Thrifty holidaymaker claims weekend in New York cost 'same as day out in London' - after flying to big apple 'for free'

Owen Willis had dreamed of visiting New York, US, so used all 50,000 of his British Airways reward points to pay for the costly flights just three days before departure. The 23-year-old rushed to London Heathrow Airport after work in March, slept on the plane then landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 11pm EDT.

He partied at nightclubs until 3am then got some sleep before checking out at 9am to walk 40,000 steps exploring New York's iconic sights. Owen crossed Brooklyn Bridge, visited Grand Central train station, took a stroll through Central Park and even tried one of the famous city's signature bagels.

The marketing worker dodged baggage fees by only taking a small bum bag to hold a spare pair of boxers, some toiletries and a phone charger. He had planned to return on Sunday but an acquaintance at a bar convinced him to delay his flight until the next day.

Luckily the switch was free so he arrived back at his London home with two hours to shower and get to work on Monday morning. Owen says his insane trip, including accommodation, food and drink and transport, cost just £443.90 which he says is the same as he's spent in a day at London festivals.

Owen, from Canada Water, 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. I was like, this could be kind of fun to spend 24 hours in New York.

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 1:00 am 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.

I've actually never done a day trip because I always think that if I'm going to spend money on the flight I might as well make the most of it. But I'd heard that New York was really expensive so thought maybe it's better just to go and get a taste of it.

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. Owen describes himself as an avid collector of Avios points, which is the currency of British Airways' reward scheme, and has earned them by using his American Express card.

His return flights usually costs around £1,300 for a return but he got his tickets for free using his points and only had to pay a £100 flight tax. The thrifty traveller used Chat GPT to make an itinerary for the day and after about five hours of sleep he checked out of his hotel and explored New York.

Owen visited a bar to charge his phone later that day and met someone who convinced him to change the flight, to Sunday. He says he would definitely do something like the whistle-stop trip again despite the rush on Monday morning.

Owen said: 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.

COST OF OWEN'S WEEKEND IN NEW YORK

• Flight tax: £100
• Esim card: £17
• Transport to Manhattan: £9.15
• Hotel room: £150
• Subway tickets: £6.75
• Drinks: £56
• Food: £93
• Coffee: £12

= Total: £443.90