NYC vs. Switzerland

A

Andrew Beall

Level 2 Member
I need to use up some Hyatt free nights by the end of March and am trying to decide between Park Hyatt NYC and Park Hyatt Zurich. I narrowed it down to these two because I also have 2 Fairmont free nights and can use those as well. My wife will apply for the Hyatt card soon and I'll add another 30k points to get us 5 nights at either Hyatt in addition to two Fairmont nights.

The main downside to NYC is having to split up the Fairmont nights since the Plaza doesn't allow you to use both together. That's assuming we could find availability, preferably the first and last nights of our trip. We would us Avios to fly from ATL which would end up being 30k total.

If we go to Switzerland we'll probably transfer 100k MR to Flying Blue (unless a promo award becomes available) and fly into Geneva. We would take the train Montreux, stay 2 nights at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, take the train to Zurich, stay 5 nights at the Park Hyatt Zurich, and fly back to Atlanta from Zurich.

Neither my wife or I have ever been to either NYC or Switzerland, and both sound fun. For those of you who have been either/or, what are some can't miss things to do/see? If we go to Switzerland we might want to go skiing. We want to see the 911 Museum in NYC. Other than that I'm not really sure, I know there will be plenty to do either way though.
 
Matt

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Personally I wouldn't stay in Zurich more than 1-2 days... I do like Switzerland, but prefer the smaller, more scenic towns there. Basel, Lucerne, St Moritz etc.

NYC is a different beast, there is a ton of things to do. Though it is hard to suggest an itinerary right off the bat.. Great food, museums, theatre..

Couple of things that you might consider:

  • Sleep No More http://www.sleepnomore.com/#share this is in a hotel downtown, they have live actors and you walk through the rooms of the hotel to the theme of Macbeth...
  • http://www.smorgasburg.com/ head into Brooklyn - this place is a short walk from DUMBO (Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn side)
  • You can get great views on the way in to DUMBO as the subway goes overground on the bridges here, so you can see Liberty and the skyline.
  • Lots of museums near the Park Hyatt, note that most are 'pay what you can afford' and some are free on certain days.
  • I'd also suggest getting signed up for Groupon, because the deals are pretty good and there are lots of NY options. Have to set NY as a city. I've done this a few times now when traveling, eg setting up for Nashville local deals etc..
 
A

Andrew Beall

Level 2 Member
Matt said:
Personally I wouldn't stay in Zurich more than 1-2 days... I do like Switzerland, but prefer the smaller, more scenic towns there. Basel, Lucerne, St Moritz etc.

NYC is a different beast, there is a ton of things to do. Though it is hard to suggest an itinerary right off the bat.. Great food, museums, theatre..

Couple of things that you might consider:

  • Sleep No More http://www.sleepnomore.com/#share this is in a hotel downtown, they have live actors and you walk through the rooms of the hotel to the theme of Macbeth...
  • http://www.smorgasburg.com/ head into Brooklyn - this place is a short walk from DUMBO (Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn side)
  • You can get great views on the way in to DUMBO as the subway goes overground on the bridges here, so you can see Liberty and the skyline.
  • Lots of museums near the Park Hyatt, note that most are 'pay what you can afford' and some are free on certain days.
  • I'd also suggest getting signed up for Groupon, because the deals are pretty good and there are lots of NY options. Have to set NY as a city. I've done this a few times now when traveling, eg setting up for Nashville local deals etc..
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Thanks! I don't know much at all about Switzerland, so I appreciate the input. Maybe we will plan another trip to Switzerland later and plan to stay in some smaller towns. We had originally planned NYC, but I was just looking at other options. Unfortunately I didn't realize the Plaza doesn't accept two free night certs before I got the card - it was an afterthought on the same day I got my CSP. I can always use some SPG points if I need to, but then I'll just need to take another trip to use the Fairmont nights lol. Not a huge deal though.
 
Confectioneer

Confectioneer

San Francisco Bay Area
I liked Zurich, but agree 2 days is plenty. You can easily get to other cities within Switzerland, but if a goal is to use up PH nights have you considered another European city? Vienna is just an overnight train trip away.
 
sriki

sriki

Level 2 Member
PH Vienna is pretty high up there for me too along with PH Milan.

I would suggest Swiss over NY. There are lot of cool little small towns you can stay at or places like St. Gallen, Lucerne, etc. Driving from Zurich to Milan (more like up to Lugano) is also great if you are so inclined.
 
A

Andrew Beall

Level 2 Member
sriki said:
PH Vienna is pretty high up there for me too along with PH Milan.

I would suggest Swiss over NY. There are lot of cool little small towns you can stay at or places like St. Gallen, Lucerne, etc. Driving from Zurich to Milan (more like up to Lugano) is also great if you are so inclined.
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Small towns are pretty much out of the question for this trip since the purpose is to use up the Hyatt free night certs. The main reason I was looking at Switzerland is because I want to use up my two Fairmont nights as well without having to travel too far between hotels. I guess a couple nights in Zurich and the last few nights in Milan would be possible though. I've never driven in Europe (or anywhere outside the US), so not too sure about driving. It would probably be more stressful than anything. I would likely just take the train.

Thanks for the suggestions though everyone, I am definitely going to check out the PH Milan. We have some time before we need to decide.
 
smittytabb

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
Andrew Beall said:
Small towns are pretty much out of the question for this trip since the purpose is to use up the Hyatt free night certs. The main reason I was looking at Switzerland is because I want to use up my two Fairmont nights as well without having to travel too far between hotels. I guess a couple nights in Zurich and the last few nights in Milan would be possible though. I've never driven in Europe (or anywhere outside the US), so not too sure about driving. It would probably be more stressful than anything. I would likely just take the train.

Thanks for the suggestions though everyone, I am definitely going to check out the PH Milan. We have some time before we need to decide.
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The area near Montreux is particularly gorgeous. Switzerland is a really nice destination. I really like both Milan and New York, but if I were trying to get away I would do Switzerland. It depends on what you want from this trip. I understand about driving. I never drive in Europe. My husband and children do, but I don't want to mess with it. Trains are a good option, but I would check out the routings before I decided to connect between cities. Check out the Man in Seat 61 website for all things trains.
 
P

PointSeeker07

Level 2 Member
We plan on doing Zurich next March ourselves but its more of a jump off spot for the rest of our Europe trip. Doing only a night or 2 before heading to Spain, Paris, then back to Zurich before heading home
 
A

Andrew Beall

Level 2 Member
I think at this point we're leaning more towards Switzerland. We will probably do Milan as well thanks to the suggestions here. We're still young with no kids and figure we can do NYC any time in the future.

I'm thinking I will transfer 100k MR to Flying Blue, assuming no promo awards open up before then. From what I've gathered this seems like the best MR partner? Other than the MR the only miles I have currently are 53k Avios and 37k AA (split between 2 accounts). I'll do some MS on the Arrival + to cover the train costs.

I should have enough Hyatt points when my statement closes, and my wife will apply for the Hyatt card soon. We'll meet the minimum spend quickly and hopefully have enough time to book. We plan on flying to Zurich or Milan first, whichever works out better. We'll stay two nights at Park Hyatt Zurich, two nights at Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, and three nights at Park Hyatt Milan.

I guess I should probably book the rooms first since there is a fee for cancelling or changing Flying Blue awards? I checked yesterday and it looks like there is still availability for flights and all of the hotels around our expected dates. We're flexible, just need to use my two Hyatt nights before March 31.
 
A

Andrew Beall

Level 2 Member
My wife ended up not getting approved for the Hyatt card. I'm thinking we may just skip Zurich altogether and use some SPG points for a couple nights at The Westin Palace Milan. It looks like a great deal for 12k Starpoints a night considering the nightly rate for the dates I checked was about $630. I'm thinking we'll use Flying Blue miles to fly into Geneva, spend two nights at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, then head to Milan and stay three nights at the Park Hyatt Milan and two nights at The Westin Palace Milan and fly back to Atlanta from there.
 
K

kampung

Level 2 Member
Yes Swiss is really beautiful and i would suggest doing that.. As mentioned by others, u should check out Lucerne and Lugano/Locarno, very calm and scenic. Another popular tourist spot is Interlaken, approx 2hr drive from Zurich. Its famous for the Jungfraujoch, known as Top of Europe with the highest railway station in Europe which highlight the marvel of Swiss Engineering (on how they made the tunnel in 1920s) while nearby quaint towns of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunner are a must see if u are there.

Montreux is also very nice, i really liked the ambience there. If you are going there, you can also cover Geneva, since its not too far (approx 60miles). Personally i didnt like Basel, didnt have the feel like other cities as its more an industrial city (HQ for Novartis and CIBA, now BASF), though some do like the sights/sounds by the Rhine river.

Driving there is really easy, just make sure to follow the speed warning religiously. The Swiss are well known for tracking you down to serve you the fine (though i have been somewhat lucky). This way, you have dont have to follow specific timetable and you can stop wherever whenever. The trains of course are a great alternative, excellent service and not to mention with Swiss timing punctuality ( i learned the hard way, missed the train as i was 2 min late). Actually their entire public transportation system (buses. tram etc) is fantastic, probably the best i have seen.

The interesting thing is that if you visit all the 3 parts of Swiss, you'll experience 3 different languages - German-north (basel/zurich), French-south (geneva/montreux) and Italian -east(lugano).
 
A

Andrew Beall

Level 2 Member
Booked the trip today! Thanks everyone for all the tips. I transferred 100k MR points to Flying Blue to book our flights. We're flying from Atlanta to Milan and flying back from Geneva. Staying two nights at The Westin Palace Milan (24k SPG), three nights at the Park Hyatt Milan (2 free nights certs and 30k UR), and two nights at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace (2 free night certs) in Switzerland. We're going in early-mid March. I was a little worried it wouldn't work out when I called Fairmont and they had no availability in March, but the rep somehow ended up finding two days. We had to switch the order of our trip to get the flights to work out right (Italy first instead of Switzerland). There were no problems booking the Westin or Park Hyatt though.
 
sriki

sriki

Level 2 Member
Andrew Beall said:
Booked the trip today! Thanks everyone for all the tips. I transferred 100k MR points to Flying Blue to book our flights. We're flying from Atlanta to Milan and flying back from Geneva. Staying two nights at The Westin Palace Milan (24k SPG), three nights at the Park Hyatt Milan (2 free nights certs and 30k UR), and two nights at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace (2 free night certs) in Switzerland. We're going in early-mid March. I was a little worried it wouldn't work out when I called Fairmont and they had no availability in March, but the rep somehow ended up finding two days. We had to switch the order of our trip to get the flights to work out right (Italy first instead of Switzerland). There were no problems booking the Westin or Park Hyatt though.
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It makes me smile when a plan like this comes together. It's a bit into the future but have fun.
 
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