Foreign Perspectives

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In an ideal world, a direct non-stop flight is definitely the way to go. One check-in and you’re gone.

However, the growth of discount airlines means that in many cases an indirect route is considerably cheaper and can also offer you a lot more choice in the way of departure times. The downsides are that you generally need to collect your bags and check-in for the second flight and you run the risk of a delay on the first flight knocking you off the second one.

The bags sure are a hassle but if you’re travelling light, it’s a manageable one. Where you do need to be careful about is the time between arriving from the first flight and departing on the second one which needs to allow for delays. You could go with the minimum time between flights in a terminal but are better to add an hour or two (possibly more at peak times) to be sure of making the connection. Actually, at peak times I’d be inclined not to risk it if the second airline is a discount one (”normal” airlines will let you go on the next flight, discount ones will sell you another ticket).

Funnily enough you seem to get these flights cheaper. So, for example, my flight next week is around £70 for a direct non-stop one vs £50 for the two stage one. Not only that, but the £70 flight gets me here after midnight whereas the two stager gets me here for teatime which is always a lot easier on the system.

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One of the downsides of New York is that it’s really not such a great place to take the kids. Sure you’ll have loads of stuff to do whilst you’re there, but you can very quickly end up with a posse of bored kids in tow which is rarely a good move if you want a pleasant vacation experience.

However, there’s a wonderful option in the form of a family beach vacation just next door at the Morey’s Piers which is one of the largest amusement piers in the world. As with all these places they’ve loads of offers available which in the case of Morey’s Piers come under the heading of Magical Mondays although they’ve actually a variety of different offers every day of the week ranging from dining bargains through to all you can ride offers.

New Jersey attractions are quite different in nature from those in New York and you’ll find a wealth of variations from beach side options through to the likes of Cape May, Atlantic City and Ocean City with easy striking distance for a vacation based in one of them or even in Manhattan. In effect, you can get the benefits of a two centre holiday without the additional expense that such things usually entail.

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When a bank holiday weekend falls in the middle of your vacation then you need to check out what facilities are going to be available.

For example, we’ve a group coming tonight who are relying on public transport. Their train gets in around 10.30pm by which time there’s a good chance that the taxis will have made a start on their own vacation. Even if they don’t, then they’re going to be with us all day on the 14th with no transport at all because everything from buses to taxis knocks off for the entire day locally.

Many shops close too. In fact, just about all of them except for the large supermarkets. Still, at least that means that you can get food on the holiday although from the queues at the checkout on Saturday you’d think that the shops were going to be closed for a week or more.

Even some tourist attractions close on public holidays which would be a peculiar thing for them to do but then this is France so it shouldn’t surprise you too much that tourist attractions close on public holidays.

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