Quick trip to Mumbai or NYC?
 

I have 1 week starting tomorrow off. My wife and child are away from me to meet their family members.

I am thinking of going for a trip but can't decide between Mumbai or NYC. I am in Chicago.
I will be using my points & miles for flight & hotel stay. If it is NYC, I will stay for 3 to 4 nights only but if it is international, I will stay for 7 nights.

If NYC, I will do lots of walking, wandering around, queens jackson heights for food and visit central park, brooklyin bridge. I am not in to museums, libraries, shows.
If Mumbai, I will also visit the local areas, the markets, the night food market and food stalls, juhu beach. etc. Haven't been to mumbai before.
I do speak some hindi.

Where do you suggest I go to? India is far but I won't have to spend too much in cash due to power of US$. I am not eating at fancy restaurants. I want a budget trip.

I was doing some award search on AA.com, UA.com and BA site using my AA and UA miles and strangely I do find awards. I even find some biz seats.

Regarding hotel, If it is india, am told to stay in south mumbai, My option with points is Hyatt, Raddisonreward points & Hilton. But it looks like none of them are in South mumbai area?I see grand hyatt and hyatt regency and 2 raddison hotels in mumbai.

Any advice, your recommendations and if you suggest somewhere else, let me know
thanks

I vote for a week in Mumbai. It will be a good intro trip. Mumbai will the "cool" season just mid to upper 90's F while the weather here in the city has been great the past two weeks might 70s and low to mid 80s.
Can't help with hotels.

I would go to NYC. A one week trip to India would be unpleasant for me due to jet lag - it takes me too long to adjust.
Do you already have (or do not need) a visa for India?

If I pick mumbai, the visa i will try is the evisa which you get within 24 hrs. Shame that it is one of the very few country that wants fee for visa for US citizens.

I don't want to derail this into a political discussion, but the U.S. charges Indian citizens $160 for a tourist visa. If a six-month visa for India will meet your needs, and it seems that it will, the cost is less than half as much. I don't think we have much reason to complain.

OP: If you opt to go to NYC and do not have status in the AAdvantage program, AA will charge you a $75 close-in award-booking fee. But if you book available SAAver flights with your BA Avios, you can avoid that fee -- and get the roundtrip for fewer miles (Avios), assuming that you get nonstop flights, rather than connections, on AA.

A second vote for Mumbai. Jackson Heights is a nice alternative when you can't make it back to India, but if the other option is Mumbai, it would be a no-brainer from a food perspective.

I wouldn't opt for Mumbai if travelling next week. It's their monsoon season and has been raining on&off which makes going out challenging. I travel to Mumbai every other week for work currently. Eating out for cheap isn't recommended in this weather in India. Me and my work colleagues currently stick to eating in our hotel.

I would opt for NYC.