KCGirl

My sister is turning 40 in a few weeks, and my brother-in-law is throwing a surprise party for her NYC. I didn't think I'd be able to make it, but it turns out that I do have the time to go if I can find a good airfare. I'd like to arrive June 24, and leave June 28. (The day that I leave is flexible.)

I checked for prices last week, and tickets were about $240. This seemed reasonable since I usually fly to NYC for about $220. I just checked again, and prices start at $340! I can't believe it went up so much so quickly. It's still more than two weeks away. Any chance that prices will go down again, or is there a better place to look for prices? (I'm flying from Kansas City, and I'd prefer to fly into Laguardia, but I'd consider JFK or Newark for a good price.)

AAFrequentFlyer

Delta is showing non-stops to JFK for $221.

Continental is $277 for non-stops to Newark.

Have a great trip!

KCGirl

Where did you find this fare? I just checked Delta's site, and the lowest roundtrip fare from Kansas City to New York is into Laguardia and it's $356. The lowest I can find on Continental to Newark is $368.

I would totally buy the Delta ticket to JFK that you're talking about if I can find it. Thanks!

AAFrequentFlyer

I have to apologize. I loaded MCO (Orlando) instead of MCI (Kansas City).

Sorry to give you false hopes.

It does look bad for you. UA has 1 stop through Chicago to HPN (Westchester County, NY) for $240 R/T, but I'm not even sure where that airport is located....

Sorry about the mix-up.....

seetheworld

HPN is located in White Plains, NY (near Purchase, NY or Greenwich, CT).

It is approx. 50 minutes from NYC.

MikeT

How about taking Southwest to Philadelphia, and catching a train from there.

nytraveler

It's a trek back and forth. You would be better off paying a little more for the flight and less time/money trekking back and forth to a distant airport.

Intrepid1

It really would have been helpful if you had told us WHERE you have looked for airfares but assuming you ndidn't check out one of the following:

www.onetravel.com

www.itasoftware.com

www.kayak.com

KCGirl

No problem AAFrequentFlyer. I appreciate you trying to help.

I had checked itasoftware, and I just checked the other websites that were mentioned. I also looked into flying into Philly, and those prices weren't even very good.

Unless prices go down, which I doubt will happen, I think I'll have to skip the party. I'll just have to plan a trip to New York for later in the summer.

Thanks for the help everyone!

seetheworld

I'm not sure about this, but I'm guessing that your sister lives in NYC??

While not the most direct route, you could fly in to HPN, take a cab from HPN to the White Plains train station and take Metro North into Manhattan. And meet up with them by subway.

KCGirl

Seetheworld- You're right, my sister does live in Manhattan. Flying into White Plains is definitely not the easiest route, but it is a lot cheaper. I just checked flights, and if I did it I would arrive in White Plains at 5pm. Assuming the flight is on time, what time could I be in Manhattan on the Upper East Side?

I'm guessing I would have to take a taxi to the West Plains train station, train to Grand Central, and the subway or taxi to the UES.

It sounds like a hassle, but I'm considering it!

seetheworld

Here's the taxi information I pulled off the airport website:

DLC Car Service
Providing “On Demand” taxi service at the airport.
Local (914) 946-6664
Nationwide 1 (800) 460-5520

June 24th is a Saturday. Here's the link for the schedule for that date.

http://tinyurl.com/0

Hopefully you could catch the 5:59 p.m. train (express) which would get you into Grand Central at 6:35 p.m. The rest depends on how you decide to proceed.

Good luck!

KCGirl

Thanks Seetheworld. The party starts at 7:30, so I would have plenty of time to get there. I guess I just need to decide if it's worth the hassle, or if I'd rather go later this summer. I'll make a decision tomorrow. Wouldn't it be nice if airfare prices dropped overnight?

Thanks for the help!

wantsomesun

Take Metro North and get off at 125th St. and take the subway downtown from there. You should be able to be there by 7pm or so.

Have a great time.

KCGirl

Wantsomesun-Thanks for the suggestion. Getting off at 125th Street would be faster. I'd probably even have time to drop my bag off at my sister/brother-in-law's building. If I do it, I'm leaning towards taking a taxi from the train. I've never really been in the neighborhood of the 125th St station. I assume it wouldn't be a problem getting a taxi. Any safety issues there?

rkkwan

If you don't necessarily have to go, maybe you can wait a week (till 6/10) and try a last minute flight+car package from site59.com. Throw away the car if you don't need one.

Still I look at prices for 6/17-20, and for one person it'll still cost you about $340. Less for more, as the price of the car is fixed. Also, you can only return on 6/27 not 6/28.

I think with today's airfare, $340 is not that bad if you can fly into the airport of your choice at a time you want.

wow

I think that your sister wld really appreciate if you cld make it to her 40th birthday party. It's "worth the hassle"( your words)IMHO. So, book it & go! I wld pay $100 extra to make my sister happy(if I had a sister...)

nytraveler

You're extremely unlikely to find any cabs on 125th St unless you can pick up one that's dropping someone off. That part of Manhattan is served primarily by car services. These will be full size sedans - sometimes older - and will thve a lic plate starting with a T. You have to flag them down on the street and negotiate a price with the driver - there is no meter.

But all the subways stop on 125th - you might just want to take it south from there.

SAnParis

Sounds like you crossed the 21 day threshold (sp?). Did you try leaving on the 25th ?

KCGirl

I was going to go ahead and book the flight into White Plains, but prices went up again! I'm now looking at $400-500 to fly into Laguardia, JFK, Newark or even White Plains. Unfortunately, with out of town weddings this summer and planning a November trip to Italy, I just can't afford that right now.

I did look at the site59.com site, but it doesn't look to good there either. I'll continue to watch the prices, and if they miraculously drop, I'll book something. Otherwise I'll try to plan a trip to New York for late this summer.

Thanks for the help everyone!

PS - NYTraveler, I've never noticed cars like that before. I've used Carmel quite a few times, I've always made the reservation ahead of time. Are these cars all over the city? Do flag them over just like a taxi?