It seems like every major tourist destination has a sightseeing pass option anymore. Often more than one! They’ll be some of the first things that pop up in a Google search about your destination. But…are these passes worth it?
What is a sightseeing pass?
Sightseeing passes combine admission into multiple popular tourist attractions into a single pass. Some of these passes have set locations that you’ll visit…others have a more extensive list where you can pick and choose where you wish to visit. Additionally, some sightseeing passes include different forms of transportation as part of their package…and others may offer benefits such as discounts or priority access to a particular site.
Is purchasing a pass ‘worth it’?
It depends. What does it depend on? Lots of things. How long you’ll be at your destination…what sites you intend to visit…what your touring style is like…the ages of people in your group…etc. Here’s a handy method to help decide if a sightseeing pass is a good decision for your trip.
Step 1: Rough out your itinerary
Always start with an itinerary. This does not have to be detailed, but you do need to have a general idea of what you intend to do while you’re at your destination. In general, make a list of 1-2 ‘must do’ activities and 1-2 ‘would be nice to do’ activities per day.
Step 2: Compare *your* list to the list of what the sightseeing pass covers
Now, take your list and compare it to the list of places that the sightseeing pass covers. Highlight the items on your list that would be covered by the combo pass.
Note: Do NOT do this the other way around. Do not use the list of what is covered by the sightseeing pass to dictate what you will do during your trip. Otherwise you’ll just be focused on shoving as many things on the included attraction list into your trip in order to get the most out of your pass.
Step 3: Price out admission
Next you’ll have to do a little bit of leg work. Don’t worry…it isn’t too much. For the activities that you highlighted in the previous step, determine what the cost of admission is for your group if you purchased tickets on your own. This is usually easy to find on the attraction’s webpage.
Step 4: Compare costs
Finally, add up the cost of individually purchased admission to your activities and compare this to the cost of the pass. Is it less expensive to buy tickets individually or as a combo through the pass?
Step 5: Consider added benefits
Some passes do offer added benefits such as priority access to sites, dedicated passholder security lines (which may or may not be shorter than the regular security lines), discounts at shops or restaurants (note, this is only useful if you actually intend to eat or shop at them), etc. Occasionally, these added benefits can be enough value to influence your decision to purchase a sightseeing pass.
The Process in Practice
Let’s look at this process in practice. I have an upcoming trip to Boston. I’ll skip the details of building an itinerary for this post (look for a future post!) but my rough list of places that I’d be needing admission to included: New England Aquarium OR Museum of Fine Arts (to be decided closer to travel), several Freedom Trail sites (USS Constitution, Paul Revere House, Faneuil Hall, Old South Meeting house), Museum of Medical History/Ether Dome, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and several sites in Salem (Witch House, Maritime Historic Site, House of Seven Gables). Note: Some of these are free to enter, but utilizing the system above you might not know that at this point, so I left them on the list.
There are two main sightseeing passes offered for Boston. Boston CityPASS and Go Boston Pass.
The Boston CityPASS has a set list of places to visit: New England Aquarium, Museum of Science, Boston Harbor City Cruise, and either Franklin Park Zoo *or* Harvard Museum of Natural History. Only one of these is on my list (and still up in the air)…so it’s unlikely that purchasing a pass is going to be less than paying admission separately…so we can cross that one off the list as ‘not worth it.’
The Go Boston Pass offers a list of over 40 attractions that are included with purchase. The things on my itinerary that are covered by their pass include: New England Aquarium, Paul Revere House, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and House of Seven Gables. That’s not to say that they don’t offer a lot of other great experiences with the pass, but none of those were on my list…so we won’t consider them (remember, make the pass work for you…don’t let it dictate your itinerary).
I’m travelling solo for this trip, so individually purchased tickets: New England Aquarium ($32), Paul Revere House ($6), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum ($20), and House of Seven Gables ($25). For a total of $83.
These sites are spread across 4 days during my trip. The Go Boston Pass does not come in a 4 day option…there’s a 3 day option ($122) or a 5 day option ($152). Even if I condensed all the included attractions to take place in a 3 day time period, the pass is still considerably more expensive than purchasing tickets individually (and the House of Seven Gables access included in the pass is only for the grounds (an $8-10 ticket) and does not include the house tour). At this point, I personally wouldn’t even look to see if there were added benefits, because I’m unlikely to get enough value out of them to make up for the added cost of the pass over purchasing individual tickets. I did see that the Go Boston Pass includes two days’ worth of transportation on the Hop On/Hop Off trolley…but I almost always walk or take public transportation, so this doesn’t factor into my decision.
So for me…for this trip…I’ll be purchasing my tickets individually and not getting a sightseeing pass.
And that’s how individual the answer is! Just because it doesn’t make sense for me…for this trip…it might make sense in the future depending on the plans for that trip!
Have I ever purchased a sightseeing pass?
Yes! Though not often. For my interests and touring style, if I’m going to be in Paris for more than 3 days, a Paris Museum Pass often makes sense for me. I like being able to visit museums for multiple short trips instead of a single long one…I like to stop by and see the water lilies or unicorn tapestries even for a few minutes every time I’m in the area…and I really like to skip the ticket booth and utilize the dedicated passholder security lines where available. (Check out this blog post for more information on the Paris Museum Pass.)
