I flew to New York to help one of my best friends move into her sublet. That was the plan. Help her unpack, be useful, go home.
We unpacked for maybe six hours. Then we spent four days gallivanting around the boroughs like neither of us had a job.
Thursday to Sunday, end of August, still HOT. Here is the whole receipt, because nobody ever gives you the real number.
The New York trip cost, all in: about $2,160
That is my half. Not both of us.
| What | Mine |
|---|---|
| Flights, points plus cash | $465 |
| Hotel, 3 nights, split two ways | $992.50 |
| Food and drink | $350 |
| Ubers | $283 |
| Subway | $34 |
| One workout class | $35 |
| Brooklyn block party | $0 |
| Total | about $2,160 |
Food and drink is rounded. I am giving you the honest ballpark, not a receipt I reconstructed to the cent.
The room was $1,985 with tax and we split it down the middle. Do not do New York alone at those rates, Queens. Bring a friend.
One line ate 46% of the trip
Look at that table again. The hotel is $992.50 out of $2,160.
FORTY-SIX PERCENT. On a room I slept in and left.
We stayed at 1 Hotel Central Park in Midtown. It was gorgeous, I will not lie to you. Walking distance to the park and we used that park every single day. Would I book it again for a short trip where the location saves you car money? Yes. For a whole week? Absolutely not.
Now you may be asking, why not just get an Airbnb sis?
WELL. My friend was moving into her OWN place that same weekend. A hotel meant neither of us had to be nice about an air mattress at 8am. Sometimes you are paying to be a normal person in the morning. Let a girl live.
The cost nobody warns you about: cars
Write this part down.
Four Uber rides cost me $283. Four days of subway cost me $34.
Eight times as much. And $200 of that $283 was ONE airport round trip I did by myself, about $100 each way. My solo ride to the airport and back cost almost six times what four whole days of trains did.
The train did everything else. Manhattan to Brooklyn. Brooklyn back. Out to the block party. Home at an hour I am not disclosing. It is $3 a ride now with a $34 weekly cap, so after twelve rides you ride free. We hit twelve easy.
Take the train. Take the train when you are tired. Take the train ESPECIALLY to the airport.
What I would skip
A Lagree class at JETSET Pilates in SoHo. $35 a person.
And listen, the class was GOOD. Instructor was great, I was sore for two days, zero complaints. $35 for boutique Pilates in Manhattan is normal pricing, not a rip-off.
But real talk. I spent an hour of a four day trip on a workout I can do at home, in a city where the best thing we did was FREE. That is not the studio’s fault. That is me grabbing my routine instead of actually being somewhere.
Next time, the park or nothing. Let’s NOT do that again.
The best thing we did cost zero dollars
A block party in Brooklyn, out by Fort Greene Park.
Street closed off. Real music. People on their stoops, kids everywhere, that last-of-summer heat that makes everybody friendly. No cover, no reservation, no plan. We went because somebody mentioned it. 10/10, no notes.
And this is the FOURTH trip in a row this has happened to me. Chicago, best night was a $30 jazz cover. Paris, best night was free street music. Napa, we skipped the famous restaurant and did a painting class instead. Now New York, and the winner is a free street party.
So here is what I think is going on. The expensive thing is usually the thing you booked in advance because you were scared of having nothing to do. The free thing is the thing you find once you are already there. Every time.
What else was worth the money
- Joe’s Pizza, West Village. Standing up, paper plate, no seat. Perfect.
- Central Park, daily. Free, and the only reason a Midtown room made any sense.
- Jungle Bird in Chelsea. Tropical drinks, plants everywhere, a whole tree situation happening inside the bar. Their cocktails are serious.
- Ophelia Lounge, on top of the Beekman Tower in Midtown East. Friday night with a friend and her friend who happened to be in town. Art deco, skyline, the works.
- Sant Ambroeus in the West Village on Sunday before my flight. Full Carrie Bradshaw moment, two blocks from where they filmed her front steps, and I am NOT embarrassed.
Every one of those was unplanned except the pizza. Wut.
The honest part
I could have cut real money off this trip. Taking the train from the airport instead of a car puts about $180 back in my pocket. A cheaper room takes at least $300 off my half.
I did neither, and I knew I was not going to. I was flying in to help somebody move and I did not want to be tired and annoying about it.
So that is the trade. I paid a few hundred dollars for convenience and in that exact situation I would pay it again. But I am not calling this a budget trip, because it was not one, and you deserve the actual number.
$2,160. Four days. One friend moved in, one workout class I regret, one free block party I will be thinking about all winter.
I am putting every trip’s real numbers in one place. Japan, China, Paris, Chicago, Napa, DC and now New York, with what I would skip on each one. Join the letters and I will send it over when it is ready.
#bigsisenergy