The city and state have decided that they want to stop this subletting. Their first step was a subpoena to Air BnB requiring the names of all the people who were renting out rooms so that they could be tracked down and fined for running illegal hotels. The court said the subpoena was too broad.

They are now preparing a more specific subpoena (don;t know the details) that they hope will allow them to find and fine these illegal renters and put them out of business.

As a subletter you would not be in danger of any fines. But if this happens before you arrive you may find that the apt/room you paid to rent is not available. Then you would have to try to get a refund from Air BnB and also find.pay for a hotel at the last minute at much higher prices.

There is no way of knowing exactly when this would happen or exactly what the results would be. (It may be in a month or it may take a couple of years.)

However two years ago the city identified several properties that were being run as illegal hostels/budget hotels and went in and shut them down in the middle of the night. Everyone staying there had about an hour to repack their things and get out. Then they had to try to find another place to stay at 2 or 3 am. Many were temporarily put up in a shelter or armory for the night - but the next day were on their own to find lodgings.

Sorry - this was not an evil plot by the city to torture tourists. The owners of the properties had been fined and warned that they were in violation and could be shut down at any time. They continued to operate - and it was their fault those poor tourists were out in the street.

So - is it likely this would happen to you - no.

Is it possible - yes.

If you decide to go this route I would have a back-up plan.

Also - if you list the properties you are interested in you can get info on the neighborhood and quite possibly the building. Many are not what they seem. (One of the problems I have with Air BnB is that you don;t know the specific property until after you pay - and some can be dreadful). Also, be prepared to lie to other people, doorman, super etc in the building (most sitting tenants do NOT like this practice) and say you are a relative or close friend of the tenant. (The person you are renting from will tell you what to say and who to try to avoid.)

Short term apartment rentals are also illegal in Santa Monica and the city is cracking down on them.
Your budget is a little low, but you may be able to find two star motels in the suburbs (Motel 6 in Hollywood for example may be within your budget but hotel tax is 15% in LA)- not sure I'd stay at the airport area, yes hotels are cheap but there are almost no restaurants to walk to other than fast food or the hotel restaurants so you'd have to drive to eat. Maybe also look into Marina del Rey but you need a car here since public transit stinks for this area.

<i>there are almost no restaurants to walk to other than fast food or the hotel restaurants so you'd have to drive to eat.</i>

Of course, that is true of pretty much everywhere in LA. I don't think I've ever walked to a restaurant from my hotel when in LA.

Actually cinqueterre, if you don't mind using priceline, which takes away some of your ability to choose your hotel, you can reduce your NYC hotel cost significantly. I use it 90% of the time I visit New York, which is pretty frequent. Plus, late July should be one of the least expensive times to visit NY, and you should easily be able to get a very nice hotel for under $200, and very likely below $150. If you can make up for it in other locations, you could probably still shoot for an average of $100 to $120.

Isn't the situation with airbnb that an absentee tenant can't use an apartment for short term rentals? cinqueterre mentioned looking for a share through airbnb, and I believe that is perfectly legal, is it not? Also, some of the problems listed by nytraveler would be common to any service of this type anywhere in the world, such as vrbo or homeaway, yet many people swear by that experience. So don't necessarily let those comments put you off.

Paying to use a room while the tenant is living in the apartment is not illegal. But it is almost surely against the tenant's lease (thus the need to hide subletters from neighbors and super or doorman employed by the landlord).

I was recommended to look at another web site wimdu.com quite reasonable prices (even cheap)!

If the cost is really a key factor, you won't do better than priceline. The advantage you have in NYC is that there are so many hotels, their method of grouping them by neighborhood and quality allows you to have some reasonable control over what hotel you end up with. True, you don't know the exact place until you pay, but you get a very good idea of the location, hotel quality, and customer rating before buying, so it's hard to go wrong.

The drawbacks are that you have to pay at the time of the reservation, and it's non-refundable (though I've gotten refunds more than once, due to unusual circumstances).

There is one other advantage in NY though - NY hotels tend to book early, then they get a lot of cancellations in the last week or two leading up to the check-in date. So the best priceline deals tend to come at the last minute, mainly in the last week before you go. So if you can get a cancellable reservation that you're comfortable with somewhere in NY,then you can keep trying priceline up to the cancellation date. If you get a great deal, then cancel your other reservation (and you are very likely to get a great deal).

Cinqueterre - have never heard of wimdu. Remember: you get what you pay for.

Have never heard of wimdu and would be very hesitant to use it.

Be aware that if you put in Ne York, many of the properties are in the Bronx or Brooklyn - which may be very inconvenient for sightseeing and I saw at least a couple in areas that I would not consider safe.

Also - have you looked at the photos. These places almost all look like they were thrown together to house the homeless. I don;t mean that they don;t belong in House Beautiful. I mean they look like a freshman boy's dorm room at the end of the school year - broken blinds, rags hanging at the windows as "curtains", mattresses on the floor instead of actual beds.

Before booking anything like this give us the link to check out specific lodgings for you. We can at least tell you if it's safe to walk the street at night - or if it will take you 1.5 hours to get to the city.

I just returned from Italy, Turkey and Israel -14 lift offs in those countries.
US airport security is the worst and time consuming. Staffed and run by idiots following all rules.
Yes, you have to take off your shoes.

This Internet site is for carry on baggage. Read it carefully.
http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/3-1-1-carry-ons

As with all countries, use an ATM for cash. Insure your credit card company knows you will be traveling in the U.S.

New York City and Los Angeles are as different culturally as Finland is from Shara Desert. Even the English language differs.

For example:
En California el español es el segundo idioma y pronto será la primera lengua.

Welcome to the US

Vaga

to be honest after reading all the advices I am very close to cancel my US trip :)

Well that doesn;t make any sense at all. You hae to expect that the US will be VERY different from europe (people going to europe from the US often have culture shock). Things are often done differently - but there ae a huge number of wonderful things to see and do.

It seems that a lot of your issues is financial - and I'm not sure where you got your prices from. You need to understand that NYC is a world capital - like London - and prices will be similar - not like those in a small town in Italy (if that's where you are from). If your budget is stretched too far consider cutting back on the length of your trip - just focusing on one area.

What you are looking at now would be comparable to visiting Italy, France, and Spain in 3 weeks - obviously not much time in any one place and a lot of time and money spent getting TO places. (I don;t know your complete budget but 2 summers ago my daughter and 2 friends spend almost 6 weeks in europe - a definitely budget trip. And she spent US $8K - plus airfare. Perhaps your budget is just too small for a trip this long - what about coming for 2 weeks?

If you can define what is bothering you the most people can make suggestions. I think someone suggested you balance the hotel prices in NY with the super low ones in Las Vegas.

<i>to be honest after reading all the advices I am very close to cancel my US trip</i>

What are the concerns? If it is the cost, I'd consider shortchanging New York. It is a great city, but it is expensive. Maybe tack on something on the road between San Francisco and LA. Or go south to San Diego from LA. Or stop somewhere in the middle on the way to Vegas, like Chicago.

Well I suggest traveling to Europe is not easy. There you must speak some French, German, Italian and Spanish. It is not all the easy, but just a part of travel experience.

I your case, your agenda is not rationale. Distance from New York to Los Angeles is 4,451 km that you plan to see in 23 days.

Suggest making a check list of what you must see and then condense.

I don't understand the fascination with visiting massive cities. A city is a city - slab of concrete horizontally and vertically especially NYC. I've been to most of them from Beijing to Paris and Mexico City. Thus, I'd skip NYC and LA and ditto with SF.

LV is unique and should be visited - about 3 days. Rent a car and drive to Grand Canyon (make sure it is the South/North Rim (closer), but not the west rim. Then Zion that is a loop route. If LA is on the agenda, then go back to LV to LA (full week) LA is a huge city with many attractions. Then fly back to Europe.

I have travelled to the US twice now, I am from New Zealand so it is an expensive trip.You need to plan at least a year in advance, and book accommodation when you first start planning, which you can cancel if you find a better price closer to the actual dare of the trip.

We booked Radio City Apartments nearly a year out on our first trip and that was $ 150 a a night in 2007. In 2012 we booked a hotel in Long Island City for $ 139 a night, with free breakfast and Wifi. This was in November. If you give yourself time to plan you can pay for most things before you leave.

In San Francisco we stayed at Columbus Motor Inn close to Fisherman's Wharf which was relatively cheap, we have also stayed at the Coventry Motor Inn in San Francisco which was close to public transport and more affordable than other places.

You need to take time to plan and then work out how much it is going to cost and save!!!

<I>I your case, your agenda is not rationale. Distance from New York to Los Angeles is 4,451 km that you plan to see in 23 days. </I>

Thanks to the wonders of air travel it is perfectly rational. It is around five days per city plus some for the Grand Canyon. I go to LA for weekends from Boston, surely the OP can manage a single cross-country flight in three weeks.

Haha cinqueterre-- sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for when it comes to travel advice! I felt the same way when planning a Europe trip!

Please don't give up on the U.S. I think the only non-travel-friendly aspect is the lack of really easy, dependable public transportation system throughout the country. But you already knew that. I think the most challenging area for getting around is LA.

Three weeks is plenty of time for what you want to do, and your plan seems reasonable. Whether you take tours or plan on your own depends on your own comfort level and whether you are traveling alone.

Do be sure to work in some time on the beautiful coastal highway in California.

Cinqueterre, yes flying between places is the way to go. We flew to San Francisco, spent four days there, flew to New Orleans, spent four days there, then flew to New York, spent a week there, and did a trip to Cape Cod and Boston from there. You can take the bus from NYC to Boston, we actually flew back to NYC from there.

In 2007 we flew to Baltimore from San Francisco, went to Washington DC, then took Amtrak to New York. We then flew back to Orange County in California did the Disneyland, Universal Studio's, Sea World thing, and took the Disney bus to Los Angeles airport to fly home.

You can do it just needs time to plan!!