NYC Travel Mistakes: What NOT to Do in New York City

traveling to New York City can be stressful if you don't pre-plan and in today's video I'm going to share some travel mistakes you want to avoid on your next trip here some of these are really common here we go I want you to imagine you spent all this time and money to fly to New York City and you get to the airport and you didn't plan how you were going to get to your hotel this is actually more common than you would think the New York City airports they're not like Amsterdam where there's one train

that'll take you into the city center okay wait there is a JFK the Long Island Railroad Five Dollar City Pass major major travel hack a lot of people don't know about but when you come to the area airports plan out how you're getting to your hotel will it be a taxi will it be an Uber Revel or Lyft from LaGuardia the options are a little bit more limited and that's why I always urge people to plan ahead how they're getting to their hotel because that's just one less stress you don't want to deal with on

your first day in the city if you need to buy a metro card in New York City and you're not from the United States listen carefully if you're paying by credit card it's going to ask you for a zip code put in 9999 it's five nines and you'll be okay to complete that transaction I've heard about some foreign tours getting a little bit confused what they're supposed to do because they don't have an American zip code just one less mistake you're gonna make here see our Subway guide video about using omnipay it is so easy

another mistake walking through Central Park and not thinking you were going to smell horse manure it could be pretty strong the clockwise Subway door mistake I actually have to thank action kid for bringing this to my attention now when you go underground to the subway and you see those High entrance moving Gates if you swipe and you go the wrong way it's going to lock you out and you're gonna lose that credit now this is confusing because you actually have to go counterclockwise inside of these Gates and don't even get me started on trying to

bring luggage through them so my best advice is if you see those and you're a little confused just use a regular Subway entrance I don't even like using them that much or just watch other people going through them first but yes there are ways you can lose money on that thank you action kid it is a mistake not to look where you're walking in Manhattan maybe you come from some small town or city even that really is clean New York City not so much the case some owners don't clean up after their dogs and there's

all sorts of trash and random litter on the sidewalks you are asking for trouble if you walk around Manhattan in flip-flops just don't and always look where you're walking because you're guaranteed to step in some weird stuff if you don't and speaking of watching where you're walking be extra careful when you're walking down the steps on the New York City subway when it's wet when it's raining when it's snowing it can be very slippery and some of the steps just aren't in good shape they can be a little bit uneven be extra careful there there

are some apps that I think would be a mistake not to have on your phone if you are visiting New York City and we're going to talk about two of them right now the first Google Maps now wait everybody has Google Maps at least most people do but there's one little trick that so many of you told me about that I even didn't mess with in the past and that's downloading a map of New York City offline and it's actually really simple to do with the app this way in theory you don't need data service

when you're here because the GPS is going to work no matter what even if you have data let's say you're in a location that doesn't have cell service this is still clutch I just started using the app seated and while we cover a lot of Cheap Eats on the channel this is a way to save some money eating at more expensive places seated shows you restaurants on a map that offer you a percentage of your build total right back to you after you eat and I could show you this example here Panda 39 near Bryant

Park in Manhattan offering 20 percent back so let's say you split dinner and drinks for four people and it comes out to 200 pre-tax and tip you'll get forty dollars in credit right to your phone you either have to share a photo of the receipt or you can pre-link your credit card and you can use these credits for Airbnb for Ubers for Amazon gift cards there are so many options here and as a special bonus use my referral code John 28 to get 20 off your first meal so it's really cool because if I don't

know where to eat I just checked seated and see like what are the best percentages nearby Wherever I Go can read the ratings and make a little money back it would be a mistake to only walk or take the subway wall in New York there's a lot of cool alternate Transit options we'll start with the ferry now we just shot a video rightfully titled this four dollar boat ride is New York's best kept secret because it kind of is the NYC Ferry is used by commuters and not too many tourists and the one route I

think needs to be a requirement is from Pier 11 Wall Street over to Dumbo in Brooklyn it takes less than five minutes and in my opinion is worth five times the four dollar charge there's also the route to Frog's neck in the Bronx which as far as I'm concerned is the best cheap sightseeing option in the city check out that video for more details a lot of times a New York city buses are a good option especially if you're staying outside of Manhattan but even in the city going across town let's say through right here

in Central Park you can also ride via omnipay or with a metro card and the routes are available on Google Maps so if you're hesitant about the subway consider the bus I haven't really given enough love to city bikes on the channel and after we shot a video about the best things to do in New York in the summer but we biked all over the city I didn't realize how far the city's bike Lanes have come now I would not advise renting a city bike if you were a novice if you have experience biking in

bigger cities I think you could handle it it's a cheap way and it's a healthy way to see New York without having to rely on mass transit but I do advise being careful about other motorists and maybe more so pedestrians in the city not paying attention to that bike lane it would be a mistake to only eat in Times Square when there is a great neighborhood right next door in Hell's Kitchen I understand if your hotel is in Times Square and you're tired you've been sightseeing all day just seeing the Olive Garden makes you feel

at peace but don't do it all right I admit I am a sucker for bubble gum shrimp's happy hour it was pretty good but if you just walk two Avenues over you will hit 9th Ave and Ninth Ave I think is one of the most underrated food strips in all of Manhattan easy paella one of my favorite restaurants in the city is there zarali which is a Dominican Lunch Spot pretty cheap also on that stretch so walking 9th Ave you're gonna feel more like a local New Yorker you're going to go to restaurants that aren't

all changed and you're going to have more of that authentic experience which I think is why you're traveling to New York in the first place if you enjoy this Channel and want to save time planning and avoid the tourist traps consider shopping our New York City Guides these work on your phone have built-in GPS with maps we've got itineraries places to eat and a whole lot more use code bar 20 for 20 off your purchase this is our only sale of the entire year see the link Down Below in the description this one's controversial but

I think a mistake in Central Park is taking a horse-drawn carriage ride now I understand the appeal of this it's been around since the 19th century you've got that vision of the Romantic horse-drawn carriage but keep this in mind last summer one of the horses collapsed from heat exhaustion there's other similar stories out there so I'm not going to tell you what to do but really do your homework on this practice I personally wouldn't take one of those carriages and I don't think your New York trip is incomplete if you do skip them instead if

you want the same tour in Central Park I recommend a pedicab now you might be thinking wait didn't you mention pedicabs as a potential scam in one of your videos and I did but the rip-off there would be just jumping blindly on a pedicab in Midtown Manhattan without negotiating a price first because some of them are very costly on a permanent basis but what I really recommend are some of the top pedicabs in the city who do specialized tours it would be a mistake not to pre-book an observation deck if you have a very tight

timeline and I actually got this from a viewer not sure if this counts but we booked the summit one Vanderbilt a few weeks in advance for 9 A.M today we were there 15 minutes early in the second group to go up and it was really chill as we moved through the rooms it was even empty in a few of them as people were spread out all right this is very solid advice not just for New York City but like theme parks in general or any attractions if you want to make sure you get some of

the best photos outside of going with all the crowds at Sunset go first thing in the morning especially if the weather is cooperating if you're in that first group you will get the best pictures especially at a spot like Summit when Vanderbilt which I've heard lately is getting super crowded excellent advice it would be a mistake not to utilize Rush tickets for Broadway shows if you really want to save a lot of money now we have harp time and time again about the tkts booth in Times Square to get discounted tickets for Broadway shows but

what we really haven't talked about are Rush tickets which in the past involved going to the theater the day of the show in the morning and getting in line for unsold seats now some Select theaters still do this but many now have digital lotteries and how it works is the day before the show you simply enter your name on the app and it's just like going to the theater early I found this article at broadwayworld.com it's a really good breakdown of each Show's policies I I do have a warning about this most of them have

a cap of two tickets so if you're a big group it could be tricky and sometimes they'll even separate you from the other person that you're with this is actually perfect if you're by yourself personally I find Hamilton the musical to have the coolest one they offer 10 Rush tickets ten dollars like Hamilton the bill you could attempt Rush tickets from a box office or app in the morning and if that fails go to the tkts booth a few blocks away if you have the time and you're just dead set on cheap tickets and I

am curious if any of you seen Back to the Future yet I'm really wondering how that show is now that you know what mistakes to avoid I want to talk about these popular New York City attractions and if they're worth your time watch this video it could save you some money to see if these popular attractions are worth it or not head here next