New York CityPASS

The New York CityPASS is a travel pass that serves as your ticket into the absolute most popular attractions located in New York City. For one flat fee, the New York CityPASS will grant you admission into 3 iconic New York City destinations: the Empire State Building, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art—better known simply as The Met. The New York CityPASS also provides you entry into three additional Big Apple landmarks. With your CityPASS in hand. you’ll have a choice of visiting the Top of the Rock Observation Deck or the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, having ferry access to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island or going on a Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise, and touring the 9/11 Memorial & Museum or the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. The New York CityPASS is a terrific option for those visitors who want to see New York City’s top attractions while paying one flat rate for admission.

What does the New York CityPass include?

  • Empire State Building
  • American Museum of Natural History
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Top of the Rock Observation Deck *OR* Guggenheim Museum
  • Ferry Access to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island *OR* Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises
  • 9/11 Memorial & Museum *OR* Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

How the New York CityPASS Works

The New York CityPASS covers your admission to 6 of New York City’s most popular attractions. You pay just one fee—the cost of the CityPASS—and it serves as your single ticket into all 6 unforgettable attractions.

The New York CityPASS may be purchased online. As soon as you buy your CityPASS, you can download it directly to your smartphone and be on your way. Or, if you prefer you may print out a paper copy of your pass and have it scanned at each attraction instead.

Once you purchase your New York CityPASS, you have one full year to start using it. As soon as you visit one of the available attractions, you have 9 days to complete your usage of the pass.

Whats great about a New York CityPASS?

The New York CityPASS may be utilized in a variety of formats. The simplest way of using your CityPASS is to download it to your smartphone. If you prefer, you may also print out a paper copy of the pass. Or, you may even have a “card version” of the CityPASS shipped to your home address in advance of your visit. Some participating New York attractions also sell these card versions on location. This degree of ticketing flexibility isn’t as common these days across the attraction pass marketplace and, as a result, may be appealing to some customers.

After you purchase your New York CityPASS, you have an entire calendar year to return it unused for a full refund. Knowing you have this safety net in place should your plans change provides strong peace of mind as you organize your visit.

Once you activate your New York CityPASS, you have 9 consecutive days to use it. Since the CityPASS is good for admission at 6 attractions, you’ll have plenty of time to spread out your visits. This ensures you’ll never feel rushed trying to cram a whole bunch of different attractions into something like a single afternoon or short weekend.

What Could Get Better?

If you’re interested in visiting a wide variety of New York City attractions, then New York CityPASS might not be the best option for you. It’s the sort of offering that’s laser-focused on granting you entry to a select handful of New York City’s most popular attractions. Likewise, as an attraction pass valid for 9 consecutive days, the CityPASS can’t be used over a particularly long period of time. If you’re prioritizing schedule flexibility as you plan your dream New York trip, you’ll probably want to look into a pass that’s active for a longer period of time. Try the New York Explorer Pass if you want a fixed number of admissions from a much larger list. Choose the New York Pass if you plan on going to a lot of tourist attractions and taking a bunch of NYC tours.

Some visitors don’t love having to choose between attractions like the Top of the Rock Observation Deck and the Guggenheim Museum. If you know you want to visit both of these attractions, you’ll be best served picking a different pass.

Get Your Money’s Worth with a New York CityPASS

A big selling point of the New York CityPASS is the significant level of savings it offers its passholders. You can visit their official website for an in-depth rundown of just how they calculate these figures, but in short New York CityPASS advertises savings of nearly $100 per person. This is based on comparing how much you’d pay for admission out of pocket at 6 different attractions, versus the cost of the single New York CityPASS.

Prices can vary from time to time, but typically an adult CityPASS runs just under $140. For a child CityPASS—defined as kids between the ages of 6 and 17 years old—you’re looking at just over $110. This is roughly 40% less than what you’d pay for separate tickets at each one of the 6 individual attractions.

New York CityPASS Insider Tips

If you’re a family with children and you’re considering a New York CityPASS, it’s important to keep in mind that not every attraction has the same standard for kids ticketing. For instance, several attractions covered by the New York CityPASS offer free admission to children under the age of 5 years old. For other locations, though, the cutoff for free admission is 3 years old and younger. You’ll want to factor these discrepancies into your trip-planning process.

As you plan your visit to New York, you’re going to want to look into what attractions require reservations. You’re not going to pay any additional costs out of pocket, but you may be required to provide credit card information to guarantee your booking.

Even if reservations aren’t required, it might be a good idea to make them anyway, in order to guarantee you can visit the attraction in question at the time that works best for you. This will especially be the case during peak seasons like summer, spring break, and the winter holidays. 

The New York CityPASS lets you access numerous special discounts. These include such perks like 15% off items at the official Empire State Building store and $15 off purchases of $75 or more at The Met Store, just to name a couple. You can find a comprehensive list of such offers on the official New York CityPASS website. Since these sorts of bonuses are subject to change, you’ll of course want to look them up just before undertaking your visit.

Where to Buy a New York CityPASS

The best place to purchase an NYC CityPASS is at the official site. The pass is sold for the same price no matter where you purchase it. You will save time if you buy it from the official site as opposed to standing in line at one of the included attractions. If you end up not using your pass, the official site has a generous return policy.