new york city pass

I used them last year and was worth the money

which one City Pass or New York Pass

Many people do NOT consider these passes worth the money. While you're getting an okay "deal" on paper, in reality it's very difficult to fit all the attractions into your schedule in the allotted time. As well, some of the museums are by donation or have free days anyway, so the value is lowered by that. I got one for one of my first trips to the city, and found that it dictated my time there more than I wanted it to. All I ended up seeing were tourist attractions, half of which I wouldn't have bothered with if I wasn't trying to wring so much value out of the pass.

Make a list of the things all 5 of you want to do while you're there. It's unlikely to match the attractions of the pass.

This has also been discussed many times in this forum. Like fruchick says, the general consensus is that it isn't worth the money.

CityPass is a good value only if you want to see all 6 sites and pay full price. But you don't have to pay full price for everything. For example, MoMA is free on Fridays from 4-8 PM and always free for children under 16. AMNH is $19 but that is a suggested price and you can pay $10 or $15 if you want. Your hotel will have discount coupons for Top of The Rock. The benefit to CityPass is that you have 9 days to see all the sites.

NY Pass offers more choice but has time constraints. At $85 for a day pass, you need to see 4-5 sites in one day to cover the cost of the pass. That makes for a really hectic day. Discounts, free days, coupons, etc also apply which reduce the value of the pass.

I did use the NY Pass on my first visit to the city. Yes, it did made you feel rush to see the attractions. It takes a lot of planning though and see which ones can be done at night (like harbor cruises). One good thing though is that I've used the pass to see an attraction that I would have never even bothered, like the Madison Square Garden tour and the NBC Studios tour (including the Saturday Night Live stage). But just like what others have said, some are free. If you are there for 4 days, just get the 3-day pass and use the other day to visit the free-ish attractions like the Met museum, Central Park, Statue of Liberty, etc.