NYC CityPASS Guide: Prices, Attractions and Whether It Pays Off
The New York CityPASS bundles five attractions from a menu of eleven for a flat $149 adult, valid nine consecutive days. This guide lays out the full price math, the attraction list with real box-office prices, and how the pass compares with Go City's Explorer and All-Inclusive options.
Short answer
The NYC CityPASS costs $149 for adults and $129 for children aged 6-17, covers your choice of 5 attractions from an 11-attraction menu, and stays valid for 9 consecutive days from first use. CityPASS claims a 51% adult saving of $158.04 against $307.04 in combined box-office prices, which holds only if you visit all five and pick the expensive sights.
The New York CityPASS costs $149 for an adult and $129 for a child aged 6 to 17, and in exchange you choose five attractions from a menu of eleven, from the Empire State Building's observation decks to the official Statue of Liberty ferry. CityPASS itself publishes the savings claim: $158.04 off a combined $307.04 in adult box-office prices, a 51% saving. That figure is real, but it only materializes if you actually use all five tickets and pick the expensive attractions. A pass that sits half-used in a pocket is the most expensive ticket in New York.
This guide, from the New York City Travel Guide editorial desk, runs the full math, lists every attraction with the box-office price CityPASS uses for its own calculations, and compares the pass against the two Go City alternatives. One upfront spoiler for anyone skimming: the third big New York pass, The Sightseeing Pass, ceased trading in 2025, and any guide still recommending it is out of date.
What Is the NYC CityPASS and What Does It Include?
The New York CityPASS is a fixed-price bundle that admits you to five attractions of your choosing from an eleven-attraction menu, valid for nine consecutive days beginning on, and including, the day you first use it. You buy it once, receive it digitally, and then make any required reservations through the My CityPASS app before you visit each attraction. It is not a timed pass and not an all-inclusive pass: five choices is the ceiling, and once a choice is scanned it is spent. There is no refund for unvisited attractions.
The structure is the part most first-time buyers misunderstand. This is not an "unlimited entry" product like Go City's All-Inclusive tier. It is closer to a voucher book: five admissions, each one usable exactly once, drawn from a fixed menu. The menu leans heavily on the classic first-visitor circuit, observation decks, the Statue of Liberty ferry, two major museums, and a sightseeing cruise, which is both its strength and its limitation.
Reservations are handled in the My CityPASS app at my.citypass.com. Some of the eleven attractions require a timed reservation before arrival; others simply recommend one. If you skip the reservation step at an attraction that requires it, you can be turned away at the door even with a valid pass, so treat the app as part of the product rather than an optional extra.
For context on how the pass fits a first visit, our things to see in New York overview covers the wider attraction landscape, and the deeper pass-by-pass comparison lives in our New York City pass comparison.
How Much Does the NYC CityPASS Cost?
The NYC CityPASS costs $149.00 per adult (18 and over) and $129.00 per child aged 6 to 17, taxes included, and covers five attraction choices valid across nine consecutive days. CityPASS's own published savings maths puts the regular combined adult price of the five most expensive menu attractions at $307.04, making the pass a saving of $158.04, or 51%. For children the claimed saving is larger, $166.51 off $295.51, or 56%, driven by free child entry at some attractions.
The adult and child prices sit in a simple structure:
| Pass type | Adult (18+) | Child (6-17) | Choices | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York CityPASS | $149.00 | $129.00 | 5 of 11 attractions | 9 consecutive days |
Two pricing notes matter. First, CityPASS also sells other configurations for New York, a three-choice version around $109 adult and an eleven-attraction version around $259 adult, but those figures are not confirmed directly by CityPASS's own published table, so check the live listing before budgeting for them. Second, the child price is only good value where the chosen attractions actually charge children. The Whitney Museum is free for anyone 25 and under, so a child CityPASS choice spent there is worth nothing.
The practical reading of the price: the pass breaks even for an adult at roughly two and a half of the expensive attractions, and it beats box-office pricing decisively once you commit to a full five-attraction circuit. The full per-attraction math follows two sections down.
Which Attractions Can You Choose with the NYC CityPASS?
The NYC CityPASS menu contains eleven attractions: the Empire State Building, the American Museum of Natural History, Top of the Rock, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the Statue of Liberty grounds and Ellis Island ferry, a Circle Line sightseeing cruise, the Intrepid Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, Edge at Hudson Yards, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, and you pick five. CityPASS publishes a box-office price for each, and those figures are the honest baseline for the savings maths rather than the discounted online "from" prices.
Here is the full menu with the adult box-office prices CityPASS uses:
| Attraction | Adult box office | Notes for pass holders |
|---|---|---|
| Empire State Building (AM/PM Experience) | $75.12 | Includes 86th floor deck, museum, and same-night re-entry |
| American Museum of Natural History | $43.00 | General admission plus add-ons varies |
| Top of the Rock Observation Deck | $71.86 | Timed entry, reserve in the app |
| 9/11 Memorial & Museum | $36.00 | Timed entry recommended; free Mondays exist |
| Statue of Liberty Grounds and Ellis Island | $26.00 | Official Statue City Cruises ferry, both islands |
| Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises | $55.00 | One scheduled cruise |
| Intrepid Museum | $38.00 | Aircraft carrier museum at Pier 86 |
| Guggenheim Museum | $30.00 | Reduced $16 rate exists during exhibition changeover |
| Edge Observation Deck | $62.06 | Includes the immersive experience |
| Whitney Museum of American Art | $30.00 | Free for anyone 25 and under, so never spend a child choice here |
The menu's shape tells you who the pass is for. Five of the eleven stops are view-based experiences or boat rides; three are museums of art or natural history; the remaining stops are the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and the Liberty Island ferry. If your dream New York trip is Broadway shows, food tours and neighborhood wandering, none of that is on this menu, and the pass will not help you.
A few attractions deserve a planning note. The Empire State Building ticket bundled here is the AM/PM Experience, which is more than the plain deck ticket, so it is one of the strongest choices on the menu. The Statue of Liberty option is the grounds-only ferry ticket, not pedestal or crown access; if the crown is your goal, book that separately and directly, because crown tickets are name-bearing, capped at four per household, and sell out months ahead. And the 9/11 Memorial & Museum offers free admission Mondays on a first-come basis, so pass holders with flexible dates should weigh that against spending a choice.
Is the NYC CityPASS Worth It? The Honest Math
The NYC CityPASS pays off only when an adult visitor uses all five choices on high-priced attractions. Five expensive menu stops, the Empire State Building AM/PM at $75.12, Top of the Rock at $71.86, Edge at $62.06, a Circle Line cruise at $55.00 and the American Museum of Natural History at $43.00, add up to $307.04 at the box office against the $149 pass, a saving of $158.04. Drop Edge for the $26.00 Liberty ferry and the combined price falls to $271, cutting the saving to $122. Swap two more expensive picks for the $30 museums and the margin narrows further.
Run the same maths on realistic itineraries and the pattern is clear:
| Itinerary (5 choices) | Combined adult box office | Saving vs $149 pass |
|---|---|---|
| Full-price stack: ESB, Top of the Rock, Edge, Circle Line, AMNH | $307.04 | $158.04 |
| Classic circuit: ESB, Top of the Rock, AMNH, Statue ferry, 9/11 Museum | $252.98 | $103.98 |
| Museum-heavy: AMNH, Guggenheim, Whitney, Intrepid, 9/11 Museum | $177.00 | $28.00 |
| Only four used (any mix) | varies | often under $75, sometimes negative |
The verdict that follows from the table: the pass is a commitment device, not a discount coupon. If your trip genuinely includes an observation deck, the ferry, and two or three of the big museums, buy it. If your plans are loose or your trip is short, the cheaper choose-as-you-go products do the same job with less risk. Our longer treatment of the question, is the New York CityPASS worth it, works through more itinerary combinations.
One planning point that saves real money: the Empire State Building's bundled AM/PM ticket includes same-night re-entry, so a pass holder can visit at midday and again after dark on one choice. That effectively makes it two experiences for one pick, and it is the single best-value selection on the menu.
How Does the NYC CityPASS Compare with Go City and the Explorer Pass?
The NYC CityPASS competes mainly with two Go City products: the Explorer Pass, officially from $89 adult, which lets you choose a set number of attractions from a much larger menu with 30 days to use them, and the All-Inclusive Pass, from $169 adult, which offers unlimited entry over consecutive days. The New York Pass name now belongs to the same Go City family, so the real New York pass market is two companies, not four. The Sightseeing Pass ceased trading in 2025 and should not appear in any current comparison.
The structural differences matter more than the headline prices:
| Product | Official adult price | Choices | Validity | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York CityPASS | $149.00 | 5 from an 11-attraction menu | 9 consecutive days | First-timers locked into the classic circuit |
| Go City Explorer Pass | from $89.00 | 2 to 10 choices from a large menu | 30 days from first attraction | Loose plans, mixed interests |
| Go City All-Inclusive / New York Pass | from $169.00 | Unlimited attractions | Consecutive calendar days from first scan | Packed itineraries stacking several sights a day |
Two structural gaps separate the products. CityPASS's menu is eleven attractions, all heavy hitters; Go City's menu is far larger and includes smaller sights, tours and experiences, so the Explorer Pass suits travelers whose interests run wider than decks and museums. And the validity rules differ sharply: CityPASS's nine consecutive days assume one trip, while the Explorer Pass's thirty days from first use tolerate a scattered, decide-as-you-go pace.
There is also a fit question CityPASS marketing never raises. If your five would-be choices include two of the $30 art museums, the Explorer Pass at its lower entry price likely beats the CityPASS on the same itinerary. The comparison is laid out attraction by attraction in our Go City New York guide and our New York Pass breakdown.
How to Use the NYC CityPASS: Reservations, Timing and the Nine-Day Clock
Buy the NYC CityPASS for each traveler, install the My CityPASS app, and make a timed reservation at every attraction that requires one before you turn up; the nine-day validity clock starts with your first attraction visit, not with purchase. An unactivated pass is generally valid for a year from purchase, so buying ahead of your trip costs nothing in validity. The single most common failure mode is arriving at a reservation-required attraction, Top of the Rock is the usual one, without having booked a slot in the app.
The sequencing decision deserves five minutes of planning. Because the nine days run consecutively from your first scan, do not "test" the pass on day one of a ten-day trip unless you mean it. Start it on the day your attraction-heavy block begins. A sensible pattern for a first visit: decks and the ferry early in the window when energy is high, museums on the rainy day that New York will eventually hand you, and the cruise on whichever evening the forecast looks cleanest.
Weather is a bigger factor in pass planning than most guides admit. July is statistically New York's wettest month, with 4.60 inches of average precipitation against 4.56 in August and 4.54 in June, so summer visitors should keep at least one indoor museum choice unspent as a hedge. Winter visitors get the opposite gift: February, the snowiest month at 10.1 inches on average, is a strong argument for the museum-heavy itinerary and against gambling every choice on open-air decks.
A practical note on the two-pronged Met question, since it comes up constantly: the Metropolitan Museum of Art is not on the CityPASS menu at all. It appears on other pass products, so if the Met is non-negotiable for your trip, check the Metropolitan Museum of Art ticket guide before choosing a pass, because Met admission is $30 fixed for out-of-state visitors, pay-what-you-wish only for New York State residents and NY/NJ/CT students, and one ticket covers both the Fifth Avenue building and The Met Cloisters on the same day.
Where the NYC CityPASS Doesn't Pay Off
The NYC CityPASS loses money in three situations: when you use fewer than all five choices, when you spend choices on the cheap end of the menu, and when free or discounted admission windows already cover your intended stops. Four of the five most expensive menu items are decks and a cruise; the two $30 art museums barely move the needle. A pass holder who visits the Guggenheim, the Whitney, the Intrepid, the 9/11 Museum and the Liberty ferry spends $160.00 of box-office value, which is more than the $149 pass costs, a saving of eleven dollars for five committed visits.
The free-admission overlaps are the quieter trap. The 9/11 Memorial & Museum runs free admission every Monday, with tickets released on its website at 07:00 ET each week, first come first served. The Whitney is free Friday evenings from 17:00 to 22:00 for everyone, and free all day on the second Sunday of every month. The Guggenheim runs pay-what-you-wish windows on Tuesday and Sunday afternoons. A flexible traveler can visit two or three of these sights for close to nothing, no pass required, which is exactly why rigid pass maths flatters the product.
The pass also fails a specific traveler: the one who books a helicopter flight, a food tour, and Broadway seats. None of those categories are on the menu. If your New York budget is weighted toward experiences rather than decks and museums, skip CityPASS and look at the choose-as-you-go products, where tours and niche attractions are actually available. The Explorer Pass holds that slot, and it earns its place on flexibility alone.
One more caution that is unique to this moment: the discontinued Sightseeing Pass. It suspended operations around 19 June 2025 and no longer sells New York passes. Numerous competitor guides still list and link it. Do not buy from any reseller claiming to sell it, and treat any "four-pass comparison" that includes it as a sign the page has not been checked since 2025.
Common Questions About the NYC CityPass
The most common NYC CityPASS questions concern what the $149 actually buys, how the nine-day window works, whether reservations are needed, and how it stacks up against Go City's passes. The answers below give the short version of each, with the full reasoning covered in the sections above. The pattern across all of them: the pass rewards commitment and punishes loose plans.
How much does the NYC CityPASS cost?
The New York CityPASS costs $149.00 per adult and $129.00 per child aged 6 to 17, covering your choice of 5 attractions from an 11-attraction menu, valid for 9 consecutive days from first use.
What attractions are included in the NYC CityPASS?
You choose 5 from: the Empire State Building, the American Museum of Natural History, Top of the Rock, 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 at Hudson Yards, and the Whitney Museum.
How many days is the NYC CityPASS valid?
Nine consecutive days, counting the first day of use as day one. An unactivated pass is generally valid for a year from purchase, so the clock only starts when you visit your first attraction.
Do I need reservations with the NYC CityPASS?
Some attractions require a timed reservation and others recommend one; all reservations are handled through the My CityPASS app. Arriving without a required reservation can mean being turned away despite holding a valid pass.
Is the NYC CityPASS worth it?
It is worth it if you will use all five choices on the expensive attractions: the claimed $158.04 adult saving is real at that level. It is poor value if you use four or fewer choices, pick the $30 museums, or could have used free windows like the 9/11 Museum's free Mondays.
Is the New York Pass the same as the NYC CityPASS?
No. The New York Pass is now part of Go City's All-Inclusive product, offering unlimited attraction entry over consecutive days from $169 adult. The CityPASS is a separate company's fixed five-choice bundle from $149.
The final planning move costs nothing: list the five attractions you are certain you will visit, add up their box-office prices from the table above, and compare the total to $149 before you buy anything. If the arithmetic clears roughly $200, the CityPASS is a clear buy. If it lands near $150, choose the flexible Explorer Pass instead, and if your list is mostly food tours and show tickets, buy nothing at all. The pass is a tool, not a trophy, and the travelers who save real money with it are the ones who ran the numbers first.