velevele

Hi all,

Planning my first visit to NYC, and am trying to minimize standing in line once I get there. Getting tickets in advance has been successful with just about everything except for the City Pass, which has what I consider to be unreasonable delivery charges. So, where to get it? Based on my sightseeing schedule, my first choice would be at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but I've heard that ticket lines there can be very long. Is this true for lines to buy the City Pass as well, does anyone know? (Is it even the same line?) Or would it be better to plan to get it at one of the other attractions it covers? This will be a midweek visit at the end of February.

Thanks much!

richbutnot

I bought four City Passes for Chicago last year on eBay and saved $50. There are some passes for New York City for sale now. You might want to check them out.

ellenem

I've never seen anyone buy a CityPass at the Met, probably since the Met has a "suggested admission"--in other words, pay what you wish at all times. I have seen people buy it at the Guggenheim ticket counter--the Guggenheim has a set, pricey admission.

Centralparkgirl

I was just at the Met a few hours ago - I didn't notice anything about City Pass. Did I miss it? The regular line was not long and there were at least three choices of lines to wait on. Where did you get your info from?

nytraveler

Before you buy a City Pass be sure that it actually makes sense. Unless you're going to go an awful lot of the places listed it's cheaper to pay separate admissions.

Separately - I don;t know who says the Met has long lines. There may be a small wait if you enter when it opens - but otherwise the line is only a couple of minutes.

doug_stallings

I wouldn't buy City Pass at all because I don't think it's a good value. Instead, I'd buy a ticket to the Empire State Building in advance (online) and just deal with the others. The only other museum with big lines is Moma. The Natural History Museum has electronic kiosks with normally no wait at all (use the main entrance on Central Park West). I've never had to wait to buy a ticket at the Metropolitan Museum for more than 5 minutes, even on a busy weekend day.

To save money, pay $5 at both the Met and the Natural History. Skip the Guggenheim, which is totally not worth the price, and better yet, skip the Empire State Building and go to Top of the Rock instead. Moma also has pay-as-you wish nights sometimes.

The only place with horrendous lines is the Empire State Building, and it's a huge, overcommercialized rip-off right now. And you want to wait and make sure the weather is nice before doing a Circle Line cruise anyway.

mclaurie

I mostly agree with Doug's post. I don't think the City Pass is good value esp. at this time of year when a Circle Line Cruise is not the most pleasant. The pass only includes general admission at the Mus. of Natural History and I've heard even for that, you still have to stand in line to exchange your pass for a ticket to get in. If you want to see any of the special exhibits or the Rose Science center, that's extra.

While I think $5 is a bit mean for the Met, it's certainly true that it's not required to pay the "suggested" $20. MOMA is free on Fri. evenings from 4 pm but it's also most crowded then (although in off season, if you arrive at 5, it's not too bad.)

Anonymous

There are so many things to do in NYC, IMHO you shouldn't constrain yourself to the pricey stuff that's on the pass. We bought passes once for another large city, and just got museum-ed out. And don't overestimate the value of (possibly) by passing lines.

Anonymous

The suggested-donation policy is a requirement of being part of what is called the Cultural Institutions Group, a group of 34 New York City-owned institutions (mostly museums, but also the Bronx Zoo et al.). As part of the same deal, the city provides 11% of the Met's total budget, according the Department of Cultural Affairs. The goal of the program is to enable lower-income New Yorkers to use the city's are institutions. So if you pay less than the "suggested" admission, you're taking advantage of this subsidy.

velevele

Thanks all for the many suggestions. I had already researched what the pass covered and determined that I wanted to get one, so my question related more to saving time in purchasing it rather than whether I should get one or not. (On this particular trip, I'm more interested in saving time than $, and almost all the things covered by the pass are high priorities for me.) Anyway, these responses were very helpful. Thanks again.

mclaurie

I have not seen ticket lines at the Met being that long. At MOMA yes, but not the Met. Don't know about City Pass lines or if there's a special place for those at the Met.

nytraveler

The City Pass doesn;t really save you any time. For most of the activities there is no - or a minimal (5 minute) waiting line.

The few sights that have long lines - the City Pass does not apply to. (Read the info carefully - it says bypass lines at SOME sights.) For instance - it bypasses only the first line at the Empire State Building - but you can do that with advance tickets. It doesn't get you into the elevator any faster. The same with the Statue of Liberty. It gets you past the ticket buyers line (but you can do that yourself in advance) but you still have to wait on the security line to get on the ferry AND the line on Liberty Island to see anything.

Really- this Pass is not worth it - either in terms of money or time.

Nuut

If lines at the Met is an issue, use the side entrance (the one with the wheelchair sign). It is much less busy.