Boston...

Hi All

Thinking of taking my mum abroad for some xmas shopping and have reserved a booking today out on the new 787 in Upper for a few nights in December to Boston.

Having not been there before just need to know if its good to go for xmas shopping and a few days of R&R and if so where is good to stay?

Will the 787 be good - not flow VS for a while so not sure if the Upper is going to be great?

Cheers
Nick

Hi Nick

Boston is a lovely and relatively contained city, with nowhere that far from anywhere else. I'm sure that many opinions will be ventured as to specific recommendations.

As to UC on the 787, who can say? On a positive note they have stuck to a three across config (rather than cramming four as on the A330) and there have been more than a few good reviews on general UC service levels lately.

Thanks PJH - thats useful. I didnt know they had done on the A330, that must be very tight indeed. In two minds as the same flights on the same day are £1050 in BA Club or £1400 in Virgin Upper both using relatively same miles. The BA flight times are slightly better too!

As pjh stated, Boston is a pretty small well contained city with lots to do and see and a great place to visit.
Not 100% sure it would be my no.1 place to visit for shopping. You have the normal "Big" stores, Macy's etc.
Are you after a flight on the new dreamliner or to shop??
If you want to shop in that part of of the world then if it was me, I would be tempted to hire a rental car for the day, drive up to the border between Mass and New Hampsire. There are malls on the borders and NH is a no Sales Tax state on many items thus your converted $$$'s will go a lot further.
Only my two cents worth. Whatever you plan to do, Boston is a great city.....

Boston is meant to be great for shopping- both big names and smaller boutiques with individuality.

It is also the "capital" of New England and there is LOTS of money up there so I guess they have plenty on offer for a Christmas shop.

Saying that I have never been but will be there in the Fall. We chose the Commonwealth Hotel, largely because it was No1 on Tripadvisor! But is handy for the Red Sox. Not sure if they are playing when I am there though

Boston is meant to be great for shopping- both big names and smaller boutiques with individuality.

It is also the "capital" of New England and there is LOTS of money up there so I guess they have plenty on offer for a Christmas shop.

Saying that I have never been but will be there in the Fall. We chose the Commonwealth Hotel, largely because it was No1 on Tripadvisor! But is handy for the Red Sox. Not sure if they are playing when I am there though

The BaseBall normally ends end of Aug. Any later and you will be in prime football season

Maximus : Boston is beautiful in the fall. We did a day trip coach tour out to NH and the colours there were indescribable and simply awesome. Boston common and parks were lovely as the leaves were just turning mid-October. Enjoy

Npe81 : Boston just before Christmas (we did December 11-17th) was a wonderful experience. The shops are decorated so beautifully and everyone was so friendly and in the festive mood. The shops in the Prudential Centre were well decorated.

If you get time, go out to the real upscale Mall at Chestnut Hill, not too far out of Boston. We went by train and got a taxi from the station. It was a really nice Mall with Bloomindales, Tiffany's & lots of more up market shops. A very different Mall experience. Enjoy you trip

Maximus : Boston is beautiful in the fall. We did a day trip coach tour out to NH and the colours there were indescribable and simply awesome. Boston common and parks were lovely as the leaves were just turning mid-October. Enjoy

Thanks. Really looking forward to it. We are driving around New England after a couple of days in Boston, taking in all the NE states. Hoping to get some excellent photos of the autumnal landscape. I shall post them on my return

Hi,
First time poster on here, however as a huge Boston Sports fan, and having visited there in March last year with Virgin, thought I might make a little post.
With regards to shopping, in the city you have the Prudential Centre as well as another, higher end shopping centre not too far away from there (Can't for the life of me remember the name of the second one though ) Around this if I remember rightly there are a few streets with other stores on so if you are wanting to stop in the city for your xmas shopping, I'm sure there'll be plenty on offer. As already said by another poster, you'll be there in the middle of Football season, however the Patriots play a little outside of Boston, but within the city, the Bruins (Ice Hockey) and Celtics (Basketball) will also be in the middle of their seasons.
As a Bruins fan, jealousy is all I feel right now as I'd love to go back, and one day I will...
Hope that helps anyway and enjoy your time there!

Hi,
First time poster on here, however as a huge Boston Sports fan, and having visited there in March last year with Virgin, thought I might make a little post.
With regards to shopping, in the city you have the Prudential Centre as well as another, higher end shopping centre not too far away from there (Can't for the life of me remember the name of the second one though ) Around this if I remember rightly there are a few streets with other stores on so if you are wanting to stop in the city for your xmas shopping, I'm sure there'll be plenty on offer. As already said by another poster, you'll be there in the middle of Football season, however the Patriots play a little outside of Boston, but within the city, the Bruins (Ice Hockey) and Celtics (Basketball) will also be in the middle of their seasons.
As a Bruins fan, jealousy is all I feel right now as I'd love to go back, and one day I will...
Hope that helps anyway and enjoy your time there!

Welcome to the site and thanks for the info. Ice Hockey or Basketball sounds great. Not sure we will get time though as only in Boston for 2 nights before heading up to Maine.

Thanks all. Great advice. I actually decided on BA Club for the cheaper price and will spend the money on Xmas presents! Can't wait now and mum will love it!

I'm in Boston now and having a super time. Walked down to Faneuil Hall / Quincy Market yesterday... via Macy's. They were having a one day sale with 30-40% off. We found one or two things as you do

Went to check out and the sales person very helpfully said he could offer us another 30% discount on a presale offer as there's another sale Thursday. All we had to do was pay now and collect on Thursday. I must say it brought my new Clavin Klein shoes down to a ridiculous price. With the existing sales discount and the bonus we saved $300. God bless Macy's!

[honey lamb]

And did you also throw in the International Visitors' Savings Pass discount?

Bretty, another Imelda Marcos moment? What a surprise!

Honey Lamb, whenever I try the international visitors' discount in Macy's, it's always "Sorry, not in this department/this merchandise/this concession". But there's usually a sale discount.

I didn't know about any international visitors discount HL, but yes Whiterose, another Imelda Marcos moment. Beat my record too, which was previously 75 minutes after hitting the town in Tokyo and I bought shoes. This time it was 65 and a cashmere sweater too! I'm so predictable.

Honey Lamb, whenever I try the international visitors' discount in Macy's, it's always "Sorry, not in this department/this merchandise/this concession". But there's usually a sale discount.

Works for ties (my usual Macy's purchase) but not for jeans...

Maximus : Boston is beautiful in the fall. We did a day trip coach tour out to NH and the colours there were indescribable and simply awesome. Boston common and parks were lovely as the leaves were just turning mid-October. Enjoy

Npe81 : Boston just before Christmas (we did December 11-17th) was a wonderful experience. The shops are decorated so beautifully and everyone was so friendly and in the festive mood. The shops in the Prudential Centre were well decorated.

If you get time, go out to the real upscale Mall at Chestnut Hill, not too far out of Boston. We went by train and got a taxi from the station. It was a really nice Mall with Bloomindales, Tiffany's & lots of more up market shops. A very different Mall experience. Enjoy you trip

Thanks Hev60 - cannot wait!

If you check out Macy's on-line and find something you want to buy you can telephone them and have your ordered delivered to your hotel - rather than spend time going to Macy's. I do it each time, cause I usually know what I want to buy from them.