New York City Pass Guide: CityPASS, Explorer Pass And New York Pass Compared

New York city passes can produce very different savings for different itineraries. CityPASS lists $149 adult plus a $2 processing fee on its own site: its highest-priced five-attraction reference totals $307.04, while five lower-priced choices total $160. The Sightseeing Pass ceased trading in 2025, and the New York Pass belongs to the Go City family. Compare the exact product rather than relying on a similar name.

This guide works through each of those with the actual published box-office prices, the validity windows, and the break-even maths, so you can decide in ten minutes whether a pass belongs in your plans or whether walk-up tickets win. Everything here comes from the operators' own published figures, cross-checked where possible.

What Is The New York City Pass And What Does It Include?

"New York city pass" is a generic search term that maps onto three separate products: New York CityPASS, a fixed bundle of 5 attractions from a 10-attraction list for $149 adult and $129 child plus a $2 direct-site fee per ticket; the Explorer Pass, a choose-as-you-go product starting from $89; and the New York Pass, which is Go City's All-Inclusive consecutive-day product starting from $169. They are sold by two different companies, expire on different clocks, and suit completely different itineraries.

Understanding which one you are actually buying is the first decision.

The name people usually mean is New York CityPASS. It is a single product sold by CityPASS, Inc.: you pay once, and you choose 5 attractions from a list of 10. The list currently includes the Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, the American Museum of Natural History, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry, a Circle Line sightseeing cruise, the Intrepid Museum, the Guggenheim, Edge, and the Whitney. That is a strong list: it contains most of the expensive headline attractions a first-time visitor already wants.

The Explorer Pass and the All-Inclusive product sold as the New York Pass come from Go City, a different company. The Explorer Pass works on a credit system: you buy a pass for a number of attractions (2, 3, 4, 5 or more) and then choose from a much larger menu as you go. The All-Inclusive, co-branded as the New York Pass, covers listed attractions over consecutive days, normally once per attraction.

Start with the itinerary: compare CityPASS for five included choices, Explorer for a chosen visit count, and All-Inclusive for consecutive sightseeing days. None is automatically cheapest for a particular pace. Our broader things to do in NYC page helps you sketch the itinerary first, and the pass should follow the itinerary, never the other way round.

How Much Does The New York City Pass Cost?

New York CityPASS costs $149.00 for adults (18+) and $129.00 for children (6-17), plus a $2 direct-site processing fee per ticket, covering 5 attractions over 9 consecutive days. CityPASS itself advertises maximum savings of $158.04 (51%) against a $307.04 adult reference price, and $166.51 (56%) for children, before processing fees. The Go City products price differently: the Explorer Pass starts from $89 adult and the All-Inclusive New York Pass from $169 adult, both published as "from" prices because Go City's pricing is dynamic and promotional.

CityPASS’s direct page lists $149 adult plus the processing fee. Its published reference values range from $26 for the Statue grounds ferry to $75.12 for the Empire State Building AM/PM Experience. Use the equivalent tickets you would otherwise buy, including discounts and free-entry eligibility, when estimating your own saving.

Go City’s direct range and reseller tiers can differ. The Explorer listing linked here offers two to six visits within 30 days; the New York Pass listing offers one to five consecutive calendar days and is non-refundable. Compare the same tier and seller terms at checkout, rather than comparing a two-visit starting price with five visits.

One more cost that catches people: the pass prices do not include a few things you might assume. Special exhibitions at some museums, add-ons like Top of the Rock's Beam experience, and anything outside each pass's attraction list is paid separately. Check the inclusions on the operator's live listing before you buy.

Prices above come from the live listings, which is where you should confirm today's figure before committing. The bands and exact attraction lineups do shift, and a pass bought against last year's list is a common complaint.

Is The New York City Pass Worth The Money?

A pass is worth considering when its complete price beats the equivalent admissions you will actually use. Including CityPASS’s direct-site fee, its maximum reference example differs by $156.04, while the $160 lower-priced example differs by $9. Discounts, free admission and unused choices can change the result.

Compare the exact admissions you want, including museum discounts and free-entry eligibility.

That swing is the entire decision, and it is the thing most pass reviews blur over. The savings percentage CityPASS advertises, 51% for adults, is calculated against the most expensive possible combination on its list. It is a real number, honestly derived from published box-office prices, but it is a ceiling, not a floor. There is no guaranteed savings floor; your actual tickets may cost less than the pass.

There is also a timing dimension. CityPASS's 9-day consecutive window is generous for a week-long trip and punishing for a long weekend split across two weekends, because the window includes the first day of a visit or reservation and does not pause. The Explorer Pass's 30-day, non-consecutive window is the forgiving one, and for many travellers that flexibility is worth more than the raw discount.

If you are still weighing it, our longer worked comparison on whether the New York CityPASS is worth it runs through specific itinerary types, and our budget planning guide covers how a pass fits into an overall NYC on a budget trip.

New York City Pass Vs Explorer Pass Vs New York Pass: Which Should You Buy?

Compare CityPASS if five included admissions fit within nine consecutive days. Compare Explorer if a chosen visit count across its 30-day window suits your plans. Check the exact attraction list and complete price for either product before choosing.

Compare New York Pass for visits on consecutive calendar days. Add travel, opening hours and required reservations to your itinerary: the number of attractions per day alone does not prove that any pass saves money.

These products organize admission differently. CityPASS limits the menu and count; Explorer limits your chosen visit count across a longer window; All-Inclusive limits the consecutive days. Compare actual ticket options and full prices, not a presumed discount ranking.

For a side-by-side with more itinerary worked examples, see our dedicated New York Pass vs CityPASS comparison. And if the choose-as-you-go model appeals, the Explorer Pass listing shows the current attraction menu and pass durations:

The New York Pass listing offers one to five consecutive calendar days. Its non-refundable terms are part of the comparison; check the tier and seller policy before payment.

How Do The Validity Windows Actually Work?

CityPASS runs for 9 consecutive days, including the first day of an attraction visit or reservation, so a Monday start expires the following Tuesday. The Explorer Pass gives you 30 days from your first attraction visit, and your chosen visits do not need to be consecutive, which suits trips split across weekends. The All-Inclusive New York Pass runs consecutive calendar days from your first scan, with the clock starting at the first attraction, not at purchase.

Unactivated passes are generally valid for about a year from purchase.

The distinction that matters most is consecutive versus rolling. CityPASS's 9 days are calendar days, not 24-hour periods: activate on a Monday afternoon and the pass dies at the end of the following Tuesday, regardless of how you spread your visits. That is generous for a single continuous trip and unsuitable for visits spread beyond its nine-day window.

The Explorer Pass is the opposite design. Your 30 days start at the first attraction, and you can bank visits: a museum on arrival weekend, then a deck and a cruise ten days later, then the final two in your last week. For anyone whose plans genuinely flex, this is the pass that forgives.

For a consecutive-day pass, an evening activation consumes a calendar day. Start when that timing fits the visits you intend to use; do not assume a half-day start is always wrong if your whole itinerary still fits. Check booked reservation dates for CityPASS too.

Which Attractions Can You Choose With A New York City Pass?

CityPASS lets you choose 5 from a fixed list of 10: the Empire State Building Observation Deck, Top of the Rock, the American Museum of Natural History, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the Statue of Liberty Grounds and Ellis Island ferry, one Circle Line sightseeing cruise, the Intrepid Museum, the Guggenheim, Edge, and the Whitney. The Explorer and New York Pass menus are larger and include additional attractions.

Reservations are required at some CityPASS attractions and recommended at others, all handled in the My CityPASS app.

Here are the 10 CityPASS options with the adult box-office prices CityPASS itself publishes, which double as the numbers in its savings maths.

Two of these deserve a plain note. The 9/11 Memorial & Museum sits at the site of a mass killing; it belongs on an itinerary because it matters to you, not because it fits a discount structure, and the memorial plaza itself is always free to visit without any ticket. The Statue of Liberty entry is the official ferry from Statue City Cruises, the only operator authorised to land on Liberty and Ellis Islands, and the $26.00 grounds ticket is the one to compare against: lookalike harbor cruises that circle but never land are not the same product and sometimes cost more.

The Empire State Building price in the table is for the AM/PM Experience, which includes the 86th floor observatory, the second-floor museum, and bonus same-night re-entry, not the plain single-visit ticket. That is the version CityPASS bundles, and it is why the ESB anchors the top of the value list.

For the fixed five-heavyweight version of this itinerary, the CityPASS product page shows the current lineup and lets you check dates:

How Many Attractions Do You Need To Visit To Break Even?

Break-even depends on the complete pass price and your actual admissions, not a universal visit count. At the $151 direct-site total, the $146.98 reference for Empire State Building plus Top of the Rock is still below the pass. Add only tickets you will use, with applicable discounts and free-entry eligibility.

For Explorer, compare the price of the matching visit-count tier with the equivalent admissions you will use; there is no fixed three- or four-visit break-even rule.

The clearest way to see it is to price three realistic five-pick combinations against the $151 adult total including its direct-site fee. Every figure below is a published box-office price from the table above.

The same pass produces different reference differences depending on your choices. Compare the visits you want rather than adding expensive stops to increase an advertised saving.

A note on the American Museum of Natural History figure: $43.00 is the box-office price CityPASS publishes for its savings maths, which includes general admission plus one included ticketed exhibition, subject to availability. That matters if you were only planning the dinosaur halls, where the cheaper ticket erodes the pass's advantage further.

The published prices behind these figures can be checked on CityPASS's own site at citypass.com/new-york, and Go City's current "from" prices at gocity.com/new-york.

What Happened To The Sightseeing Pass?

The Sightseeing Pass ceased trading in 2025. Its website stopped selling New York passes, and the company suspended operations around June of that year; the exact legal status, bankruptcy versus voluntary suspension, is unconfirmed, so "ceased trading" is the honest phrasing. No page should recommend, link or compare it as a live option. Its disappearance is also why several competitor guides are now quietly out of date.

This matters to you in two ways. First, if an article you are reading lists The Sightseeing Pass alongside CityPASS and Go City as a live option, that article has not been checked recently, and you should treat its other prices with suspicion too. Second, if you hold an unused Sightseeing Pass from before the shutdown, contact your payment provider; there is no operator to honour it.

The New York pass market is now effectively a two-company market: CityPASS with its fixed bundle, and Go City with the Explorer and All-Inclusive products. That is a simpler decision than it used to be, and the comparison section above covers both.

How To Use A New York City Pass Without Burning Out

Build a realistic schedule around the sights you actually want, including travel, queues and opening hours. Check timed reservations first and leave room for weather changes. A pass does not make an overloaded itinerary easier to complete.

Some attractions require reservations. Check each provider’s booking process and available times before fixing the itinerary, rather than assuming the evening before will be early enough.

One possible five-choice CityPASS itinerary is Empire State Building plus the American Museum of Natural History on day one, the Statue grounds ferry plus the 9/11 Museum on day two, and Top of the Rock on day three. Substitute a Circle Line cruise for one of those choices if preferred; adding it would make six admissions. Check reservations, opening days and whether preferred deck times involve upgrades.

Weather is the silent killer of pass itineraries. New York's wettest month is July, averaging 4.60 inches of rain in Central Park against the 1991-2020 NOAA normals, ahead of August at 4.56 and June at 4.54. Summer visitors should not assume dry days; the observation decks and the cruise are the exposures, and the museums are the cover. Check change rules before relying on a weather swap.

Finally, remember the free counterweight. The memorial plaza, Central Park, the Staten Island Ferry, walking the Brooklyn Bridge and the High Line cost nothing, and a good itinerary balances paid pass attractions against them. The pass should buy you the things that genuinely need tickets, not a guilt-driven sprint through five sights. As a planning desk, New York City Travel Guide keeps every one of these figures checked against operator sources, so if a price here disagrees with a search result, trust the listing.

Common Questions About The New York City Pass

CityPASS lists $149 adult and $129 child plus a $2 direct-site fee per ticket for five choices from ten. Explorer uses a visit-count tier within 30 days; New York Pass uses consecutive calendar days. Compare complete prices, inclusions and seller terms for your own itinerary.

The Sightseeing Pass no longer exists, and reservations are required at some pass attractions and handled in each operator's app.