I'm doing a mileage run on UA for triple EQMs. Flts are only good for certain FFs, living in certain states, and only good on non-stop ORD-LGA run. Only $204 to get triple EQMs. I'm doing a one-day run as I do not have more time than that. Wish I did... but I'm off to BKK about a week later, so must do this NYC thing quickly.

How long a ride, and how expensive is it, to Macy's from LGA? I think that is a good central location to start my day. Will probably hop on the dbl decker bus for a ride around Manhattan as well.

Thoughts? What would you do with about 5 hours on the ground (after allowing for travel time) in NYC?

Carol

Carol, in summer I would take the cab not to Macy's but to Sax Fifth Avenue. At Fifth Avenue and about 50th Street.(Macy's is not especially attractive and SFA is a bit closer and cheaper cab ride.) From there you can take a quick walk around Rockafeller center, St Patricks Cathedral and then either walk or short cab ride into Central Park. If you want to fit in a museum the Frick is on East side of Central Park and doable in an hour or so.

Oh, wow, great information! Thanks, Laurie-ann. I will have the driver take me to Sax instead. Do they still have the horse drawn carriages thru Central Park? I've done that twice now, and it's always pleasant on a nice day in NYC.

kinda depends on the day of the week, will you be going to/from manhattan in rush hour on either end of the trip etc.

SFA is a good start, but depending on how much of a shopaholic you are and how much time you want to spend there it may leave you little time for CP AND a museum.

I don't get the appeal of the double decker bus but keep in mind they are slow....in case you were thinking of doing anything else. For me, on a short MR, I would want o walk as much as possible and not sit.

My daughter and I are doing the same thing in mid July for the triple EQMs, but we're just going to visit friends, I think.

Hey, ms_go, good for you! That offer from UA was just too good to pass up!

Re: the dbl decker bus, I thought it might be a good way to rest my tired feet after a lot of walking. Maybe not such a good idea? But isn't it hop on/hop off, or do I have that wrong?

Hoping to perhaps catch up with a friend for lunch, but that is still up in the air.

I'll be just fine, in any case! Looking forward to it.

its hop on and off but in my experience. with traffic etc, they are often slower than you might think and don't get to the stops when they say they will.

I'll maybe rethink the hop-on/hop-off bus, mztery. We'll just see how tired my feet get! (smile)

DS is now coming along, for the same cheap price (182 + tax) and triple EQMs!

Carol, when are you going? We're on the 13th.

We're going the 7th! Just a little over a week away!

The day-trip to NYC is almost here! Looks like it is going to be a hot one. Oh well..... we'll cope. We'll be in and out of AC.

With a return to ORD from LGA just after 6pm, what time would you want to leave 5th Avenue/59th Street area to get to the airport in plenty of time. We should have our boarding passes already printed, and no bags to check.

A good place to escape the heat is the lower level concourse of Rockefeller Center. There's a food court there where you can grab a lunch - I like the gourmet market there to grab a soup, salad, or some other light lunch to go, then grab a table overlooking the ice rink area.

J62, I like that suggestion for lunch! Thanks!

Thoughts on leaving for the airport, anyone? Traffic issues? Rush hour? Flt leaves LGA just past 6pm.

Well, yesterday was the one-day NYC trip from ORD. I just wanted to report in here to say that we had a lovely time, even though NYC was very hot hot hot.

ORD-LGA flt was on time and very FULL. We got our upgrades so had seats in row 1, first class, A319. The 'back' had no empty seats. Lots of business people on the flt.

Taxi to Saks was about $40. DS and I had different things to accomplish during the day so I was off to the salon in the basement at Saks, and DS was off to Broadway.

A haircut and color touch-up cost MORE THAN THE FLT!!! haha I knew I'd be paying lots more for a hairdo than I do at home in smalltown America. (and I'm not cheap)! I tipped my stylist $20, which would be plenty at home, but when I then got the bill, I thought, oops, I didn't quite give him 10%. I'll know better next time .

Then off to lunch at the Rock Center Cafe for soup and salad and coffee. It was great! Very busy place! Good food, and interesting people watching. I had a small table by a window overlooking the center court where the umbrella tables are located. (looked hot outside... and I'm sure it was)

Some souvenir looking/shopping as I then walked from Saks to Macys, stopping often in the air con along the way. BTW Saks was having some great sales! I bought a great BCBG leather bag at about 60% off. Caught up with DS at Macys, where I bought some souvies to take to Bangkok with me in a couple of weeks.

DS and I agreed that it would be good to head towards LGA by 4:15 for our 6:15 flt, because of traffic issues. We started asking cabbies just after 4:00 and NO ONE would take us to LGA! (but no panic) I finally asked a cabbie WHY we were having trouble finding a driver. He said shifts end at 5 and no one wants to leave Manhattan at that time. He told us to look for one of the black Lincoln limo-type cars. We also thought that if we could find a hotel, the doorman/concierge might help us with a ride... but we never spotted a hotel along B'way where we were walking!!!

We finally found a black Linoln limo, but ended up walking up Broadway for several blocks, if not more, to find one. We asked the driver if he would take us to LGA and how much... $35 plus tolls. I said how about $50 to get us there on time. And he did just fine.

We ended up having extra time at LGA before boarding. Had hoped to find ice cream at the airport.... but NO. Darn...

LGA-ORD (first class again, A320) flt boarded and left the gate on time, but then we sat 'parked' while Chicago weather got nasty and nobody was being allowed to take-off for ORD. About an hour/hour +15 min we finally were allowed to leave LGA. I will have to say that the captain was excellent on this flt, keeping us all informed at regular intervals, so no one was sitting wondering what was going on! Good for him!!

Once getting near ORD airspace, we had to stay in a holding pattern for about 20 min due to traffic build-up from the storm that had stopped everything.

Landed/got in the car and drove home/got a gooood sleep.

Back to 'normal' routine today.

Good trip. I'd do it again (and might, since this ORD-LGA special triple EQMs deal goes until end of Aug).

Nice day in NYC!

Anyone who has done this triple EQM trip ORD-LGA, have you received your triple EQMs yet? Wondering if they will go back at end of the promotion to add the EQMs.

I have not. The T/Cs suggest they will be posted after the conclusion of the promotion. There's a long thread about this promo on flyertalk, but I haven't read it recently to see if others' bonus EQMs have posted.

BTW, I picked a bad weather day to do this, and our day trip turned into an overnight trip. The hotel cost more than the ticket. Oh well...we still had fun.

ms_go, sorry your weather wasn't so nice. Our weather was not bad... a bit hot, but we were in and out of air con so it was OK.

I'll watch for those extra miles after the promo is over then. Thanks.

OK what are EQMs?
(glad you had a great time Carol)