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Our first Mom and Dad trip in 7 years, was a trip to the Big Apple, travel hacking NYC, and we did EVERYTHING!
Flights
For flights we utilized Virgin Atlantic to book Delta flights. If you want to find out more about how to do this, check out our post on airline alliances HERE.
We spent 50,000 Chase points, transferred to Virgin Atlantic, to book 2 nonstop, round trip flights on a Delta Flight to NYC. We also spent $22.40 on fees.
Hotels
Hotel #1 was the Hyatt Andaz 5th Avenue. It was a great stay that exceeded our expectations. More about that HERE.
Hotel #2 was the JW Marriott Essex House. It was a classy luxury hotel right on the edge of Central Park. While our suite upgrade did not go how we hoped, we were very impressed with the hotel as a whole. More about it HERE.
Transportation
We took the transfer bus from LGA Q70 bus after we got in. This is a free bus, that takes you to the subway station or the train platform. You could chose to take the Subway ($2.75pp) or the Train ($5pp) into the city. I picked the city, because I wanted to see the city as we crossed the river. Well, we had a good laugh about that because that train IMMEDIATELY went underground for the duration of the trip.
For the rest of the trip we primarily used the bus and subway system in NYC which are both connected through the OMNY payment system. It is $2.75 per person per ride, with a cap of $34 per week. You just had to use the same payment method all week. We each had a designated card we used, but if you have google/Samsung/apple pay set up, that would work too. This was by far the most affordable option. Y’all I even brought my luggage on the subway. I am so proud of myself, I hope you are too!
Adventures
My goal was to pack in as many NYC adventures as possible.
Day One
Day One we booked a Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Tour through Walks International on Viator. It was a phenomenal tour and I would highly recommend it. While over here we stopped at Castle Clinton and got our national park stamp, and browsed their museum.
After the tour we wandered to Pisillo Italian Panini of Food Network Triple D Fame. The food was scrumptious and FRESH, but they were cash only, so no points and miles there! We walked over to the 9/11 memorial and then headed uptown.
The next stop was the Tenement Museum – this was another place to get a National Park stamp, it wasn’t really our cup of tea, although I think this could vary greatly based on tour guides.
We ended the night with a visit to Shu Jiao Fu Zhou (right around the corner from the museum) because my husband wanted authentic Chinese food. The dumplings were great and it was the cheapest meal of the trip – feeding both of us for $7.50.
Day Two
Day Two was off to a start with Breakfast Tacos from the cart out in front of Los Tacos No.1, then we headed to the Marriott to drop our bags, and wandered through Central Park to get to The Met.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was on my husband’s list, as I am not an art museum person but WOWWWW! This place was truly spectacular and I think absolutely worth a trip. We cut our museum trip short, because honestly we could have stayed there all day.
We took the Subway to Chelsea Market for lunch. If you are trying to pinch pennies, this is not the place for lunch, but it was so fun to see all the creative food stands in there. Our favorite was the mini doughnuts from Doughnuttery. We walked the highline right outside of Chelsea Market over to the bus stop which took us directly to the Flatiron building which was……covered in scaffolding. This unfortunately kind of ruined the view of the architecture here.
Our final stop of the day was The Empire State Building. Now, I am terrified of heights, but this was WELL worth it. It is so beautiful, and the entire “line experience” of getting to the top reminded me of Disneyland, it was so smooth and well done. We were hungry by this point and popped into a little Pizza shop to check New York Pizza off the list! Then, hubby surprised me with a horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park where we rode with the friendliest/chattiest carriage driver in the city!
Day Three
Day Three was a pretty laid back day for us. Which is good because we were exhausted after our whirlwind tour the previous two days. We started with breakfast in the lounge at the JW Marriott Essex House.
Next, was an adventure I was thrilled about, but likely appeals to about 1 single person here. We went to the garment district for fabric shopping! We went to Mood Fabrics, and I was in fabric heaven.
We grabbed some awesome lunch right near times square at Italian Trattoria – their sandwiches and cannoli were simple yet phenomenal. This was the best cannoli we had while we were there….and yes, I tried several!
Our hotel, which was right near central park, had free tickets to the Central Park Zoo, so we wandered around there and central park for a little while before lounging at the hotel.
THE NIGHT
This was a night to remember. We got all dressed up and went to Becco – an Italian restaurant owned by the Bastianich family. Yes, Joe Bastianich from MasterChef!! It was some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had, and I’m still dreaming about it.
After that, we walked through Times Square and enjoyed street performers, and we even ran into Chef Andre Rush – who was the Chef for 4 US Presidents. It was a great time!
Our final New York experience was EXQUISITE!! We saw the Lion King on Broadway, and it was a dream come true. I can not wait to bring my kids to it someday.
Maximizing Freebies/Travel Hacks
Statue of Liberty Tour – You can book many Walks International tours in many cities through Viator. Oftentimes Viator is on Rakuten and other travel portals. They also like to put offers on cards. Best case scenario, book a Walks tour on Viator, through Rakuten, with a Card that has a Viator offer. STACK THOSE POINTS!
Souvenirs – Our National Park Passport Stamp Book is a favorite of everyone in our family, and in New York there are TONS of places to see on the National Parks list, and get stamped! We got 4 in our short 3 day adventure.
Central Park – It’s FREE and amazing and peaceful! Also, many of the high end hotels can get free or discounted tickets to the zoo, which is tiny, but a fun little excursion.
Hotels – Use your points to book a hotel where you get Free Breakfast – especially with a family this is always a big deal for us.
Subway – While not FREE, the Subway costs $2.75pp per ride, and is connected with the bus system. It was by far the cheapest way to see the whole city. They also have a cap of $42 per week maximum – just make sure you are using the same card for every time you scan into the bus or Subway.
Chelsea Market/The Highline – While the restaurants inside Chelsea Market aren’t cheap, wandering through this area, and along the highline is a great way to see a different part of the city, and costs you nothing.
Ferry – If a Statue of Liberty Cruise is out of the budget, ride the FREE Staten Island Ferry there and back, and enjoy the stunning views of the Harbor.
5th Avenue/Brooklyn Bridge/Times Square/ 9/11 Memorial – All of these are FREE places to walk around and take in the sights, or in the case of the memorial, have a moment of silence for those who lost their lives and witness the beautiful memorial that was created for them.
Follow @nyc_forfree on Instagram for Weekly free events and activities
Broadway – You can use your Hyatt Points to book a Broadway show! We used Hyatt FIND experiences, and you can either pay for the show with your points, or receive points for the booking. This is a great way to get another experience paid for if you are trying to maximize FREEBIES!
Conclusion
This trip was one I had dreamt about for a long time, and the ability to pay for all our flights and hotels with points and miles made it extremely doable for our family, and also opened up wiggle room for booking more excursions/shows, etc. I hope this exhaustive list helps you on your next journey!
