New York tourist passes are already on your mind, and that’s probably why you’ve come to this article. Am I wrong?
If you are planning your visit to New York, and even more so if this is your first visit to the Big Apple, you may be wondering whether to get a tourist pass to visit the attractions, and if so, which one to choose from all the ones available?
If you are looking for a quick answer, whether it works or not, leave the article here because we are going to evaluate different trips and travelers, and in each case the options will vary, so there is no single answer.
Let’s get started, ready?
First question: pass yes or pass no?
Indice:
New York tourist pass ► yes or no?
It’s your first time in New York and you want to go up to all the viewpoints, enter the museums, visit the island of the Statue of Liberty, in short, you want to do everything you can ► Pass yes!
It’s your second time in the city, or your first but you want more than anything, to tour the neighborhoods, walk through Central Park, and maybe choose a viewpoint to go up. You will not make the pass profitable, they are expensive, and if you buy it it is to use it, a priori I would tell you ► Pass no. But….. There is a pass option that may suit your travel style, we see it later and tell me.
How do I know if I will get the most out of my New York tourist passes?
Each of us will have a planned itinerary of things to visit and a specific number of days in which we want to carry out these visits. The first thing to do is to add up what we would spend visiting each of these places with regular admission, without a pass.
Suppose we have this list of attractions to visit:
And let’s also assume that you’re going to spend two or three days doing these tours. We’ll then see the price of New York tourist passes:
►Two days ► between US$149 and US$179
►Three days ► between US$159 and US$219*
►6-attraction pass ► between US$136 and US$164
Savings in this case: from $34 to $77!!, *there is only one option in which this is not the case and therefore we will discard it.
You will be saving in almost all cases, sometimes more, sometimes a little less, but it is a saving.
All of this is illustrative, you should already have an itinerary with what you want to see and how many days you will be in the city and then you will do your calculations with the updated prices.
►Be careful!, first, plan your possible itinerary and then do the math. It is very common to think that we can see everything in a few days and we are tempted by a pass that we will later use very little due to lack of time.
Now you’ve made up your mind: yes, yes! But… how many are there? Several. How do I choose the best one for my travel style? I told you it wasn’t a quick decision, so let’s continue!
How to choose my best NYC sightseeing pass option?
Here is a list of the most famous passes: ↓
You’ve probably come this far with all the enthusiasm, but you feel very lost to know how to choose the best one for you. The first thing you should think about is that nobody knows themselves like you do, and you know very well what kind of traveler you are. When I describe them you’ll say: that’s me!!
Let’s divide them into two groups: ► Time passes and ► Attraction passes
Time Passes
TYPE OF TRAVELER ► You are going to New York for 5 to 10 days and you want to see as much as you can, you are restless and tireless and you want to go up to all the viewpoints, visit the museums, rent bicycles, go to the Statue of Liberty, etc. Then a time pass is perhaps the best option↓
In what we call time passes, you get a pass for the number of days you choose, usually from 2 to 10 days, and during those consecutive days you can visit all the attractions included in the pass, which are more than 100.
As we told you, the days range from 2 to 10 and the 2022 prices range between US$129 and US$339 depending on the number of days chosen, as well as the pass.
In this type we find the two best known: New York Pass and Sightseeing Pass .
In both cases you have more than 100 attractions to choose from, including the four observation decks in the city (which are currently being included), a visit to the Statue of Liberty Island, Madame Tussauds, the Intrepid See, the 9/11 memorial, hop-on hop-off bus rides, a bus to the outlet, etc. Always check the information about the attractions on the official website because they are constantly changing.
TIP: Try to leave free days without a pass, for example, if you are going for 5 days, don’t get a 5-day pass, get a 3-day pass, because you will surely want to make visits that don’t require a ticket, such as visiting the Highline, Chelsea Market, Little Italy, Chinatown, and many more places.
►Please note that the days of use in both cases must be CONSECUTIVE DAYS, and the attractions can be visited only once each.
Do you plan to do the Contrasts tour?, see our post about it
Attraction Passes
TYPE OF TRAVELER ► You are going to New York for several days, either because you have been there before, or because you like it that way, you want to go around in a leisurely manner, distributing the visits over several days so that you have time to walk a lot around the city, go shopping, etc. Then an attractions pass is perhaps the best option↓
In what we call attraction passes, you get a pass for a certain number of tourist attractions in New York, from 2 to 10, to visit within a certain number of days, ranging from 9 to 60 depending on the pass chosen.
Among the most outstanding are the CityPass, the Explorer Pass, and the Sightseeing Flex.
In the case of the CityPass you have 3 or 5 attractions to choose from among some options, but they give you 9 days to use them, although the prices are not that high, think about whether it is what you are looking for. The 2022 prices range from US$ 87 to US$ 129.
The Explorer Pass also gives you options to choose from, but in this case from 2 to 10 attractions, with several options in between. You have 30 days from activation to use it, which is good because if you go for several days you can distribute the visits well. Prices for 2022 range from $73 to $229.
The Sightseeing Flex is the brother of the Sightseeing Pass, in this case it gives you the choice of visiting 2 to 12 attractions, with several options in between, and it gives you a period of 60 days to use it after activation. You have many options to choose from and, as you can see, several days to use it. Prices for 2022 range from US$74 to US$264.
In these three previous cases, the days of use do not have to be consecutive. You can visit the chosen attractions any day within the period of use given to you, and each attraction can be visited only once.
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Conclusion
As you can see, there are many options and it takes a little time to decide on one. As I said at the beginning, a previous itinerary, a previous decision of what to visit, and then, yes, look at which one best suits what we want to do.
Have you already chosen which area of New York to stay in? Don’t miss our article with the best areas to stay in New York.
Extra: video
NOTE: The information in this article is based on our own experience, being totally objective. This article contains affiliate links.
