New York City Pass Prices 2026: Every Pass Cost Compared

2026 New York City Pass Price Table

All prices verified June 2026 from official operator sites. Adult prices listed unless noted. The Sightseeing Pass is omitted — it is no longer operational.

Note on dynamic pricing: Go City uses dynamic pricing on some passes, meaning the prices above reflect standard published rates. Prices for specific dates may vary slightly. Always check gocity.com at time of purchase for the current rate. CityPASS prices are fixed — $164 adult / $114 C3 adult are not date-dependent.

Go City All-Inclusive Pass Price Breakdown

The Go City All-Inclusive (also sold as "The New York Pass" at newyorkpass.com — same product, same price, different branding) is priced by the number of consecutive days you choose. The clock starts on your first scan at an attraction and runs for the duration you purchased.

All-Inclusive adult prices (2026)

Is the All-Inclusive price worth it?

The math is brutally clear: you need to visit roughly three paid attractions per day to break even at the 1-day or 2-day rates. At the 3-day rate ($224), visiting two attractions per day — say, Edge ($47) and MoMA ($30) — puts you at $77 per day, which is still below the $74.67 daily rate. Three visits per day on each of three days at average per-attraction prices of $35–$47 produces $315–$423 in individual tickets versus $224. The 3-day pass is where the All-Inclusive first becomes genuinely compelling.

At the 10-day rate, the pass costs $41.40 per day — you need just one attraction per day averaging $41 or more to break even. Four premium observation decks across ten days ($47 × 4 = $188) plus MoMA ($30) and 9/11 Museum ($30) = $248 in individual tickets versus $414. That ten-day pass loses money on a light sightseeing pace. The All-Inclusive only delivers serious value at consistent daily density — three attractions or more per day.

Where it genuinely loses money: buying a 5-day pass and spending two of those days at the beach, in Central Park, or shopping. The pass does not pause for free days. If you know your New York trip mixes heavy-sightseeing days with leisure days, the Explorer or CityPASS will serve you better.

Read the full New York Pass worth-it analysis for the worked-scenario math across different itinerary types.

Go City Explorer Pass Price Breakdown

The Explorer Pass is priced by the number of attraction entries you select, not by days. You have 30 days from your first scan to use all your entries. The 30-day window makes it almost impossible to expire an Explorer Pass on a standard New York trip — even a 7-day visit leaves 23 days of buffer.

Explorer Pass adult prices (2026)

Explorer price-per-entry math

The 2-choice Explorer at $89 charges you $44.50 per entry. The Empire State Building costs $44 at the door — so if you use both entries on the cheapest attractions in the network, you are paying a small premium for the skip-the-line benefit. The pass wins when you select the pricier options: Edge ($47) and SUMMIT One Vanderbilt ($47) as a 2-choice Explorer costs $89 pass vs $94 individual tickets — a $5 saving plus priority access.

The 3-choice Explorer at $129 is the most popular tier. Three premium observatory visits — Empire State ($44) + Edge ($47) + Top of the Rock ($42) — costs $133 à la carte versus $129. A $4 saving, plus skip-the-line across all three. Choose three mid-range sights instead — three museums at $28–$30 each = $84–$90 individual vs $129 pass — and you lose $39 to $45. The Explorer pass should always be loaded with the most expensive attractions on the menu to justify its price.

The 5-choice Explorer at $189 is where the per-entry math works convincingly regardless of your selection: five premium picks (Edge $47 + Empire State $44 + Top of the Rock $42 + One World Observatory $48 + SUMMIT One Vanderbilt $47 = $228 à la carte versus $189) saves $39 with skip-the-line included. It is difficult to lose money on the 5-choice tier if you pick from the top half of the attraction menu.

See the Go City vs CityPASS New York comparison for the full head-to-head on which operator wins at different itinerary sizes.

New York CityPASS Price

The New York CityPASS is priced at a flat $164 for adults and $136 for children (ages 6–17). Prices verified June 2026 from citypass.com. Unlike the Go City passes, there are no duration tiers — the price is the same regardless of how quickly or slowly you use the pass within the 9-day window.

CityPASS break-even math

The CityPASS covers five attractions: Empire State Building and American Museum of Natural History are mandatory; you choose three more from six options (Top of the Rock, Statue of Liberty ferry, 9/11 Memorial Museum, Circle Line Cruise, Intrepid Museum, Guggenheim Museum).

Best-value selection: Empire State Building ($44) + AMNH ($28) + Top of the Rock ($42) + 9/11 Museum ($30) + Statue of Liberty ferry ($25.50) = $169.50 à la carte vs $164 CityPASS — saving of $5.50. That is a narrow margin, but the advance reservation access included with the pass provides the equivalent of a timed-entry booking that would otherwise require planning each attraction separately.

Alternative selection: Empire State Building ($44) + AMNH ($28) + Top of the Rock ($42) + Circle Line Cruise ($29) + Guggenheim ($30) = $173 à la carte vs $164 CityPASS — saving of $9. Swap Guggenheim for Intrepid ($36) and the à-la-carte total hits $179, a saving of $15.

The honest verdict: the CityPASS delivers modest but real savings of $6 to $15 per adult depending on your three optional choices. The bigger value proposition is predictability — a known all-in cost for five major attractions, advance reservations handled through one app, and a 9-day window that covers most New York trips. For a family of four including two children at $136 each, the total passes cost $600, versus $620–$716 individual — a family saving of $20–$116 depending on choices.

Read the full New York CityPASS worth-it review for the worked scenarios and honest skip-it cases.

New York C3 by CityPASS Price

The New York C3 is priced at $114 for adults and $92 for children (ages 6–12). Prices verified June 2026 from citypass.com. Like the full CityPASS, the C3 has a 9-day window from first use and a fixed price with no duration tiers.

C3 break-even math

The C3 lets you choose any three attractions from a menu of ten (the same options as CityPASS plus Edge and MoMA; minus the two mandatory CityPASS requirements). The best-value C3 combination is three premium-priced options:

Empire State Building ($44) + Edge ($47) + Top of the Rock ($42) = $133 à la carte vs $114 C3 — saving of $19. That is the clearest win on the C3, achieved by choosing the three most expensive items on the menu.

Where the C3 loses money: three museum picks — AMNH ($28) + MoMA ($30) + Guggenheim ($30) = $88 à la carte vs $114 C3. Paying $114 for $88 in individual tickets is a $26 loss. The C3 only delivers value when you select observation decks over museums. If your New York list is predominantly museums, individual tickets beat every pass.

The C3 at $114 vs the full CityPASS at $164: the $50 difference buys you two extra attraction entries in the CityPASS bundle. If you want five attractions and the mandatory Empire State / AMNH bundle works for your itinerary, CityPASS at $164 is worth the $50 premium. If you want flexibility — specifically if you want Edge (not in CityPASS) or if AMNH is not on your list — C3 at $114 is the right call.

Child and Senior Pricing

Child pricing by pass

Children under 3 enter free at virtually all New York attractions — no pass required for under-3s. Children aged 3–5 enter free at some attractions (including AMNH and the 9/11 Museum) but pay child admission at others (Edge, most observation decks). If your group includes children aged 3–5, verify each attraction's age policy individually before deciding whether a child pass is worth purchasing for them.

Children aged 13–17 pay adult prices on Go City passes. They pay child prices on the CityPASS ($136) but adult prices on the C3 ($114). Worth checking at purchase — for a 15-year-old, the CityPASS child rate actually costs more than the adult C3 rate, so the C3 with adult pricing may be the better call depending on attraction selection.

Senior pricing

Neither Go City nor CityPASS offers a dedicated senior discount on the passes themselves. Some individual attractions (including AMNH and MoMA) have senior rates at the door — but these do not apply when accessing via a pass. If you are a senior group visiting fewer than three paid attractions, individual tickets with attraction-level senior discounts may beat any pass. The best US city passes guide covers operator discount structures across all cities.

Where to Buy New York City Passes — and Where Not To

Official operator sites (always buy here first)

Go City All-Inclusive and Explorer: Buy at gocity.com/en/new-york or newyorkpass.com. Both sites sell the same products at the same prices. Buying directly means your pass is in the Go City app immediately, and customer support is a single contact. There is no price advantage from going through a third party — Go City does not wholesale at a discount to resellers.

CityPASS and C3: Buy at citypass.com/new-york. The price is fixed — $164 for CityPASS, $114 for C3 — and is identical everywhere the pass is sold. Buying directly puts the pass in the My CityPASS app without any code transfer step, which matters when you are booking attraction time slots immediately after purchase.

Resellers: when they are worth it (and when they are not)

GetYourGuide and Viator both sell Go City Explorer passes and occasionally the All-Inclusive at list price with a small convenience discount — typically $5 to $10 off. Their main value is if you are already using their platform for other New York activity bookings and want a single checkout. They do not offer lower prices than gocity.com on Go City passes.

Costco has historically sold Go City New York 4-choice Explorer Passes at a discount — in 2025, they offered the 4-choice Explorer at roughly $149 (standard $159). Availability is inconsistent and location-dependent. If you are a Costco member, it is worth checking the travel section before buying. They do not consistently stock all pass types.

Discount codes for Go City: Go City occasionally runs promotional discount codes — typically 5–10% off — around summer and holiday periods. Codes like SUMMER or SAVE10 have appeared in past years. Check gocity.com directly at time of purchase; affiliate bloggers sometimes publish codes that are live. We do not publish codes here because they expire quickly and a stale code is worse than no code (the discount page error creates friction during checkout).

CityPASS discount codes: There are no reliable third-party discount codes for CityPASS. The $164/$114 pricing is effectively fixed. Do not pay for a "CityPASS discount code" from any website — they do not exist.

Places not to buy

Airport kiosks: Sold at list price or slightly above, with no benefit over buying online and potentially with a slower activation process. Skip.

Hotel concierge desk: Same as airport kiosks — list price with a commission layer. The concierge can be useful for booking attraction time slots (especially for harder-to-get Empire State slots), but buy the pass itself online.

Street vendors near Times Square or major attractions: Do not buy tourist passes from street vendors. There is no legitimate street resale market for these passes — they are digital products delivered instantly online. Any "pass" sold in person near attractions is either counterfeit, previously used, or mis-represented.

Reseller sites claiming 20–30% discount codes: These are almost always affiliate pages running expired codes or misleadingly named coupon aggregators. The discount either does not apply at checkout or is already baked into the standard price. Stick to the operator sites.

Are passes cheaper at the attractions themselves?

No. New York attraction operators — Empire State Building, Edge, Top of the Rock, One World Observatory — all price their advance online tickets at the same rate as or less than the door price. You will not find a cheaper pass by turning up at an attraction and asking. The attraction desk cannot sell you a tourist pass; they can only sell their own individual admission. The tourist passes are only available from Go City and CityPASS directly (or authorized resellers at list price). There is no "day-of" discount for tourist passes in New York.

Pass Price vs Individual Tickets: When Each Wins

The comparison that actually matters — not pass A versus pass B, but any pass versus just buying the tickets you need.

2026 individual attraction prices (baseline)

When individual tickets beat every pass

Buy individual tickets — and skip every pass — when:

• You have a list of one or two paid attractions. Two individual tickets at $40–$47 each = $80–$94. No pass is cheaper for two visits.
• You plan to visit MoMA on a Friday evening (free after 5:30pm) or the Guggenheim on a Saturday evening (pay-what-you-wish after 5pm). Using a pass entry on a free-admission window is pure waste.
• You are a repeat visitor who has already seen the observation decks and wants only one specific museum. One museum ticket at $28–$30 beats any pass by $59–$84.
• Your New York trip is predominantly free attractions — Central Park, the High Line, Brooklyn Bridge, the 9/11 Memorial plaza, the Staten Island Ferry for Statue views — with one paid stop added. One individual ticket saves money every time.

When a pass clearly wins

A pass beats individual tickets when:

• You are doing three or more paid attractions total and at least two are observation decks (the highest-priced category).
• You are traveling as a family with children where the per-person math compounds fast. Two adults and two children visiting five attractions individually can easily cost $400–$500 total; the same group on a CityPASS runs $300 ($164 × 2 adults + $136 × 2 children after discount structure).
• You want the skip-the-line benefit at peak-season New York. In summer and December, waits at Empire State Building, Edge, and Top of the Rock run 30–60 minutes without a reservation. A pass with priority access is worth $15–$20 per attraction in real time.
• You want to spontaneously decide to add an attraction mid-trip without worrying about individual ticket prices. The All-Inclusive pass eliminates that friction entirely.

Quick Picker: Which New York Pass Price Makes Sense For You

Use the scenarios below to cut to the right product by price and itinerary type.

Short visit (1–2 days), two to three specific sights — $89–$129

Go City Explorer 2-choice ($89) or 3-choice ($129). Load it with the two or three most expensive attractions on your list. Do not buy the CityPASS ($164) for a 2-day trip unless you genuinely want all five of its inclusions — you will not use them in time, and a 2-day trip rarely covers five major attractions. The C3 at $114 is worth considering if you want exactly three sights including an observation deck.

Classic first-timer, 3–5 days, iconic sights — $164–$224

Go City All-Inclusive 3-day ($224) if you plan to do three or more sights per day; CityPASS at $164 if you want a predictable five-attraction bundle with a 9-day window and less daily density required. The 3-day All-Inclusive at $224 beats CityPASS only if you use it at $75+ per day in individual attraction value — roughly two premium sights per day. If your pace is two sights per day across five days, the CityPASS is cheaper ($164 vs $284 for 5-day All-Inclusive) and does not require daily density to justify its price.

Selective visitor, four to six specific sights — $159–$189

Go City Explorer 4-choice ($159) or 5-choice ($189). Pick the five most expensive attractions on the menu and the 5-choice Explorer beats individual tickets by $30–$40. The 30-day validity takes all pressure off — use entries whenever you feel like it across your trip.

Family with kids, 3–5 days — $164 CityPASS or 3-day All-Inclusive

For a family of four (2 adults + 2 children aged 6–17): CityPASS = $164 × 2 + $136 × 2 = $600 for five attractions. Go City 3-day All-Inclusive = $224 × 2 + $184 × 2 = $816 for unlimited attractions. The All-Inclusive wins if the family genuinely does six or more paid attractions across three days; CityPASS wins if five is the realistic target. See the New York City pass for families guide for the full family price breakdown.

Budget-first, one to two paid attractions — buy individual tickets

No pass. Empire State Building ($44) + 9/11 Museum ($30) = $74 for two attractions. The cheapest pass option (2-choice Explorer at $89) costs $15 more before skip-the-line value. If the queue-skipping matters to you in summer, the $89 pass may be worth it. If you are visiting off-peak and do not need priority access, individual tickets win for two attractions every time.