Affordable short break to New York in October?

[notmydog]

Does anyone have some tips for us for an affordable short break to New York? Thinking about going in the October half-term. 3 nights. The cheapest we could find so far was £1800 for the three of us (DD will be 9), with accommodation in Manhattan and direct flights. This is through Expedia, and I honestly don't want to use them due to a very bad experience a few years ago. Should we book now or wait and see if any specials come up? Any tips or advice much appreciated!!

you tend to find the best deals out of school hols. what about booking the flights and then staying in somewhere on airbandb website which tend to be cheaper. its a long way to go for 3 nights when you factor in the jet lag. we went to Barcelona for 5 nights for less than this for 5 of us.

The price you,ve been quoted sounds about right I am sorry to say. also you will need to factor in costs of food as no meals are included.

you will also need to pay for an ESTA which is fourteen dollars US per person and is valid for two years.

Sometimes BA do a sale so their website is worth looking at now. For three days it's a long way to go having done that trip myself for that length of time.

short term apartments lets are illegal in NYC so you would need to look at a hotel in any event. Do not therefore use any rental apartment site for he manhattan area as many are scams.

Try booking flights separately and looking for a hotel on Hotwire.com. The secret hotels can be absolute bargains but obviously it is a risk.

The quote you have is good value but.... It is Expedia. I have had a bad experience too. New York is amazing!!! It is not Barcelona and you cannot compare the two. Utterly different. However, if you went on Bank Holiday Monday in August you would pay about the same but go with BA and get 4star mid town hotel with breakfast. Much better in my view. I would do 4 nights if you can and definitely book an early flight out and late flight back to maximise time there. Essential for a 3 night stay. August is better value in NY, always.

MMM my comparison was taking into account the time zone effect. if not OP then her 9 yr old will really feel jet lagged and not sure how much you can take in in such a short time. of course the two are very different cities obviously but there is no jet lag going into Europe. there most definitely is flying to NY and kids cope less well ime.

We flew from Glasgow and were only there a day and a half (before flying onto San Francisco) and packed in loads, didn't want our only view of NY to be the airport. Jet lag didnt affect us or our boys that much but I think we were just so excited to be there! (obviously it did on the way back from LA to Glasgow via NY again!). So 3 days would be a luxury for me, in fact we are planning 3 days (without the boys this time) in December. Maybe look at 4 if we could stretch to it now though.

I think the jet lag gets you when you return. You can adjust sleep patterns on the first night in NY fairly easily. I would definitely go for 4 nights at a slightly cheaper time of year. You get more for your money that way and NY fairly quiet in late August/early Sept.