New York Pass: which pass should you choose for your visits?

New York CityPASS

A pass with 5 top attractions in New York. Save up to 51% on regular admission prices.

New York Explorer Pass

This pass includes 2 to 10 visits. You save up to 50% compared to regular admission prices.

New York Pass

An unlimited pass to visit more than 100 places and activities. Save up to 50% on admission prices.

• The first major difference between New York passes is how they work. There are two main types: activity passes and unlimited passes.

Activity passes

• Activity passes require you to choose a fixed number of attractions in advance. Once there, you decide which places you want to visit.
• Take the Explorer Pass as an example: you choose between 2 to 10 visits from a selection of 60 observatories, museums, monuments, and activities. If you buy a 7-activity Explorer Pass, you can access 7 included locations without paying regular admission. The pass gives you a nice discount! You can visit the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, The Edge, major New York museums like MoMA, Guggenheim Museum, and Intrepid Museum.

Unlimited passes

• There is currently one unlimited pass: the New York Pass. You only need to choose how many days it’s valid for. This time, you don’t pay for a specific number of attractions. Instead, you pay for one or more days of visits during which you can enter all included locations, monuments, museums, and attractions for free.
• Here’s a tip: since these passes include 60 to 80 places, it’s better to choose a pass valid for several days. A 1 or 2-day pass won’t let you fit in many visits, but a 5, 7, or 10-day pass gives you time to see much more. The more you visit, the more you’ll get out of your unlimited pass!

The two categories in a table

• Once you’ve decided between an activity pass or unlimited pass, you need to choose the one that best matches what you want to see. Simply list the places, monuments, museums, and attractions you want to visit in New York and pick the pass that includes the most of them.
• To help you out, here’s a comparison table for the most popular activities. You’ll see the comparisons are straightforward because there are really only 2 main competitors. New York CityPASS and the C3 Pass are from the same company and include roughly the same visits. The New York Explorer Pass and New York Pass are from another company and include exactly the same attractions.
• Here are the main attractions included in the 4 New York passes:

• Also check out our New York Pass comparison table.

1. Save money! Passes let you cut your sightseeing budget significantly. These packages typically save you 30 to 51% depending on which activities you choose. Passes are especially worthwhile for observatories, which charge high prices. Instead of paying full price, just use your pass!
2. Skip the lines! Passes give you reserved entry at certain attractions. For example, at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum you get a fast-track line much quicker than the regular one. Passes also let you reserve your time slot at the Empire State Building or Statue of Liberty.
3. Go at your own pace! Passes give you lots of flexibility. Once you’ve chosen how many activities (for activity passes) or how many days (for unlimited passes), you’re free to decide. You can do any activity whenever you want, except for visits that require advance booking.
4. Organize your visits easily! With a pass, you don’t need to buy 7 or 10 separate tickets. One QR code gets you into all included attractions. You save time booking your trip and make life simpler once you arrive.