Cheapest way to do New York in December?

[wherewillwegoto]

Looking into a 5 day trip to New York but direct flights seem to be making it very expensive, really don't want to change flights if it can be helped.

We wanted to see the Christmas decorations, so earliest would be last week of November I think.

I've never been before, so no idea what would be a good area to stay, for easy access to main tourist attractions and shops.

Ideally looking for under a thousand pounds each in total incl return flights and accommodation.

If not we'll be going to the canary Islands for some winter sun. So again grateful for hotel recommendations if anyone has been and stayed somewhere they'd recommend for a couple, no children.

Look at BA Holiday Finder. 6 nights from 23 November, flights and 4* hotel, £787 pp.

or 5* hotel and flights for £915 for 5 nights.

£1K each should be easy to find. Look at BA holidays.

Just to caution you though, you need a lot of funds just to feed yourself and thats before you do any proper sight seeing and restaurant eating.

Simple breakfast of e.g filled bagel, fruit pot, coffee and fresh orange from a take away deli was anything up to $20pp.

Sit down evening meal of burger/chips/salad in a proper bar with a couple of drinks was $50 pp.

Hi OP. In case it's any help, we've been staying at what is now hotel Kixby and used to be Hotel Metro since 2004. It's a great location, not as icky as times square and very clean and modern and comfortable.

You won’t get anything for under £1K per person, I just checked. It’s the busiest time of the year. I would go in November - it’s still nice being there in the run up to December and a bit less expensive. Going in January would be even cheaper. Be prepared to take lots of spending money for meals, attractions and tips.

We went in second week of December last year - we booked it through Virgin Holidays when they had a sale and stayed in a hotel in Brooklyn with breakfast included that saved us loads of money. It was definitely under £1000 each. We stayed four nights. We filled up massively on breakfast and didn’t go for any fancy meals… we still had an amazing time! I’d love to go back and do a proper foodie NYC trip but as it was our first time we were excited enough by the sights and Xmas spirit!

Is mcdonalds cheap in new York - is it the same price as in the UK?

Could just eat there and enjoy everything else. A lady on another thread suggested something similar to me x

December isn’t cheap and it’s one of the busiest times.
We went last November the first week for our 29th wedding anniversary, there was Christmas decorations up.
We booked our trip in the BA sale and got a great deal, 4 nights 4 people just over £2600.

We stayed in the Hyatt Gerald square New York. Turned up late at night and thought it wasn’t the best location but it was amazing. Apart from train to and from airport we walked everywhere. Think we did 105 miles in 4 days. 😆

We went last winter and it was amazing. I can't tell you exactly what it cost as we went to Central America for a week and stopped off in NYC on the way back. It was actually a good value way to do it, for 2.5k pp we got return flights to Central America, a group tour including accommodation and some meals and accommodation in NYC. So if there's somewhere else long haul you want to visit and can transfer in NYC, it's worth looking at (but only if you have the extra time and money).

Just note that the Rockefeller Centre tree lighting isn't until Wednesday 3rd December so if you go last week of November you'll miss that.

I'd suggest you stay in Midtown but not right on Times Square. Look at Radio City Apartments. Also consider getting a quote from an agent as it can be cheaper than booking yourself.

McDonalds is much more expensive in the US than UK - I was shocked by how much it cost.

How much would a big mac meal - about 6.50 here be, do you think?

Or a happy meal, about 3.50

Only if you can remember x

It was a few years ago I went, but it was easily double the UK prices.

Oh wow 😳

And the uk prices are already insane! 😭

The end of November may be expensive because of Thanksgiving. Though I did fly over on Thanksgiving once. I don't think there was much in the way of Christmas decorations on the shop windows etc at that time, though Macy's did have a Christmas shop open.

I assume the £1k each is just for flights and accomodation? Eating out and drinking in NYC is brutally expensive.

As an indicator we had dinner at a fairly old school Italian in the East Village last year- we shared tomato bruscetta, had a pasta dish each, a glass of wine for me and one beer for Mr Monkey and we shared ice cream for desert. The bill was 120 dollars.

Although portions were huge!

I have to say, NYC wasn't as expensive as I expected. For the meal you describe I'd expect that to cost about £70 in my nearest city (not London). 120 dollars is £88. Taking the poor exchange rate into account, that's really not bad IMO. We had a bagel in the morning (about 10 dollars), and weren't hungry until mid-afternoon when we'd get a snack and then have a proper dinner. One night we met friends who live there and went to happy hour. It was about 20 dollars for a burger and a cocktail.

As one or two people have said, getting a hotel with breakfast is a good way to go. Otherwise, you're talking at least $20 (including a tip) per person for a very modest breakfast.

@owlexpress that was before the 20% tip

Still. I'd tip around 10% for a sit-down meal even in the UK so I don't mind that so much. The tipping culture has got out of control though, asking for 20% tip at Starbucks..! (It is optional at takeaway places though).

We found the prices comparable to eating out in touristy places in UK to be honest!

Christmas decorations only come out after Thanksgiving and that’s the last Thursday in November this year.

i would go a week later.

NYC is expensive, if it is a dream for you than do it, I personally wasn’t impressed the two times I was there (2 weeks for work and DD’s wish when we were in the US and she turned 16)

I checked but it comes up with £1063 pp.

We'd be flying from Manchester. It's probably more expensive.

It is a dream, but we can't afford over £1000.

I’m in NYC now. McDonald’s is $15 for a Big Mac meal - so about £11. A slice of pizza is cheap!