Visiting the US (Trip planning)

[metro.cl]

Hi guys, i've been away from this world, been working like crazy and after 2 long years of not having a single day of vacation i'm going to the US for 3 weeks.

I bought the plane tickets from (here) to miami florida (been there like 9 times in my life), so i want to travel around (i'm doing this with my GF) i'll be staying at my dad's flat in miami and using his car :P.

Here are the places we have some advantages to go:

Boston
San Francisco (i've been there once)

There we both have relatives and we can stay at their homes, so we can spend more traveling. The thing is that both places are way to far from FL, so the first help is to know a good place to buy plane tickets inside the US, any tips would be great, we are willing to travel at night or late or in the week.

I want to go to:

NY

Now a good friend of mine told me that if i wanted to travel to NY i could do this, go to Washington, then take a train that goes through philadelphia and leaves you at NY, this trip made a lot of sense for my GF and me, now is there a of how to visit Washington in a smart way? and Philly? for NY i already got books and bla bla.

Adding to all of that, if you know good places to stay would be great. Small hotels would be great for the 3 places and if you know how much they are for a night.

Resume:

How to get cheap tickets to travel
Nice cheap hotels to stay
Must go places
Smart ways to go through the cities.

How you can give me some tips would be really great

Regards

[Serra]

I can't comment much on how to get around on the eastern or western areas, but I found www.hotwire.com to be a good place to go for plane tickets and hotels. They basically sell off rooms and seats that were not booked and going to waste at a good discount. I have stayed in a few hotels for hundreds of dollars less than what I would have been charged through anyone else. The downside though is that you don't get to choose the hotel or airline exactly. They'll give you a map of a small area and say your hotel is in that area, but you don't find out where until you've booked it. Bit annoying, but if you use it at the last minute (when the deals are usually best), then you can save a lot of money (of course, if you're booking a flight for example and it fills up, waiting to the last minute was a bad idea, so it's a bit of a gamble that way).

Hope that helps some.

[shoota]

well metro i live in Tampa which is about four hours from Miami. If you want to go to Busch Gardens (if you like theme parks) we might be able to help, my wife is always getting tickets to go there. Otherwise I would suggest searching hotwire.com, orbitz.com, cheaptickets.com, southwest.com, expedia.com, travelzoo.com, travelocity.com, priceline.com, cheapoair.com, kayak.com, lowfares.com; that should keep you busy. Definitely get up to NY if at all possible. Philly's airport is really great, easy to get in and out of; and Philly is one of America's best places to see our history. Lots to do there, take the Duck tour if you can (http://www.phillytours.us/?event=off...l&offerId=3182) cause it will give you lots of info and it's fun. If i think of anything else i'll come back and post it.

[Dumo]

You can save a lot if staying outside the city (manhattan)

I'm not sure if this ok for you, but its located in safe area and clean room/bed...http://www.hostels.com/hostels/new-y...hing-ymca/4559

Also only 35 minutes to manhattan (NYC) by subway (5 minutes walk) 24 hours.

Other small hotel around Times Square probly will run about $150+ per night. Check around and you probly will get their summer sale rates

From Philly/Boston/DC you can take an Amtrak to NYC...http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten...mtrak/HomePage

[Particle]

For the US market, Hotwire, Expedia, and Travelocity are the most frequently advertised discount plane fare search engines. It's possible to get some good rates. Just try to avoid flights with a connection in Chicago if you can help it. It sort of has a bad reputation. Vegas would probably be fun if you want to travel that far. NYC is always a classic.

[MattiasNYC]

For New York:

If you're considering Flushing (Chinatown "in Queens") just know that it takes a while to get to Manhattan. And the subway system is always under construction, so if you're unlucky you may end up with quite a long ride. It's fine most of the time, but it's a drag at night when you want to go to sleep, and you probably would rather experience the town than spend a bunch of time on a train.

If you're ok with spending a little money I'd look into Long Island City, which is the "first" area in Queens when you leave Manhattan. It's really close to the city, and they have at least 3 new hotels there which I think have pretty decent prices right now. I think my buddy got a nice room with a city view, almost top floor, for about $110 per night. So you could probably get a good price with less of a view and not so high up I'm guessing. The subways there really go to a lot of places too. You get up to northern Queens (Astoria), eastern Queens all the way out to Flushing, south into Brooklyn, and into Manhattan.

There's so much to see in New York that you'll have to narrow it down a bit. What stuff do you want to see the most? Buildings and landmarks? Museums? Music? "Artsy" stuff? Party? Eat? Shop? Look at stupid people?.......

[metro.cl]

Thanks for the info.

I found out this website which lets you rent appartments

http://www.airbnb.com/

I'm not sure where is the best place to stay, but there are a couple of flats for USD 100 / 125 (that from what i've seen is a good price) in the soho area

http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15902?pr...%5Bstate%5D=NY

http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/22911?pr...%5Bstate%5D=NY

Now from what we have been thinking, we will go to Boston 1 week (we don't have to get a hotel there), 1 week in NY and 1 week in miami seems a reasonable time to spend in each place.

[MattiasNYC]

The apartments look nice, and the price is definitely right. Good area probably.

New York is a big place and there's lots to see. It's really easy for time to just fly by and only see tourist attractions. I recommend you try to see some "different" stuff if possible....