New York Attractions

lori84 · 18 Aug 17, 10:18 PM

Wondering if anyone is able to give there experience of the best way doing the New York sights, not got anything set but looking at ways to book things.

There are various options of passes or booking direct via the venues own websites. Although could be slightly dearer when looking on websites of statue of libertay, the high rise building, 9/11 museum etc as well as booking tickets you book a time slot but was unsure on the passes as there is no mention of passes so not sure if it was just queue up like you would on the day but show your card when it comes to paying.

Thinking i would rather pay a bit more and have a time rather than queue for a while

Just wondering what other people did as this will be our first trip to New York

**Fuellady** · 18 Aug 17, 11:41 PM

There are a few different passes, we had a 7 attraction Explorer Pass. We chose this after working out which attractions we wanted to do to see which pass would suit us best. There is also a City Pass and New York Pass. The one we had, the Explorer comes in (if I remember rightly) 3, 4, 5, 7 or 10 attractions.

Tickets for the Statue of Liberty pedestal or crown are only sold by one company, Statue Cruises so they have to be bought separately.

To give you an idea, these are the 7 attractions we used our Pass for: Big Bus Tour (uptown and downtown loops), Harbour Lights cruise, Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, cycle ride round Central Park, 9/11 tribute museum, Madame Tussaud's. We also walks the Highline which is free and although we didn't do it, the Staten Island Ferry is free too.

Whichever Pass you buy you will definitely save money rather than paying at the door so to speak.

I did a trip report on our NYC trio (link in my signature), which might give you an idea of how it all works. Happy planning

Mrs dee · 18 Aug 17, 11:44 PM

Hi been three times and for the first time this year we bought a pass - I second the explorer pass being the best and used this really well. My first suggestion is get a map and circle everything you want to see or do . When you plan your days keep everything in the area to get around more. The world trade centre wasn't in the pass but highly recommend x

lori84 · 19 Aug 17, 12:26 PM

Thanks for that and looking through your trip report answered a few of my questions as you are able to go in advance an book a time slot.

My only other question re the explorer pass is where you purchased and how you received your ticket as if you need the card as attraction tickets i think give a card whereas i see travel republic offer an e ticket and as we go on thursday not sure i want to risk having to wait on tickets being delivered.

4andcounting · 19 Aug 17, 12:32 PM

Went to NYC with DS1this year for his 12th bday.
We got the Brits guide to NYC and used it to decide which attractions/sites we wanted to visit.
Then I worked out the cheapest way to visit them all, paying individually or various passes.
Then booked the one that was the best value from Attraction Tickets Direct.

**Fuellady** · 19 Aug 17, 04:55 PM

We got our Explorer Pass from smartdestinations.com. They send you an email with your pass code and you enter the code onto the app on your phone, then the attractions just scan the barcode on your phone up to the amount of attractions you have purchased.

lovinit · 19 Aug 17, 09:16 PM

Originally Posted by Fuellady

We got our Explorer Pass from smartdestinations.com. They send you an email with your pass code and you enter the code onto the app on your phone, then the attractions just scan the barcode on your phone up to the amount of attractions you have purchased.

We did this for Boston and L.A. but this year for New York I went through TCB and Expedia. You can't download straight to the app but have to exchange for tickets when you get there which I hadn't realised. However, �45 cash back has tracked which is a decent amount.