Six Ways To Travel To New York On A Budget

I’m lucky enough to have made five trips to New York and every single time I’ve fallen in love with the city that little bit more and I always come back itching to go back. I know a lot of people think that New York is an expensive city but I firmly believe that it’s only as expensive as you make it, like pretty much any other city. Here are six ways to travel to New York on a budget.

New York on a budget: Be flexible with when you can fly

Like most countries if you go in the summertime you can spend £700+ on flights to New York but if you’re pretty flexible when you can take your trip you can find flights for a steal. I always use Skyscanner and see when the best times to fly are and when I headed there this March I paid £99 for flights one way and £149 for flights back with Norwegian which is absolutely crazy. While March can be mixed weather you can still get great flights if you’re clever and look well in advance.

Keep an eye on websites such as Travelscoop for last minute deals. Sometimes it pays to leave it a little more last minute when airlines and companies are looking to fill spaces.

Saving money on your New York trip: Book your accommodation as soon as possible

Accommodation is generally one of the most expensive parts of travel but you can do New York on a budget by booking in advance. I booked our accommodation a few months before we actually booked our flights as Booking.com offer £0 deposits and free cancellation on a large number of properties. The price for our accommodation when I secured it was about £350 for 4 nights which is such a great price considering we were in the centre of Manhattan just minutes from Macy’s and the Empire State Building but when we looked a few months later the same room in the hotel was about double the price. We stayed at The New Yorker which I think is one of the best prices for a hotel in Manhattan, otherwise, it’s worth checking Air BnB or hostels.

It can also be worth checking different hotels for different parts of your trip. Maybe you want to stay a few nights in Manhattan and a few nights in Brooklyn. You can also think ahead and book luggage storage in the city which will save you lugging your bags around.

New York on the cheap: Book combination tickets

Once you know what attractions you want to do in the city have a look around at all the different City Passes as chances are you’ll find one for the combination of attractions you want to do. By booking your passes in advance you’ll save money, save time queuing when you arrive and also it will be paid in advance so you can save more for doughnuts and Sephora hauls! We got the Citypass as it covered six major attractions in the city with some interchangeable options as it was great value and there’s always deals out there to be had.

Saving money on a trip to New York: Walk as much as you can

Things might seem really spread out in Manhattan but actually walking blocks doesn’t take as long as you think. On most of the trips I’ve done I’ve walked 30+ blocks and it’s not been a crazy amount of walking, plus you see so much more when you walk than you would if you were stuck on the subway.

Cheap New York trip: Buy a travel card if you’re there more than 6 days

In contrast to my above tip if you are in the city for over 6 days their travel card is such good value and will only cost you for a week about the same as what a few days in London would cost. You can use the tickets on any subway train so you can go out to Brooklyn for some pizza, over to Queens for some shopping or up to The Bronx to visit Yankee Stadium.

Keeping costs low on a trip to New York: Eat street food

Food can definitely add up and if you have a real sit down meal it can cost a lot of money so if you’re travelling on a budget then I suggest eating street food. There’s always loads of vendors on the street offering tasty food and plenty of places where you can take away a slice or two of pizza for just a few dollars and this can save you so much money. On my recent trip, we didn’t do this as much and I dread to think how much we spent on food during the trip.

As you can see you can do New York on a budget and if you need inspiration for your New York trip check out my ultimate 4-day itinerary.

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