How to save money when visiting attractions in New York City
Visiting New York is quite the bucket list item. It is an amazing city with endless attractions, fantastic restaurants, exciting stores and beautiful views. It is one of my favourite cities in the world, and it is one of those places that you keep coming back to. However, as one of the most expensive cities in the world, it is hard to visit on a budget. The amount of attractions and things to see and do can make your trip expensive. There is, however a way to save money when you visit the tourist attractions in the city.
By using a Sightseeing Pass, you can save plenty of money. Below, I will share everything you need to know about using a Sightseeing Pass, and some tips and tricks on how to get the most bang for your buck while using it.
Why you should use a Sightseeing Pass
If it is you’re first time in New York, you will likely be hitting up some of the world-famous tourist spots. These are many, but popular ones include Rockefeller Centre (Top of the Rock), The Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, museums and a lot more. Admission to these attractions is expensive, and costs easily add up. By using a Sightseeing Pass, you can save plenty of money. The pass can be printed on paper, or on your phone. The passes are provided by several companies in NYC, and can be designed in accordance with your preferences. Different passes feature different attractions. Make sure to check that all the attractions that you want to visit are included in the pass you end up choosing.
You do not need to choose which attractions to visit when you purchase the pass. It is, however good to have an idea of what you want to focus on. You can purchase a pass that covers a specific amount of attractions, or a pass that gives you the ability to visit an unlimited amount of attractions, for a limited amount of time. The whole concept is that, the higher amount of attractions you commit to, the more you’ll save.
On my recent trip, I chose a Sightseeing pass, covering six attractions during the entire trip. You may see a full list of their featured attractions here. As you can see, there are plenty of activities to choose from. Through the pass, I visited 9/11 Memorial & Museum, One World Observatory, Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Buffalo Wild Wings at Times Square, Top of the Rock and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
How to choose the right pass for you
Choosing your pass depends a lot on your trip. How long will you be staying in New York? Have you visited the city before? How many tourist attractions do you want to visit and which ones? Plan ahead and expect the attractions to take longer than you think. Depending on season, the lines can be long. You will always have less time than you estimate, and do not overestimate how many attractions you will have time for. We were a living example of that, as we ended up visiting the restaurant Buffalo Wild Wings, instead of one last proper attraction, just to maximize the pass. It was our last day, we had one attraction left and no time to visit any real attraction.
The downsides of using a pass
This is what the sites don’t tell you about using tourist passes. I would say that there are two minor downsides to the concept.
You are making a commitment
When I’m on vacation, I want to do things on my own terms, in my own speed. Once you have committed to a pass, there is no return, and you will miss out on savings if you end up not using the pass as you intended. There is less room for being spontaneous, and doing the tourist activities will take up a lot of time.
You may be spending quite a lot of time in lines
When using these passes, you usually end up having to wait in two lines. One is for validation of your pass and getting the ticket, and the next line is to the actual attraction. However, If you come without a pass, you will be at even greater disadvantage. Then, you will have to stand in the main line, to get the tickets (which usually takes longer), and then wait in the next line to visit the attraction. Both options requires you to wait in two lines, but the pass/voucher line tends to be shorter and faster.
If you really want to make the most out of your time, you should buy tickets to the specific attractions you want to visit online. If you do that, you can skip the first line and go straight to the line for the attraction. This will save you plenty of time on a busy day. You will, however also be paying full price and not be able to take advantage of the savings that a Sightseeing Pass will offer.
Is it worth the savings?
This depends completely on what you want to get out of your trip. If you want to visit plenty of attractions, then yes. Otherwise, no. I thought it was worth it on my recent trip, and I had a good experience using it. The experience was smooth and there were no issues whatsoever. I had printed the passes beforehand, and the passes were validated in less than a minute at the ticket offices of the attractions.
Depending on what my next trip to NYC will look like, I will decide what I want to get out of the trip, and whether I want to buy a Sightseeing pass. The passes are great if you want to see a lot of the city, and save money while doing it. I would especially recommend a first time-visitor to take advantage of it.
If you have any questions about my experiences with the Sightseeing Pass or want to share your experience of using a similar pass, please do so in the comment section!
