Assess risk
NEW YORK CITY 2008

Intro

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

picture of an apple

In order to celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary, I booked a holiday for them and myself to New York. This was an opportunity to show them the sights and sounds of one of the most exciting cities in the world. The only drawback was that we had to squeeze as much as possible within 5 days - 4 full days and two half days to be precise - and take into consideration that neither of my parents wanted to run around like headless chickens. So the watchword was 'ORGANISATION!'.. which, lets face it, we Brits are pretty good at!

HOLIDAY DATES: 11th September 2008 to 16th September 2008. (returning on 17th AM)

TRAVEL ITINERARY:

Home to London Heathrow: 10th September 2008 (GMT)
Heathrow Airport to JFK NY: 11th September 2008 (EST)
Manhattan Hotel: 11th September - 16 September 2008 (EST)
Manhatten Hotel to JFK: 16th September 2008 (EST)
JFK to London Heathrow: 17th September 2008 (GMT)

HOLIDAY COMPANY: Thomas Cook

INTENDED NEW YORK CITY ITINERARY:

Day 1: Empire State Building *
Day 2: 42nd Street; UN & NY Library tours; Grand Central Station
Day 3: Central Park; Central Line Cruise; Theatre
Day 4: Grayline hop-on/off tour - Uptown
Day 5: Grayline hop-on/off tour - Downtown
Day 6: Maceys shopping ** sightseeing

[*] - Arrival time of 3pm EST at hotel giving sufficient time for this trip only.
[**] - Departure time of 2pm EST from the hotel.

It should be noted that although this was the intended itinerary, not all things go as planned!

Preparations

~research~

I visited the US Embassy Website for any up-to-date information that would help in travelling to the US. It provides useful advice regarding passports and visa requirements. With security issues being at the forefront of the minds of US officials - quite understandably - I didn't want to fall foul of any requirement though lack of research.

~electronic travel authorisation~

One interesting fact is that anyone travelling to the US after January 12 2009 under the visa waiver program will be required to obtain electronic travel authorization prior to boarding an air or sea carrier to the United States. Before this date travellers could voluntarily obtain the electronic travel authorization. I decided to complete this on a voluntary basis for myself and my parents by completing the online form.

~suitable locks for cases~

The American Transportation Security Administration (TSA) now suggests you lock your 'checked' baggage with TSA accepted and recognized locks. Travel Sentry™ Certified locks are accepted and recognized by the TSA. If airport security personnel need to inspect your checked bag, they no longer need to cut your locks or force the bag open and risk damaging it. The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has two lock suppliers, which it has special equipment and codes to open without breaking the mechanism (supplied to them by the lock companies). These are Travel Sentry and Safe Skies Locks. Their locks carry a special logo, and can be bought relatively easily in UK stores. My father purchased 6 locks from a locksmith in our town centre.

~insurance~

Getting insurance for two people over 70 was not that simple. Insurance companies I contacted seemed to have a cut off date of 60 or 65. In the end I went with Direct Line insurance, who I am more than happy to plug here!! My advice to anyone is to go to them first. They were great!! Also - very importantly, ensure that you disclose ALL medical details and - as with all insurance documents - read the fine print to see what is NOT covered. Twenty minutes of tedious reading can save a whole load of heartache and financial pain. Incidentally, hopefully this goes without saying, NEVER TRAVEL WITHOUT INSURANCE!!! Only an idiot does that these days!

~airline restrictions~

I thought it was important to find out what restrictions Virgin Atlantic placed on it's travellers. I visited their website and found some very useful information about baggage restrictions to check-in requirements.

~advance tickets~

I know it's sometimes cheaper to obtain theatre tickets when in the US.... especially if you are prepared to wait in cancellation queues. However I operate on the theory that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I booked tickets for the Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theatre in advance. So that's a done deal. I wasn't too certain about doing it online so I did it through a reputable travel agency, who in turn booked for us via a company called Keith Prowse.

~currency~

Each of us have taken some dollars to spend. Since this holiday is my treat I took to most. The exchange rate is pretty favourable at the moment, which is making travel to the US pretty damn affordable. I made sure that I took half my money as American Express traveller cheques. The rest is in smaller notes. I know that it was hard to get rid of 100 dollar notes sometimes so I have nothing bigger than a 50.

~accommodation~

I did my research online to check out the available hotels. Of course as a typical non-risk taking tourist safety and security were my priority. In retrospect I should have considered distances as well, as my parents don't want to do a lot of walking. Anyway, I opted for The Beacon Hotel, near Central Park, away from the madness of central Manhattan but in a secure area. My advice to anyone going to NY is to do some research on your hotel. Don't just accept that because the hotel is in a brochure that it must be ok. Try Booking.com or TripAdvisor.com. Heck, just sticking the name of the hotel in Google should give some useful information!

MY NEW YORK CITY

I bought a New York City travel guide to get a flavour of the city. To be honest, given that we were only going to be there for five days, I could have saved the money and printed off some pages from Wikepedia.

When I think of NYC I think of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis island, Coffee and Danish, (or should that be Kor-fee), New York Cabs, the Twin Towers and 9-11, Theatres, Sex in the City, Cagney and Lacey, Hilary Clinton, Empire State Building, NY city skyline, I love NYC tee-shirts, Flat iron building, Staten Island Ferry and hot dog venders! New York is a city that every UK person knows something about. The city is part of our lives, through the news, and television programs. Although this is not my first visit, I am excited at revisiting again.

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Assess risk NEW YORK CITY 2008

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NEW YORK CITY 2008