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Visit the Big Apple on a little budget

29 Jun 2010

My family is heading to the Big Apple next month, and like most Americans going on summer vacation, we´re shaving costs everywhere we can.

The first thing we did was get our flight way back in early spring. While many use all sorts of fancy search engines with algorithms and sign up for dozens of e-mail alerts to track flights, I work more on instinct. I knew the economy was starting to turn around and flights to places like New York were going to get expensive, so I started looking in March.

I found good round-trip fares both at Southwest ($150 plus taxes) and American ($161 plus taxes). Since the Southwest flight estimated it would take 10 hours to get to New York, because of layovers, we opted for the nonstop flight on American for the five of us.

We´re glad we did. That nonstop fare has since jumped to $284. Websites like Bing, which consolidates eight travel sites including Travelocity, Hotwire, Priceline and Kayak, are a helpful place to start shopping for the cheapest fares.

Another tip for flying is to consider buying tickets for Wednesday travel. Even with higher airfares, Wednesday is your cheapest day to fly on many airlines. Also, buying ahead of time not only can give you better fares, but it also helps spread the total cost of the trip over many months, instead of trying to absorb one big financial lump afterward.

Our next step was to find lodging. With five people, including three over 6 feet tall, a single hotel room or even a suite doesn´t cut it anymore. So last year we began using vacation rental property -- apartments and condos typically offered by their owners.

This also provides a massive savings on food, as these residences generally come with full kitchens to use for at least a couple of meals a day to feed hungry teenagers. Last year, we found a two-bedroom apartment in Beverly Hills, Calif., for $165 a day plus taxes through VRBO.com , a listing of thousands of vacation rental properties by owner.

This year, we scoured the Web for a similar deal in Manhattan, looking at VBRO.com, VacationRental.com and VacationRentalPeople.com.

After spending several days checking out options and talking to property owners, we landed a three-bedroom, 1,500-square-foot town house in Brooklyn a block from a subway line for $195 a night, including all fees and taxes -- far cheaper than virtually any hotel in the area (where we also would have needed to book two rooms).

Vacation rentals on average cost at least 50 percent less per square foot than hotel space, according to a survey by HomeAway.com, an Austin-based online service that runs several of the vacation rental sites.

"More people are looking for deals and being more selective this year," said Jaime Dito, spokeswoman for HomeAway.

Booking vacation property online is a very hands-on experience. You don´t want to let your guard down.

We put down a $250 deposit on the Brooklyn property with a credit card through a PayPal account.

We´ll pay the remainder when we meet the owner and get the keys to the property.

We also used Bing.com´s maps to take a virtual stroll up and down the street to check out the neighborhood.

Don´t take anything for granted when renting a property. If it doesn´t say it has an oven, don´t assume it does. Look for reviews. We steered clear of one place located over a bar after one review complained about noise on Friday nights.

Watch out for extra fees. Sometimes there are fees for what the landlord considers extra people (usually over four) in a unit. Some add a cleaning fee, while others include it in the price.

In some cases, the room is in a person´s home, rather than a separate property, so make sure you are comfortable with that. Finally, if the property listing says it sleeps six, that might really mean three people sharing a king-size bed, two sharing a queen and one on the couch. Check with the owner for an exact count on the number and size of beds and number of bedrooms.

In the case of New York, we wanted to be close to the subway, since we don´t plan on renting a car. A half-mile or more walk to and from your subway stop could be a tough add-on after a full day of touring on foot, especially for kids.

Not renting a car will be a big savings. A weeklong subway pass is just $27 in New York. Similar deals are available in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Even Los Angeles has a subway line now, although the trains don´t run nearly as frequently, and the system doesn´t allow much access to tourist destinations.

Another thing I locked in early were tickets to the Statue of Liberty´s crown, which just reopened this year after being closed since 9-11. Tickets were going fast, so I got them in April, which was a good thing because the crown is now sold out through Sept. 9. At the same time, I bought a tour of Ellis Island and the ferry rides to each location, using the U.S. National Parks Service website, www.nps.gov.

There is no shortage of entertainment in New York, but it doesn´t have to cost an arm and a leg. We got $25 tickets to a Yankees game through www.ticketluck.com, an aggregate site of ticket brokers. While there was no break on the cost of the tickets, brokers generally can give you a better selection than the teams´ websites. The tickets came the next day in the mail.

Other ticket websites to check out include stubhub.com and Southlake-based ExtraTix.com.

We plan on trying our luck with Broadway shows by going directly to the theater that day for "rush" or student tickets at a discount, or using the TKTS booth in Times Square, which sells half-price tickets for performances the same day.

What´s better than discount entertainment? Free entertainment!

For example, NYCByFoot.com offers extensive walking tours of midtown and Lower Manhattan for free, asking only for tips at the end. We took a walking tour of national monuments in Washington, D.C., a few years back with this group, and it was fabulous.

For other free entertainment, check out your destination at www.free-attractions.com. For free travel advice, one of my favorite sites is www.tripadvisor.com.

Staying in a New York short term rental is the most economical and enjoyable way to experience New York City.

New York short term rentals are a great alternative to overpriced hotels!