I posted a recap of my NYC trip on Friday, after a fun vacation. I had a blast and saw lots of things that I really wanted to see. I ate myself silly ( I swear I gained like 20 lbs on that 5 day trip alone. Portion sizes in the States are alarming and I always take them as a challenge ).
That being said, I’m so glad to be home, and I’m ever thankful for home. Something about travel or even just week long vacations make me appreciate “home” (my dogs, my boyfriend, my daily routine, Vancouver) so much.
Now I’m left with the expensive aftermath of the city. I’m happy to report that I didn’t spend as much as I thought I would, which really doesn’t mean much.
Mr. CBB asked: “What did you find to cost the most while you were a tourist in NYC? What would you do differently next time to save some Cash$$?”
These are definitely good questions and I will touch on them as soon as I break down my budget.
So that was my NY budget. I didn’t note that the exchange rates probably cost me around $50. So I spent almost $2300 on this trip.
Not bad if you ask me!
In a pie chart form, this is what it looked like:
As you can see, shopping, food, flight and hotel all cost the most and around the same amount of money.
Food
When I say food, I mean food and alcohol. If we didn’t drink, we would have spent maybe half (or less) of that.
Back to Mr. CBB’s question, the most expensive thing (compared to Vancouver) was alcohol. When you ask for a double drink, they double the price of the drink (for the most part). We tried to go to restaurants/bars off of the main streets, at which point they were a little less expensive but still fairly pricey.
Other than that, we’re used to high prices of everything in BC, so the prices weren’t much of a shock. Food was comparable and, of course, clothes were cheaper. As they always are in the US.
We didn’t get to eat amazing food because there was too much to do and all the restaurants that I was told I must visit ended up being the opposite side of Manhattan than wherever we were.
You could probably visit NYC very cheaply on the food front if you didn’t drink and just ate street food. We had free breakfast at the hotel so that helped a lot.
Flight
For flying across the continent, the flight wasn’t a terrible price. However, Delta Airlines sucks so I wouldn’t spend more than $100 on a flight with them ever again.
Hotel
To save some cash, we stayed in the cheapest hotel we could find that wasn’t a hostel or seedy looking. So we stayed in a Best Western in Queens. It wasn’t horrible and we were close to a few subway stations so it took about 40 minutes to get into Manhattan on the train in the morning.
Transportation
When we got to Newark (I don’t know why we flew into Newark – probably because it was cheaper), we had no idea how to get to our hotel, so instead of finding cheaper transportation we took a tour bus to Manhattan and then took the subway.
For the rest of our vacation we bought a 7 day subway pass. It was a good investment – about $30 for Canadians (exchange rate, etc) and the subway systems are super, super easy to use and to follow.
We got lost a couple of times but it wasn’t that much of a hassle, because we were never on a deadline to get anywhere.
We also took a couple of cabs to get to and from some places which cost us around $50 each all together.
New York Pass
It doesn’t look like we spent much on attractions but that’s because of the New York Pass. It was a great deal and allowed us to go to so many attractions without having to pull out cash or credit cards.
We went to the wax museum, Ripley’s, the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty (ferry), Ellis Island, and a whole bunch of other places without having to pay for it directly (NY Pass took care of it).
So I would do that again if I went to NY as a first time visitor.
Shopping
Of course, shopping in the US is substantially cheaper than shopping here. I thought I would want to buy a nice bag in the US but I didn’t find anything I wanted. I still managed to spend a whole bunch of money. I have a lot to show for it which is good.
At first, we had a hard time finding places where we wanted to shop – there were a lot of really cheap stores, like H&M and Forever 21, and a lot of really high end stores, but not many in the middle in the main areas.
We also could only really shop in the evening because we didn’t want to carry around bags all day.
Clearly we ended up shopping a lot and I got a LOT of good deals. Blouses that were marked down from $80 and jackets on sale.
Overall, I think the cost was reasonable for NYC. If I go again (when?) I will spend a lot less. I won’t shop as much, I’ll avoid alcohol and I’ll probably stay in a hostel.
Do you think $2300 is too much for a week long vacation?
I don’t think it’s too much, if you have a good time, then you shouldn’t regret the money spent. We spent a LOT on our Kauai vacation, and at times I regret it, but it just taints the memory..
What I liked best about this was the mention of American portion sizes at restaurants…I knew it! I’ve told my wife that I think they’re bigger than they used to be and that they explain why we’re all so freakin’ fat… we really shovel it in, haha! Thanks for confirming my portion-size suspicion!
Wow! looks like you had fun and were able to track spending, so that’s awesome! I wish i was as organized as you to monitor where the dollars go! great job! i do think $2,300 is a lot for a trip (i did new zealand for 5 weeks for under $4,400 with flights, but that was backpacking on the cheap). if you had budgeted for that amount, then it’s fine, but if you went waayyy over then it’s not-so-good. I think you could have cut down a lot, but hey – you only live once, it was your first time there and you had a blast, so who cares!
I hate how huge portion sizes are! I’ve never finished a plate anywhere I’m pretty sure, but some restaurants don’t allow you to share meals! I won’t lie…$2300 is a lot of money! I would budget about 3k for all 5 of us (me, husband, 3 kids) for a 5 day trip to NYC, but I also wouldn’t have eaten out much at all or have shopped. I would have been sightseeing mostly. Buuuut I also didn’t just get a ridiculous raise! 🙂 You definitely deserved to live it up in the Big Apple! 🙂 Glad you had a good time!
I was wondering how you stayed for 5 days and spent less than 500 on a hotel-and then I saw it, you stayed in Queens! Glad you had such a fun trip and indulged yourself a bit 🙂
I don’t think any amount is too much for a vacation as long as I think it’s worth it. I’m not much for visiting big cities but I do want to go see the Statue of Liberty and the WTC Memorial. Glad you had a good time.
Sounds like you had a great time! NYC is a place I haven’t been, but plan on visiting at some point in my life.
I’m still looking forward to going to NYC someday. I’ll probably be like those Amish people starring in amazement like in that new reality show Breaking Amish. $2300 for vacation is nothing. We budget $3K to $4K every year because we absolutely love taking trips!
Sounds like you enjoyed your time in NYC. What did you think of Jamaica? Typically, tourists don’t usually stay in Queens, or if they do, it’s not usually in Jamaica.
Wow. $2300 for 5 days. That’s way more than we would typically spend on a vacation. We aim for $200-250/day for the both of us for most trips. Sometimes we don’t quite hit that target, but a lot of the time we do.
$2300 for just you? That seems high to me, but as mentioned previously, there is NO value in regretting spending money!
As long as you can afford it, or stayed with what you budgeted for it then there’s no problem at all. My wife and I went on a cruise last year and I am sure that some would think that we spent entirely too much on the trip. But, we ended up coming in under what we had allocated and we have lifelong memories. It does not surprise me that portion sizes are bigger here in the US…I think we could cut them by 1/3 and still be more than enough.
That sounds like a pretty good budget. I’ll definitely have to look at that when I eventually go on a trip to NYC too!
It does seem a bit high for just one person for a few days in NYC. I think when I went it was just under $1000 CAD. But we had a huge group of 6 or 7 people. And we drove to keep costs down. Also, we stayed in a motel in New Jersey but close to the subway station so we could hop on and off.
WOW! I won’t lie $2300 is more money than I’d be willing to shell out to go to New York. I’ve travelled from India to Iceland and many other places around the world for a fraction of the cost. Most times for 3 weeks at a go and was treated like a king. It really depends on where you want to go and the cost of the flights. There was one thing I never did was book from a travel agent. I did it all on-line. I also ate with the locals or cooked in self catered apartments while on vacation which I found to be the cheapest yet I ate well. It was dead expensive in Norway so I just didn’t drink much but in other places it was dirt cheap. You don’t go all the way to Thailand to drink Guinness you have the local beer as the import drinks will cost you more. Money wise Spain I could get 2 weeks for $130 quid and you can get a rental car for less than $100 pound a week and you could go off driving around and it would cost hardly anything but you didn’t care where you stayed. It wasn’t a swanky hotel but for 2 weeks you are there it’s no big deal, you don’t live there. It’s not like you are going to bring your mates down and say, oh look at this. At the end of the day a trip can cost as little or as much as you want depending on your budget and whether you want to stick to it or not. If it’s a vacation of a lifetime then do what your heart and budget desires. For me I had travelled so much that the spending less and getting more was easier once I got to know the locals and planned out my trips which helped. I did all my research on-line otherwise it was a waste sitting by the swimming pool doing nothing. hmm now I might have to write a blog post lol. Thanks for answering my question! Cheers Mr.CBB
I think it sounds like you guys did great! $2300 is pretty good for a five day trip in my opinion! I really want to take my husband to New York (he’s never been!) around New Years since we both have that week off. I’ve never heard of New York pass so I’m glad you guys shared the info. How did you get a hotel for 5 days for less than $500?!
I was thinking of doing that airbnb thing…
oh duh just saw the hotel portion, must have skimmed that part!
Considering you were in NYC, I don’t think spending that much is out of line. I remember the first time I visited NYC for work and I had to expense everything. I thought they would get rejected by HR because of how much everything was but they said I was pretty frugal for the time I stayed there.
I don’t think it is two bad if you only take one or two vacations a year and make a decent salary! Sounds like you had an awesome time!
NY is on of the most expensive cities in the world. So you spent a very reasonable amount. Next time look into apartment rentals. You can find a nice apartment in Manhattan for $125 a night. I want to see what you bought. 🙂 Oh and which stores?
No! You did awesome!! Nice job on the flights in particular I think when I went it was way more expensive.
Wow, I’m having a bit of sticker shock. It is a lot of money, but it was a long trip, you traveled quite a distance, and New York is very expensive. I went on a 3-day weekend to Toronto last weekend and my husband and I together spent $1200, which I thought was rather a lot. I’m surprised you mentioned the exchange rates – we barely noticed them as there is less than a 1% difference between the US and Canadian dollars, right? We used US$ cash at a 1:1 exchange during our trip and there were only a few cents of adjustment on our credit card purchases.
I think your assessment is good if you were to repeat the trip regarding the alcohol and shopping. You did well to stay in Queens – that’s what we did when we were there last summer – but I wonder if a hostel would be less expensive.
I have no idea why, but I really thought you lived in the east, not in BC. Vancouver happens to be one of my favorite cities ever. We love visiting there.
That said, for a 5 day trip across the country, I don’t think $2,300 is bad at all, especially given how expensive New York is. Now, if you’d spent that much on 5 days in Seattle (without going to El Gaucho), I’d think there was a problem. But as long as you had a good time, and you feel it was worth it, then it was.
I actually had this conversation about food portion prices with a friend the other day. After ordering two dishes at two different nyc restaurants (and we were still hungry even after the second!) we both agreed that while portion sizes might be large elsewhere in the US, they definitely are not in nyc! 🙂
That seems like a lot for me, but I don’t really go on vacations per say, I tend towards weekend trips. Althought for my honeymoon, I’m spending a week in Cuba for over three grand, so $2300 for a week in NYC sounds very reasonable to me!
I was going to say you got an amazing deal for staying in NYC, but now I see that your hotel was not actually in the city. Hotel prices can get crazy there. I don’t think the costs were outrageous. $500 is way more than I would spend on shopping on a trip, but I also don’t know what shopping is like in Canada. So if you were getting good deals I can see how that makes sense. I don’t remember noticing prices being a lot higher when I visited Toronto before, but perhaps Vancouver is different. Glad you had a nice trip!
I don’t know that it truly “cost” $2,300. If you were going to buy those clothes at home anyway and you received a discounted price, didn’t you just transfer your clothing costs from elsewhere in your budget? Really, your “vacation” cost was closer to $1,800, which sounds fantastic.
NYC is so damn expensive! I don’t know how people do it, haha. I guess if you’re a local you can find some cheap spots but still. Hotels are ridiculously overpriced, if you ever go back look on craigslist or vrbo.com for an apartment rental. You can save a ton of money there.
I have quite a few friends that have lived/currently living all over the place so I visit them and get a little vacation out of it and a free place to stay. That way I only have to pay for flight and activities, it’s saved me a ton of money and I’ve had some awesome trips! Japan, NY, SF, Philly, etc. None of my friends are in Canada though!
You got a good price on the flight! I think Brian and I paid a bit more when we flew there. We paid a bit less for food, but we had an apartment, so we were able to cook and have breakfast at “home”.
That price seems very reasonable for a week in NYC. Everyone has their limit of what is ‘cheap’ or ‘worth it’ right? Seems like you had a great trip 🙂
Having said that, I think you did great for air fare especially since flying from one side of Canada to the other is prob $800 give or take $100. Its basically the same distance and you got the flight for half b/c you went to the US. How’s that for fair right?
Hubby and I went to NYC 2 years ago for a week with friends and loved it. Can’t wait to go back. For us a HUGE money saver was renting an apartment. The total cost/night was only 150.00 divided by 2 couples. It had a kitchen so we could cook some of our meals as well. The apartment was on the upper east side on a quite little street, it was nice to get away from the midtown insanity at the end of the day. Something to think about if you ever go back!