New York City has come by one of its famous nicknames honestly: as The City That Never Sleeps, you’ll be amazed at how much there is to see and do here. World-class museums, cultural landmarks, fine dining restaurants: New York City has it all and more. Whether you you’re prioritizing a ferry trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, obsessing over snapping that perfect selfie at the Empire State Building or Top of the Rock Observation Deck, planning on spending hours in the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, or intend to try and experience everything, a visit to New York will provide you with the thrills of a lifetime.
The more adventures you cram into your schedule, of course, the more expensive things can get—and New York isn’t cheap, to put it mildly. Tickets here, tickets there: it can all add up in a hurry. That’s why many visitors to New York decide to purchase a discount tourist pass. There are a bunch of pass options on the market today, making it crucial to do your homework before you buy.
These tourist passes tend to possess a number of similarities. They allow you to purchase one single ticket that’ll serve as your way into the attractions on your to-do list. This means you’ll pay for the tourist pass in advance, then pay nothing out of pocket at the attractions you want to visit. These tourist passes are also all designed to save you money. Ultimately, what you pay for the pass ahead of time will end up being significantly less than what you’d have paid for individual tickets at each separate attraction.
Still, there are of course pretty important differences between each specific type of tourist pass. For a brief description of available passes, see below. Click through for more details about each pass.
New York Pass
Accepted at over 90 popular attractions, the New York Pass is available for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, or 10 consecutive days. You can visit as many attractions as you want for however long your pass is valid.
New York Explorer Pass
This flexible attraction pass is good for admission at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 10 of New York City’s most popular attractions. Make your picks from about 75 different attractions. Once activated, you’ll have 60 days to use the Explorer Pass.
New York Sightseeing Pass
This attraction pass is available in two formats: Day or Flex Pass. The Day Pass lets you experience however many attractions or deals you want (out of approximately 150 options) over the course of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 10 days. The Flex Pass gets you into your pick of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 or 12 attractions from a list of over 100 attractions.
New York CityPASS
This pass grants you admission to 3 of New York City’s most iconic attractions: the Empire State Building, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You’ll also be able to choose 3 additional attractions from a list of 6 possible attractions.
New York C3 by CityPass
Offered by the same company as New York CityPASS, this highly focused travel pass covers the cost of your admission at 3 of New York City’s most popular attractions. When you make your 3 selections, you’ll be choosing from a list of 12 possible attractions.
Turbopass New York
This all-inclusive multi-attraction pass gets you in the door at over 100 classic New York attractions for one flat price. You’ll have 1, 2, 3, 5, or 7 days to see as many of these attractions as you want, all while saving money on admission fees all over the city.
Compare NY Passes
The major tourist passes offered in New York all share some important features. In addition, there are clear differences between and among these passes that this page will lay out in a clear manner.
It is our hope to take the information expanded upon in each of the three reviews and condense them into one, easy-to-read comparison for users to review, print and use to help them decide the best avenue to take.
Alternatives to a NY City Pass
Other options available to New York City tourists that either go beyond or condense the options offered by each pass. Though not nearly as thorough as the full review of each pass, take these ideas and run with them in order to create a customized New York experience that you will never forget.