Warren, New Jersey; Newark, NJ; New York City, NY- Multiple questions about travel experiences

[rainbowgirl]

This is the first time I have posted anything in this section of the forum so I'll start by introducing myself as this will make the rest of the post make a lot more sense.

I am one of the unusual members of the Australian Frequent Flyer forum. I'm not actually a frequent flyer. I'm a points collector. I mostly collect points from supermarket loyalty programs and use them to save money on groceries. Along the way I have shared strategies about how to collect the most points and how to get the best targeted offers from the loyalty programs. I've saved hundreds of dollars on groceries and other AFF members have converted their supermarket points to frequent flyer points and redeemed for free flights. I wouldn't have been able to figure all of this out had it not been for other AFF members sharing their stories about the offers they had received from the loyalty programs and their insights into the workings behind the scenes. I'm hoping the community can help me out with some actual travel information.

I should also mention before I go into more detail about the travel plans that I am a very private person. I don't usually share personal details on the internet. I share enough information to give an indication of the picture but distort specific details. The information I'll supply here will be enough details for you to work with to come up with possible answers but won't be the exact truth. It also might not be completely consistent with other details I've shared in my Mildura thread or on the Off Topic thread.

My family and I are hoping to go to a wedding in late August this year. The wedding will be in Warren, New Jersey. We still have to work out some of the details so we can't book flights and accommodation just yet but we are looking for indication pricing and want to get a perspective of what we are letting ourselves in for. We would be staying less than a week as we won't be able to get much time off work and school. This thread will help me get together some information to present to Mr Rainbow about the viability of the trip which will hopefully persuade him that it will be a great experience for all of us and help us grow together to our immediate and extended family.

We are a family of four, Myself, Mr Rainbow, Miss 12 and Miss 9. Miss 12 and Miss 9 are both on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum. They have never been on a plane before but are eager to travel and love learning about other countries. The longest flights Mr Rainbow and I have been on were from Melbourne to Gold Coast on our honeymoon.

I have been looking at the Google Flights website trying to get a rough idea of prices of Melbourne to Newark and Melbourne to JFK New York City. Prices for airfares appear to cost more Melbourne to Newark rather than Melbourne to JFK although today's estimate for the dates in August I've selected August 22 for return on August 30 there is a flight to Newark which is cheaper. The prices seem to range from AUD$1500 to AUD$2000 although occasionally they appear under AUD$1500. Is this a realistic price for these routes? What's a ball park figure for a one hour or 55 mile taxi drive from JFK to Warren or Berkeley Heights? Do taxi drivers mind crossing state borders for fares or is it all part of the service in an area where the states are packed so close together? What are the tolls crossing the Hudson River like?

I've been looking at a few Google Maps of the area trying to figure things out. What is the perception of cities and towns and suburbs in the US around New York City? I am from Melbourne and have driven all around the city and suburbs at various times in my life. I consider Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula as part of Melbourne but Geelong as a separate town even though I could drive to either Geelong or Frankston in an hour. Are Newark and New York City one or two cities. Is it built up all the way between the two? What about between Newark and Warren or Berkeley Heights? These places feel close together but if it is built up and full of traffic it might take longer to get from one place to another than it would in the suburbs of Melbourne. Sometimes I wish I could overlay a map of Melbourne on a map of NYC and Newark to get some sort of idea of closeness.

I'm just trying to get my head around distances and ease of travel between 2 places. I have a friend in Hartford, Connecticut. I calculated the distance between her home and Newark, New Jersey. It's somewhere between 3 and 4 hours driving time for her based on a Google Maps estimate. I looked at the distance in kilometres and figured that if she was travelling between a capital city and a regional city in Australia she could cover that in about 2 hours, mostly on high quality freeway or highway. In this part of America she'd be driving through built up areas across 3 states. We don't really have anything equivalent to that in Australia. I hope to catch up with my friend if we do manage to get to America in August.

Okay, I think I was writing about flights. We are looking for a full service airline like Qantas. If I was going by myself I'd put up with a budget carrier but with the whole family and girls with special needs I think we'd be more comfortable with a full service carrier (is that the right term?) I'd prefer Qantas for various reasons. We all have QFF accounts so the points would be a nice bonus. I'd also like to support an Australian airline. If there are problems I'd feel better contacting an Australian airline rather than an international airline. I've heard bad reports about dealing with the Qantas call centre but I'm willing to put up with this. Most of the domestic flights I've been on have been with Qantas so I'm happy to stay with them.

Both of the Qantas flights I have seen have stopovers in Los Angeles. One has a 2 hours stopover at LAX and the other is 13 hours in Los Angeles. We have a friend in Los Angeles who could hopefully pick us up at the airport and have us over for the night. I'm not sure whether it is better or worse for Miss 9 and Miss 12 to have a long break between flights. I'm still figuring out how to get them through a long haul flight where they probably won't eat most of the airline food. Suggestions of what foods are safe to bring on planes would be helpful. We'll probably keep them amused with books, electronic games, in flight entertainment and singing. Hopefully they will sleep during some of the flight.

We have lots of options for accommodation. We were hoping for timeshare but on a quick search the only timeshare I can find is a place in Vernon, New Jersey,
Minerals Resort and Spa, Vernon, New Jersey Timeshare Sales & Rentals from My Resort Network
This is over an hours drive from the wedding venue and not close to either of the airports. I'll probably contact our exchange companies to see if they have anything closer available. The advantage of timeshare for us is that it will only cost a couple of hundred dollars for a whole weeks accommodation as we already have a week banked with the exchange companies.

Some of the guests will probably stay at Berkeley Heights.
Embassy Suites Berkeley Heights, New Jersey Hotel
I had a quick look at their bookings page and it looks like it would be over AUD$300 per night for a room with 2 queen beds. I'm not good with hotel booking pages or comparison websites so I could have missed something.

If I join the Hilton Honours program there is a special rate under $300 per night, around $280, I think. I have no problems with joining another loyalty program and I've always liked the Hilton brand even though I've never stayed at one of their hotels (I almost did once at a SciFi convention but the convention was cancelled). The only problem with booking this deal is that I have to pay now and there are no cancellations or variations allowed. This is a bit risky as the wedding date might change. $300 per night sounds too expensive for us. I was hoping for something like $100 to $200 per night. I'm not looking for luxury. I just want something safe and family friendly and reasonably close to the reception venue.

This is the reception and wedding ceremony venue.
Stone House at Stirling Ridge - NJ Restaurant and Wedding Venue

I don't know where or when the wedding rehearsal dinner is or whether that is still a thing. I've seen them on TV but I don't know if they really happen. If it is held just before the wedding then we should be able to go but if it is a week before we won't get there in time.

Maybe I'm crazy contemplating this whole idea but I'm hoping everything will work out.

If you have suggestions for any of the questions or other ideas for us, please let me know. I'll probably ask further questions down the track. I'm sure there are lots of things I haven't taken into consideration. I haven't priced passports or ESTA yet or factored food into the equation. Local sim cards???? Cheap phones so we don't take our primary phones and sims with us???? Who knows. Any thoughts are appreciated. We don't know what sight seeing we will do. Hopefully we will see things from the taxis.

 

[drron]

I'll try and give more specific answers later but I would say everyone should be invited to a New joisey wedding once in their life especially if one of the families is of Italian heritage.
My godson did that for me.An incredible time.I did a TR but before I was very adept at posting pics.
The godfather in New Joisey.

 

[Denali]

My 2c is that a 2hr layover stressed me out (and I had a Plan B if we missed the flight). You know your daughters but with change of routine, stress, time, crowds, security ect, I would err on the side of caution with a longer layover. I also wonder if a LAX hotel would be better so they arent forced to be social with a stranger/in a strange home, they can simply shower and rest. But you know your kids best and I could be completely wrong.

 

[rainbowgirl]

My 2c is that a 2hr layover stressed me out (and I had a Plan B if we missed the flight). You know your daughters but with change of routine, stress, time, crowds, security ect, I would err on the side of caution with a longer layover. I also wonder if a LAX hotel would be better so they arent forced to be social with a stranger/in a strange home, they can simply shower and rest. But you know your kids best and I could be completely wrong.

A hotel at the airport is my back up plan. My girls know my friend. They think he is very funny and would enjoy exploring a new house. They'd have trouble sleeping in any new bed so a private home would be no worse than a hotel. Thank you for your insight regarding a short or a long layover. I was thinking that a long layover in a bed would be better than rushing around and getting onto another plane. It sounds like I'm not alone in these thoughts.

 

[kookaburra75]

My 2c is that a 2hr layover stressed me out (and I had a Plan B if we missed the flight). You know your daughters but with change of routine, stress, time, crowds, security ect, I would err on the side of caution with a longer layover. I also wonder if a LAX hotel would be better so they arent forced to be social with a stranger/in a strange home, they can simply shower and rest. But you know your kids best and I could be completely wrong.

Ditto on the stopover in LAX - given yourself the breathing space otherwise you might get over-stressed even before you get to the wedding. A lot of moving parts but nothing that can't be overcome by a bit of planning and a relaxed approach to the 'adventure' - especially if it is a true Joisey wedding.

I've always stayed in Manhattan/Brooklyn, so I can't help out there. For mobile phones, I'm on Vodafone which has the $5/day roaming charge which means I keep numbers, access data etc. Although check the coverage in that area to make sure. For hotels, there is also the Staybridge Suites chain, part of IHG chain that provide a self contained apartments, which is handy for a family, plus self-cater and keep costs down and if you need to prepare special meals. Again, it's been a while, but having IHG Ambassador membership provides special rates and options.

All sounds like fun and would make an excellent trip report - so think of the rest of us who would love to read about it

 

[rainbowgirl]

I'll try and give more specific answers later but I would say everyone should be invited to a New joisey wedding once in their life especially if one of the families is of Italian heritage.
My godson did that for me.An incredible time.I did a TR but before I was very adept at posting pics.
The godfather in New Joisey.

I just started reading the thread. It looks like you were there about the same time of year as the wedding will be. I look forward to reading the rest of the report. I don't know the full background of the other family but there might be some Italian there. It won't be a large wedding. That's my feeling anyway. I could be wrong.

 

[JessicaTam]

Trip 1: Mildura
Trip 2: USA

I am impressed at how you have ramped up the travel, and am looking forward to how the trip develops.

 

[rainbowgirl]

Ditto on the stopover in LAX - given yourself the breathing space otherwise you might get over-stressed even before you get to the wedding. A lot of moving parts but nothing that can't be overcome by a bit of planning and a relaxed approach to the 'adventure' - especially if it is a true Joisey wedding.

I've always stayed in Manhattan/Brooklyn, so I can't help out there. For mobile phones, I'm on Vodafone which has the $5/day roaming charge which means I keep numbers, access data etc. Although check the coverage in that area to make sure. For hotels, there is also the Staybridge Suites chain, part of IHG chain that provide a self contained apartments, which is handy for a family, plus self-cater and keep costs down and if you need to prepare special meals. Again, it's been a while, but having IHG Ambassador membership provides special rates and options.

All sounds like fun and would make an excellent trip report - so think of the rest of us who would love to read about it

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm glad I put in the bit about short and long layovers. It looks like it's a good area to consider things and think about what is best for a family of four.

I must do some research on what a Joisey wedding is. It looks like I don't know what I'm getting into.

I'm having technical issues with my mobile phone and the security on our home network at the moment but I'm hoping to find a way around this by the time I get home from the trip. Once I get home I'll put the trip report together then. It won't be practical to do it while away.

 

[moa999]

Most of Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut is residential - in the style of most Melbourne / Sydney suburbs - i.e 1/2 story houses and streets - all part of the expansive New York area in my mind

Outside of Manhattan I think you'd really be bettetr in a rental car and likely to be more cost effective than cab/uber anyway over the trip. If you go into Manhattan for a day take the train.

On the layover - I'd be talking the 2hr version. (Presumably QF95 to QF11). While it might be a little stressful doing immigration, collecting rechecking bags and security, 11hrs quickly means probably only 7hrs in a hotel and an early wakeup which might be worse for the kids.

No idea about those specific properties but there are a lot of service apartment style hotel properties in the US that I would expect to be cheaper.

In that area I'd also be visiting Woodbury Common for shopping (about 30min from Vernon)

 

[Ausbt]

Sounds like a great wedding, the venue looks amazing. I've spent a bit of time in Joisey, given my firm has an office in Jersey City and clients all over NJ. You definitely want to fly into Newark if you can - JFK is a long way. Uber is far cheaper getting out of the airport, unless things have changed a lot of the taxis operate on fixed fares (eg USD$46 Newark to Jersey City ...+tolls + tip).

If you plan on a bit of shopping, try to get over to Morristown NJ which has a Century 21 https://www.c21stores.com/ and is also a pretty town. Jersey Mills is also good and I think sales tax is less in Jersey than NY.

 

[RooFlyer]

A few comments:

* Get the passports sorted as soon as you can. Not urgent, but something you can get out of the way early on. Then apply for your ESTAs, online and something else ticked off the list early. Make sure you get the legit ESTA site, not a fake one - come back and check if not sure.

* Airline. Qantas will probably serve you well, but don't get hung up on 'supporting the Australian airline'. Choose the price, schedule and comfort that suits you and your family. As an aside, don't ignore using one of the Gulf carriers, Emirates, Etihad or Qatar Airways and get to New York/Newark via the Gulf (ie going westwards). Never done it myself, but have a look, it might be better. You could post a specific question about it to get started if it looks a possible.

* Even have a look at, say, flying Cathay via HKG.

* Seating. When you have your airline/flight, I suggest you come back into a specific thread and ask about seating. There are good, better and worse choices. Seat guru can be OK as a check, but its getting less accurate about specific flights, I find.

* Layovers. I think a night at LAX would be a good idea (if you go that way). After a long flight with kids, to then clear customs and immigration, wait for next flight and then do another 5 or so hours would be very trying. And even if you do connect through, be wary about getting what they call the 'minimum connection time'. Allow about 4 hours, because if the inbound flight is late, you don't want to be stressing. If its all on the same ticket, you will be on another flight, but with 4 pax, the question is when. in fact, why not plan a couple of days in LAX? Disneyland, universal Studios ... I know its all $$ but really nice for the kids and to unwind after that long hop. @drron has done Disneyland with grandkids recently and might chime in on this bit.

If you do a night stopover at LAX, the friend would be great, but be aware that there are lots of hotels right at LAX; you get a 'shuttle' from the curb at the airport and they take you to check-in. Again, a cost, but the best for a 'quick crash' if you need it.

* Hotels. A good strategy is to book a flexible (ie cancellable, no penalty) room now, then keep looking for deals etc and then cancel the initial booking. Do you use Trip Advisor? They are good for seeing what hotels are actually around the area you want to stay in. The rates they quote are usually via booking.com and the like, but are a guide. Try to make it rank via reviews, not "tailored for you". Most of the reviews will by Americans who in my experience don't look at all the same things the same way as we in Australia do. Read them to see what they are on about.

Might be a good idea to post some specific questions in various threads as issues come up.

 

[RooFlyer]

Road and other travel.

In the US, people drive where we in Australia might fly. The freeways are very good and easy to use. I use Google maps 'directions' and find the estimated drive times are reasonable. Between Newark airport and warren, it gives abt 30 mins, but its time of day variable - there is a "depart at" option, so you can test it when you might actually want to do it.

(Just to give you some confidence if you do want to hire a car and drive. The 19 yo daughter of friends of mine went over to work on one of the vacation camp things over there. At the end, she and some friends went to New York, in a rental car. She, 19, never driven outside Australia, and not all that much there , was nominated to drive into New York. Not Manhattan, but close enough. Just as well she didn't tell anyone about that until well afterwards!)

Newark to Hartford, CT: Consider a train. This site will probably have some good info: The Man in Seat Sixty-One - the train travel guide... and here is Amtrac Amtrak Tickets, Schedules and Train Routes. More relaxing than driving for sure.

Also, thinking about a day or two in LA. If you do that, you can disconnect the Australia-LAX leg from the onward leg, and maybe get a separately ticketed direct flight into Newark with, say American (depends who operates into Newark).

 

[rainbowgirl]

A few comments:

* Get the passports sorted as soon as you can. Not urgent, but something you can get out of the way early on. Then apply for your ESTAs, online and something else ticked off the list early. Make sure you get the legit ESTA site, not a fake one - come back and check if not sure.

* Airline. Qantas will probably serve you well, but don't get hung up on 'supporting the Australian airline'. Choose the price, schedule and comfort that suits you and your family. As an aside, don't ignore using one of the Gulf carriers, Emirates, Etihad or Qatar Airways and get to New York/Newark via the Gulf (ie going westwards). Never done it myself, but have a look, it might be better. You could post a specific question about it to get started if it looks a possible.

* Even have a look at, say, flying Cathay via HKG.

* Seating. When you have your airline/flight, I suggest you come back into a specific thread and ask about seating. There are good, better and worse choices. Seat guru can be OK as a check, but its getting less accurate about specific flights, I find.

* Layovers. I think a night at LAX would be a good idea (if you go that way). After a long flight with kids, to then clear customs and immigration, wait for next flight and then do another 5 or so hours would be very trying. And even if you do connect through, be wary about getting what they call the 'minimum connection time'. Allow about 4 hours, because if the inbound flight is late, you don't want to be stressing. If its all on the same ticket, you will be on another flight, but with 4 pax, the question is when. in fact, why not plan a couple of days in LAX? Disneyland, universal Studios ... I know its all $$ but really nice for the kids and to unwind after that long hop. @drron has done Disneyland with grandkids recently and might chime in on this bit.

If you do a night stopover at LAX, the friend would be great, but be aware that there are lots of hotels right at LAX; you get a 'shuttle' from the curb at the airport and they take you to check-in. Again, a cost, but the best for a 'quick crash' if you need it.

* Hotels. A good strategy is to book a flexible (ie cancellable, no penalty) room now, then keep looking for deals etc and then cancel the initial booking. Do you use Trip Advisor? They are good for seeing what hotels are actually around the area you want to stay in. The rates they quote are usually via booking.com and the like, but are a guide. Try to make it rank via reviews, not "tailored for you". Most of the reviews will by Americans who in my experience don't look at all the same things the same way as we in Australia do. Read them to see what they are on about.

Might be a good idea to post some specific questions in various threads as issues come up.

Thanks for your thoughts. We'd love to stay longer in Los Angeles and visit Disneyland and Universal but I don't think budget and time will allow this. If things go well on this adventure, we'll save up and come back in a few years. We're all young at heart so we will enjoy Disneyland regardless of what age we are when we go back. I've been wanting to go to Disneyland since I was a child and I don't think I'll give up that dream for a long time.

I'll probably look at Trip Advisor or similar sites before I make bookings. At the moment I'm just trying to get a feel for what's out there and indicative prices and levels of comfort. Given the extended family circumstances which I won't go into, flexible hotel bookings would be the best thing for us at the moment so I'll look out for those conditions.

I haven't thought very much about seat positions yet. I hope we can all sit together but there aren't many places you can have 4 people side by side. The girls will probably want window seats so it might be two rows together, one adult and one child in each row and random people in the aisle seats.

 

[rainbowgirl]

Road and other travel.

In the US, people drive where we in Australia might fly. The freeways are very good and easy to use. I use Google maps 'directions' and find the estimated drive times are reasonable. Between Newark airport and warren, it gives abt 30 mins, but its time of day variable - there is a "depart at" option, so you can test it when you might actually want to do it.

(Just to give you some confidence if you do want to hire a car and drive. The 19 yo daughter of friends of mine went over to work on one of the vacation camp things over there. At the end, she and some friends went to New York, in a rental car. She, 19, never driven outside Australia, and not all that much there , was nominated to drive into New York. Not Manhattan, but close enough. Just as well she didn't tell anyone about that until well afterwards!)

Newark to Hartford, CT: Consider a train. This site will probably have some good info: The Man in Seat Sixty-One - the train travel guide... and here is Amtrac Amtrak Tickets, Schedules and Train Routes. More relaxing than driving for sure.

Also, thinking about a day or two in LA. If you do that, you can disconnect the Australia-LAX leg from the onward leg, and maybe get a separately ticketed direct flight into Newark with, say American (depends who operates into Newark).

I've been told it's about 30 minutes drive from Newark to Warren so your thoughts seem to confirm that. I don't think we'll be hiring a car. It's possible my brother might hire a vehicle. If he considers doing this I'll ask if he can hire a 7 or 8 seater vehicle so we can do some of the travelling together. He'll probably arrive on a different date but at least we can carpool for the wedding functions and any gatherings at private houses.

If it is only 30 minutes drive from Newark to Warren, is Warren considered a suburb of Newark or a separate town. If I was to drive 30 minutes from Tullamarine (Melbourne airport), most of the time I would still be in Melbourne. If I went due north I'd be in regional Victoria. This is where I'm trying to get my head around the type of culture and layout we are going into.

I've heard the drive/fly stories the other way around where people in the US will take flights which are in the air for a few minutes where we in Australia would drive. I could be wrong of course.

 

[rainbowgirl]

If we need to travel for a few hours when we're in the Eastern States of the US we'll probably use the train option.

 

[rainbowgirl]

As far as I know the figures I have quoted for flights above are round trip prices. It says return trip on the Google flights web page so I'm guessing that means both ways. I can bring up details of the flight over but can't figure out how to bring up the return flight details even though I've set a return date.

 

[rainbowgirl]

The hotel in Berkeley Heights suggests that the best room for 2 adults and 2 children is their King Studio Suite.

This has 1 King bed.

I can't bring up a picture of a King bed from the booking.com website. The rooms with 2 Queen beds are more expensive for 5 nights than the King bed room above. It's currently quoting AUD $1741 for the King Studio Suite for 5 nights or AUD $1884 if we want the flexible rate where we can cancel the booking.

Does anyone know how big a King bed is in the US and whether it has one or two sleeping areas?

 

[rainbowgirl]

The hotel in Berkeley Heights suggests that the best room for 2 adults and 2 children is their King Studio Suite.

This has 1 King bed.

I can't bring up a picture of a King bed from the booking.com website. The rooms with 2 Queen beds are more expensive for 5 nights than the King bed room above. It's currently quoting AUD $1741 for the King Studio Suite for 5 nights or AUD $1884 if we want the flexible rate where we can cancel the booking.

Does anyone know how big a King bed is in the US and whether it has one or two sleeping areas?

Okay, I did some more digging on the hotel's website and discovered that the one room suites have a king bed plus a couch which opens up as a queen size sofa bed. The girls can share the sofa bed. They'll really have fun. I hope all this happens. The quote directly from the hotel website was $1645 for 5 nights flexible booking.

 

[Ausbt]

If it is only 30 minutes drive from Newark to Warren, is Warren considered a suburb of Newark or a separate town

Warren is a town, so the area is very distinct from metro Newark as a city. You must be from VIC, so dare I compare it to Sunbury? No, it's nothing like Sunbury but the distance and separation might equate somewhat, although Sunbury is closer to Tullamarine distance-wise. Actually wasn't VIC's number plate slogan 'The Garden State' at one stage? (prior to VIC - on the move *to another state* ). Well NJ is the real Garden State. Although some say that's because they couldn't think of a better slogan or actually anything to really distinguish NJ for.

I've spent a reasonable amount of time in NJ. Quite a big State, and you have low mountains and bears in the NW and some (sort-of-decent) beaches on the Shores, even a bit of surf-culture. Drive around for a while and you'll discover lots of different towns, some of course relatively boringly suburban and others with a lot of historical charm.

With regard hotel bookings, I'm not completely across this but my wife seems to assure me that Booking.com has some sort of 'genius' level membership (free to join) where if you sign up you can find a larger selection of hotels with no cancellation charges or cost penalties (ie where the no refund rate is the same as the cancellation-option rate). We've recently been putting together six weeks in Europe and it seems to check out - I have a preference for Agoda but haven't been able to beat her booking.com deals on cost that seem to offer more flex. Maybe look into it.

 

[Denali]

Ouch, those accommodation prices are high. Any AirBNB superhosts in the area?