willing and happy to give you their best tips and ideas with no expectation of reward.

As a PP said though the levels of homelessness are horrifying. I live in central london and was still shocked. Whole areas of tents set up around times square, begging on every subway carriage, approached in Central Park etc. also and awful lot of vulnerable people walking around taking clothes off, talking to themselves, passed out in the street etc. really sad.

Side note... please be careful around Times Square. It's a hot spot for pick pocketing and I know several people who have had scary moments. Obviously don't over think you are there to have fun but just be aware!

We were literally shouted at in a bar by a server who didn’t think we’d left enough of a tip for a couple of beers, completely untrue they think tips are optional.

As a PP said though the levels of homelessness are horrifying. I live in central london and was still shocked. Whole areas of tents set up around times square, begging on every subway carriage, approached in Central Park etc. also and awful lot of vulnerable people walking around taking clothes off, talking to themselves, passed out in the street etc. really sad.

That was not our experience in august this year. Yes there are high levels of homelessness but and clearly vulnerable people around, but we took the subway everywhere and didn’t find it any more dodgy than London. Ditto Central Park.

Feel a bit sorry for OP who’s probably feeling a bit deflated now. I think we’re all pretty much giving a realistic view though. £300, 6 days, NO!

I meant to bold and italic the first para there 🙄

We went in April this year for 4 days - 2 adults, 2 children stayed in a self catering apartment and didn’t visit any paid attractions except Top of the rock, travelled on the subway. Spent about £1000 on food, shopping, tips and extras such as the occasional Uber. The pound was much stronger then so I would imagine it’s going to cost more now.
re customer service, it was terrible. So sad. I used to live in the states, visited NYC many times and it used to be amazing but now, it’s just horrible. Everyone seemed so angry! It was still a good trip but it’s good to be aware of issues before you go. We didn’t see much homelessness or any crime so we must have been lucky in that respect.

The weak pound basically means you're spending almost twice what you used to - I used to estimate two dollars to the pound. Now a pound buys about $1.10.

There are free museums, central park, Staten Island ferry is free. Taking subway, even just walking. No need for tours. Eating in little India. There are YouTubers who show how to do NY on the cheap. Check it out. Have extra money in bank just incase.

$1.07 officially as of today! And the rate you will actually get will be more like 1:1 e.g. The Post Office is currently giving you 1.02.

It is not the best time to visit states at the moment!

We went in the summer, not just to New York, but also other east coast cities. It's extortionately expensive at the moment. I think things in general, like everywhere, are expensive, but the exchange rate is also terrible. Sorry OP. 😬

We went to the West coast and NY. It was extortionate. I've been on other expensive holidays to other destinations but I didn't mind the money because the holiday was amazing eg Safari in Kenya.

But the US wasn't worth the money. And agree service was bad, not like when I last went many years ago. It's gone downhill and I won't be going back.

We booked a NYC holiday for summer 2020 - obviously didn’t happen and we had the opportunity to rebook for 2021 but decided not to precisely because things were so expensive and we’d had a tough year financially. So we went to Spain instead for 2 weeks and spent probably half of what we would have for 5 days in NYC