Thrifty Brit's holiday to New York cost less than London day out
Owen Willis rushed to Heathrow after work and landed in New York at 11pm before partying all night, cramming in all the sights, and still making it into the office on Monday
A penny-pinching traveller claims his wild weekend in New York cost no more than a day out in London - after jetting off to The Big Apple 'without spending a penny'.
Owen Willis had always dreamt of visiting New York, US, so he cashed in all 50,000 of his British Airways reward points to cover the pricey flights just three days before take-off. The 23-year-old dashed to London Heathrow Airport straight from work last month [March 28], caught some shut-eye on the plane and touched down at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 11pm EDT.
He hit the nightclubs until 3am, grabbed a few hours sleep before checking out at 9am to embark on a 40,000-step tour of New York's famous landmarks. Owen traversed Brooklyn Bridge, popped into Grand Central train station, enjoyed a leisurely walk through Central Park and even sampled one of the city's renowned bagels.
The marketing employee avoided luggage fees by only carrying a small bum bag containing a spare pair of boxers, toiletries and a phone charger. He initially planned to fly back on Sunday, but a chance meeting at a bar persuaded him to postpone his flight until the following day.
Fortunately, the change was free of charge, allowing him to return to his London home with just two hours to freshen up and head to work on Monday morning. Owen reckons his 'crazy' trip, including accommodation, food and drink, and transport, set him back £443.90, which he equates to his typical spend for a day at London festivals.
Owen, hailing from Canada Water in South East London, said: "New York's been on my bucket list for so long and I really wanted to go but I work in a corporate job so annual leave is obviously limited. I always try to make the most of my weekends and do things that don't require me to take time off.
"I've been an avid Avios collector for the past two years and a return flight to New York was 50,000 Avios and £100 in taxes. It was super last-minute just because I really wanted to and I was having major holiday blues so I thought, 'what's the best cure for holiday blues? It's another holiday.'
I was feeling really anxious at the airport. I was just like, 'this is actually insane what I'm doing.' I arrived at my hotel and checked in about 1am but I just opened the hotel room, sat down and left again. I went straight to Hell's Kitchen area where there's a lot of gay bars. I had a great time and then I was really tired so I went back to the hotel at 3.30am."
While the trip may seem expensive to some, Owen claims it is a relatively small amount, given how much he forks out on events in his home city. "I've done day festivals in London where I've spent probably the same amount of money when you factor in the ticket, transport and drinks," he said.
The frugal globetrotter tapped into Chat GPT to craft his day's agenda and post five hours of shut-eye, checked out from his hotel to soak in New York's bustling vibes. Later, whilst juicing up his phone at a bar, he encountered a persuasive local who talked him into shifting his return flight to Sunday.
Despite the manic Monday morning, Owen professed he'd jump at the chance to do a rapid round-trip again, quipping: "I had the quickest shower of my life, got changed and just went straight to the office at 9am. It was insane to tick something like that off my bucket list and I would definitely now go back to New York.
"I'd go for longer now I know the places to go and I have people to see now, which is good fun. I would 100% do something like this again."
Here's a breakdown of what Owen's bite-sized Big Apple adventure cost him:
Flight tax: £100.
Esim card: £17.
Journey to Manhattan: £9.15.
Hotel stay: £150.
Subway fare: £6.75.
Beverages: £56.
Food: £93.
Coffee: £12.
Grand total: £443.90.
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