I prefer and usually fly Virgin when I go back home to New York. I just returned after visiting for Thanksgiving and both flights were good with a small delay on the return due to two passengers who checked in but failed to show up for the flight -- who does that?
My friends and I joke that you never meet any native born British people in London and now I know why. They’re all flying off to New York for the shopping. After 2-1/2 years in London, this is the first time I felt truly amongst the British people. The plane was packed with ‘em! I think I was the only American on the plane.
I don't know if you can get a good deal given how close it is to Christmas but one plus with Virgin, especially when you're travelling with family is that they offer in-seat video/audio with a choice of over 40 movies, TV shows, video games and audio.
I stayed with family but I looked at some hotels out of curiosity and what a shocker! Even with the favourable exchange rate the prices seemed like a mortgage payment. A work colleague will go to NYC next week and she’s staying across the river in New Jersey at a hotel that offers shuttle-bus service into Manhattan. There’s also been an explosion of hotels that have opened in downtown Brooklyn and Long Island City Queens, just over the river on the New York side, that are accessible to the city via the subway (though I have to say LIC is in the process of gentrifying and looks a bit on the rough side).
