After reviewing CityPASS in 2021 and Sightseeing Pass in 2022, we decided to take another trip to NYC in July 2025 to test out the New York Go City Pass and the New York Pass at some of the most popular attractions in town.
Was it worth it? Definitely. The passes worked perfectly, we saved a serious amount of money, and we’re going to share everything we learned with you in this honest review.
Hi, we’re Mark and Kristen Morgan. We left our scientific careers in 2018 to become travel writers and photographers, and since then our expert guides have helped millions of travel planners take better trips. Read more about us.
Why trust our review? We’ve used and reviewed attraction passes in many cities around the world, we have personally used every single New York attraction pass, and we haven’t just visited NYC as tourists – we actually lived there.
First, we used our 1-day Go City All-Inclusive Passes to tick off 6 attractions for a massive total saving of $210. Then we used our 3-attractions New York Pass Explorer Pass to tick off 3 attractions for a healthy total saving of $88.
So you can clearly see that buying a Go City or New York Pass can save tons of money. But it’s crucial to be organized and you must plan well. We do this for a living, so our itinerary was as efficient as it gets.
In this Go City New York Pass review we show you what’s included, how we used the passes to save, our genuine pros and cons, and whether they’re worth your money. No fluff, just facts based on our own real experiences (see our photos below for proof we actually used the passes).
Disclosure: We each received a 1-day Go City New York All Inclusive Pass in order to share our opinion about this product, but this is not a sponsored post and our honest opinions are based on genuine first hand experiences.
Note: Our content is reader supported and contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you and it helps us keep this site running.
What Is The Go City New York Pass?
Go City is one of two companies offering NYC attraction passes (the other is CityPASS). Confusingly, Go City also owns the New York Pass but they’re exactly the same company offering exactly the same passes.
It doesn’t matter if you buy your pass from Go City or the New York Pass – you’ll get the same app, attractions, prices, user instructions and support.
Go City and the New York Pass offer two different pass types:
- All-Inclusive Pass – You visit unlimited attractions over a set number of consecutive days.
- Explorer Pass – You visit a set number of attractions with 60 days validity.
Essentially, any of the NY Go City Pass or New York Pass options allow you to visit multiple attractions for one set price, and the more attractions you do the more money you save. We like to think of it like buying in bulk.
The only thing you need to do is decide if you want to cram attractions into a few days, or pick a set number of attractions and see them slowly across your trip.
There are more than 100+ attractions to choose between on both passes – and we highly recommend taking a look through every single one of them because we’re sure you’ll find a few hidden gems.
Want to save money? We’ve partnered with Go City to offer our readers 5% off all adult and child passes. Just follow these easy steps to get your discount – click this link to the official Go City website, pick your passes and add MORGANS5 in the promo code at checkout. Easy win!
All-Inclusive vs Explorer Pass: Which Is Best For You?
Okay, let’s kick things off with a comparison between the two types of attractions pass you can buy from Go City in New York.
All-Inclusive Pass (Day Based):
- Visit unlimited attractions over 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, or 10 consecutive days.
- Best if you want to fill your days with non-stop attractions.
- Perfect if you want to find lesser-known hidden gems.
Explorer Pass (Attractions Based):
- Choose 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 10 attractions to visit over 60 days.
- Perfect for a more relaxed pace or if you only want to see select, pricier attractions.
- Less pressure to cram everything in and can be more spontaneous.
If you buy from New York Pass instead of Go City, the only difference is the name of the pass. The All-Inclusive Pass is called the New York Pass, and the Explorer Pass is called the New York Pass Explorer.
We know this is confusing and we don’t like it much either to be honest, but it is easy enough to figure out once you take a quick look at both websites.
Here’s a table highlighting the key differences between the types of pass:
| Feature | Go City All-Inclusive Pass | Go City Explorer Pass |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Unlimited attractions for set days | Fixed number of attractions |
| What you get | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 10 days | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 10 attractions |
| Number of attractions | 108 | 109 |
| Big Bus NY | Included | Included |
| Savings | Depends on attractions (we saved 39%) | Depends on attractions (we saved 27%) |
| Best for | Seeing as much as possible in a few days | Spreading attractions out, flexibility |
| Pass activation | First use, valid for consecutive days | First use, valid for 60 days |
| Mobile pass | Yes | Yes |
Our experience: We used both pass types and honestly there’s pros and cons to doing it each way. With the all-inclusive pass we cracked off 6 attractions (which is amazing!) but we felt rushed and compelled to do as much as we could to make the absolute most of the pass. Whereas we could slow down and relax with the explorer pass, but we maxed out at just 3 attractions. So there’s a trade-off.
Which should you get? If it was our first time in NYC and we wanted to cram all the major attractions into 3-5 days, we’d get the all-inclusive pass. But we would buy the explorer pass if we only wanted to see a select few expensive things like two observation decks and Big Bus because it would be more cost effective.
Take a closer look at both passes on the official website to see what’s included and don’t forget to add MORGANS5 at checkout to get that extra discount.
New for 2025: The New York Pass has introduced a brand new “Essentials Pass” to compete with the format CityPASS uses – you pick one observation deck from 4 available, as well as 2 more attractions from 9 popular options. We haven’t used it and we’re not sure we would choose it over the all-inclusive or explorer pass because it limits choices.
Our Go City NYC Experience
Okay, let’s take a closer look at how we used our Go City and New York Passes in the real world so you can see exactly how we saved.
It’s worth mentioning that we’ve already done all of New York’s top attractions many times throughout every season when we lived there and during our countless trips since – so we know our way around and we know what to expect. Plus, we’ve used attraction passes around the world so we know exactly how they work.
We’ll cover how to use the app and book attractions next, but for now here’s what we did with our passes:
Go City All-Inclusive 1 Day Pass
| Attraction | Regular Price | Our Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Edge | $47 | 8/10 – Amazing views, quiet in morning |
| Vessel | $16 | 7/10 – Photogenic, lots of steps ($8 off) |
| Intrepid | $38 | 7/10 – Huge, awesome for teens |
| Big Bus | $81 | 6/10 – Good transport option, but busy |
| Museum of Broadway | $43 | 8/10 – Loved it, photogenic and fun |
| Top of the Rock | $52 | 9/10 – Best Manhattan views at sunset |
| Pass Cost: $164 | Individual Cost: $269 | Savings: $105 each |
There’s a lot to unpack here so let’s get started. First, yes we were able to do all of these attractions in one day because we planned well and made sure our walking route was efficient.
Trust us, it’s doable – we did this trip with our 8 month old daughter in a stroller, so you can do it too! But we did throw in a few travel hacks which we’re happy to share with you now.
We started by booking a time slot 30 minutes in advance for Edge at Hudson Yards, and we had no issue with time slots being sold out in the morning.
Edge is probably our second favorite observation deck and if we’re being honest it’s better at sunset, but we wanted to give it a try in the morning this time and we’re glad we did because it was nice and quiet.
After Edge we used our Go City Passes to get a 50% discount at the nearby honeycomb-shaped Vessel, so instead of paying $16 we only paid $8 each. Bonus!
We’d always wanted to go inside Vessel but it was closed for years until they reopened it in October 2024. We’re travel photographers so we couldn’t get enough of the unique design, and it was also surprisingly quiet inside.
Next we walked the Empire State Trail along the Hudson River to Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, which was massive and really cool to explore.
The pass got us entry to all areas but didn’t include any of the special exhibits which come with extra fees. But that was fine, there was easily enough to keep us entertained for a few hours.
After Intrepid we went for lunch at a fantastic Thai place called Valla Table, before walking into Times Square to scan our passes for Big Bus.
We had no intention of using it that day, but the ticket is valid for 48 hours and we wanted to use it the next day for transport up and down Manhattan to make life easier with the stroller – even though our Go City Pass had expired by then. There’s a great hack for you!
Next up was the super fun Museum of Broadway. It was actually our first time and we thought it was great – highly recommend if you enjoy musicals.
They’ve set the museum up really well across several floors in a timeline from the earliest to newest Broadway shows. There’s tons of great photo ops along the way, so it’s a good one for Instagram and TikTok.
Then we finished with our millionth summit to Top of the Rock. It’s our favorite of the 5 NYC observation decks and it wasn’t far to walk so we squeezed it in with time to spare before dark.
If we didn’t have the baby with us we’d have stayed for sunset because it really is the best time to be up at Top of the Rock, but it was quiet which helped with us having the stroller.
New York Explorer 3-Attractions Pass
| Attraction | Regular Price | Our Experience |
|---|---|---|
| One World Observatory | $57 | 6/10 – Not as good as the others |
| Empire State Building | $58 | 8/10 – Iconic, but busy |
| Madison Square Garden Tour | $48 | 7/10 – Fun behind the scenes tour |
| Pass Cost: $119 | Individual Cost: $163 | Savings: $44 each |
This was a 4 day trip to NYC and we’d already used one full day blasting around the city with our Go City All-Inclusive Passes. So we decided to slow down and spread out the three attractions we had planned with our New York Pass.
We gave One World Observatory another try after being underwhelmed by it a few years before when the top was completely shrouded in clouds.
It was cool to see again and the weather was much better this time, but it’s still our least favorite observation deck because we prefer the city views from Midtown Manhattan.
Then the next day we went up the Empire State Building early in the morning, hoping to beat the crowds. But that was a fail – it was crammed full of tourists instantly after opening.
It’s obviously super iconic, but we still think it’s better to see the Empire State Building than stand on top of it. That’s why we choose Top of the Rock every time when we meet friends and family in New York.
Later that afternoon we finished with a tour of Madison Square Garden which was really great – but it was here we ran into our first and only problem with either pass.
Despite only having used 2/3 attractions, our New York Pass was showing as expired so the QR code wasn’t scannable. We had a quick chat with the staff at MSG and showed them the 2/3 used, and fortunately they let us in. But that could have been a bigger issue.
What’s Included + What’s Missing?
One thing we really like about Go City New York and the New York Pass is having more than 100+ attractions available (see the full list of attractions).
The competitor CityPASS only has 10 top attractions (we’ll talk more about that later), so Go City wins hands down if you’re interested in doing anything off the beaten path, Big Bus or walking/biking/foodie tours.
Top attractions included:
- Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, One World Observatory, Edge at Hudson Yards
- Intrepid, Big Bus, Circle Line Cruises, AMNH, Yankees Tickets, MoMA, Guggenheim, 9/11, Statue of Liberty Ferry
Lesser visited attractions included:
- Museum of Broadway, Central Park Bike Rentals, Madame Tussauds, Mercer Labs, Rise NY
- Walking tours, bike tours, adults only night tours, escape games and exclusive attractions
What’s missing?
The only major attractions missing from NY Go City and New York Pass are The Met and Summit One. But they’re not available on any other pass either, so in reality there’s nothing missing that we think you absolutely must do on a first trip to NYC.
Insider tip: Check to see if you can visit any museum or attraction for free as a New York State resident so you don’t use up potentially free attractions if you buy an Explorer Pass.
Want To Save Money In NYC?
Click the button below and add MORGANS5 promo code to get 5% discount on all Go City and New York Passes.
>> Apply Discount <<How To Use The Go City Pass
Are you worried about not being able to figure out how to use the pass even though it can save you money?
Well, trust us when we tell you the whole process from buying the passes all the way through to scanning into attractions is easy and streamlined.
Here’s the exact process we followed:
Step 1 – Buying Our Passes: After choosing our passes and paying, we received an email asking us to verify our email address. Following that we got another email with instructions to download the Go City app from the mobile app store and reserve time slots at attractions. It was simple and we had no issues getting set up.
Step 2 – Planning Our Attractions: This part was all on us. We know NYC very well, so we mapped out an efficient route, clustering attractions geographically. We knew the timings would all be fine and the weather forecast looked perfect.
Step 3 – Using The App: We opened the Go City app and synced both our passes so they showed up with QR codes which we would scan at all attractions we visited. Within the app we were able to see which attractions required time slot reservations, which attractions we’d visited and a list of the remaining attractions to choose between.
Step 4 – At The Attractions: Tons of people use Go City Passes in New York so attraction ticket offices are well set up to help with streamlined entry. We never had any problems getting into anything with our QR codes, and we didn’t have to deal with any lines at all. But we did have the one issue on the New York Pass showing as expired when we’d only used 2/3 attractions. Maybe that was a double-scan somewhere or a rare glitch.
Need help planning your trip to New York City?
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Our Pros And Cons
After using the passes ourselves, here are our pros and cons to buying a New York Go City Pass or New York Pass:
Pros ✅:
- 100+ attractions, including top sights and hidden gems
- Easy to use QR codes on phones
- Time slot reservations easy to make on app
- Huge savings when used well
Cons ❌:
- CityPASS C3 is cheaper for 3 top attractions
- Pass prices change based on seasonality
- Next available time slots can be busy
The biggest pro for us is being able to save a ton of money because we know how to make the most of these passes. Choose expensive attractions, make sure you can actually get to them in time and use our hacks like scanning the Big Bus with an All-Inclusive day pass so you can use it the next day even when your pass has expired.
One of our biggest cons to using attraction passes anywhere is not being able to book time slots or skip the line tickets at certain attractions. This means you turn up and get the next available time slot, and the line could be long. To combat this, we recommend visiting New York in April or another shoulder season month.
Go City vs CityPASS
Go City’s main competitor used to be Sightseeing Pass, but they permanently closed down in 2025. So now Go City only has one other competitor for attraction passes in NYC and that’s CityPASS.
We’ve used CityPASS in Seattle, Denver, San Francisco and New York – and we’ve always saved money with them. The problem is, attraction options are limited and potential savings are way less than Go City when used well.
With CityPASS you get 2 non-negotiable attractions (Empire State Building and American Museum of Natural History), then you choose 3 from 6 other attractions.
The 5 attractions in total end up being cheaper than if you bought a 5-attractions Go City Explorer Pass, but you have no choice on the first two attractions and you might not want to do three of the other six available. Here’s our NY CityPASS review to learn more.
If you want to keep researching this topic before committing to anything, we highly recommend reading our detailed comparison of all New York passes next to learn more about the other pass options.
Finally, it’s important to remember you can just book individual attractions through official websites if you don’t want to deal with passes at all. But the downside to that approach is having to pay service/processing fees and taxes on top of base prices.
Who Should + Shouldn’t Buy The Go City Pass
Still not sure if Go City or the New York Pass is right for you? Here’s what we recommend:
Perfect for:
- First time visitors to NYC
- Families who want flexibility
- People who love museums and observation decks
We really like the variety of attractions available with Go City. They have the major top attractions like CityPASS, but they also have totally unique and obscure things you’d never know about without using the passes.
Not great for:
- Quick trips focussed on shows or food
- People who don’t like using mobile apps
Common misconceptions:
- Worried about rushing around? Get the Explorer Pass and just do one attraction each day.
- Repeat visitor and already seen the top attractions? Get either pass and just do the obscure stuff!
Save Money On Your Passes Today
Click the button below and add MORGANS5 at checkout to get 5% discount on all adult and child passes.
Get The DiscountOur Top Tips + Advice
After using attraction passes all around the world and every pass available in NYC, here are our top tips to remember if you buy a Go City Pass:
- Seasonality: We lived in New York in the winter and despite being ice cold, all the same attractions were open for business – just without the crowds. Summer is a completely different proposition, with crowds likely at most attractions especially on weekends.
- Avoiding crowds: There will be long lines at attractions if you visit New York in peak season. It’s inevitable. The key is to plan your itinerary to visit major attractions early in the morning and visit lesser known spots around lunch time or in the afternoon. Have a back up plan if you can’t get into an attraction.
- Weather: Look at weather reports when you arrive into NYC and plan accordingly. Trust us, you don’t want to go up any of the observation decks when heavy rain is forecast. Best case you won’t be able to see anything, worst case they might temporarily close for safety reasons.
- Indoors/Outdoors: Consider planning your itinerary around being indoors or outdoors at certain times of day depending on the weather and conditions outside. On hot days avoid 12-4pm outside, whereas on cold days prioritize being outside 12-4pm when it’s warmest.
- Logistics: One of our best pieces of advice for using the All-Inclusive Pass is to visit attractions that are close together. We saved tons of time and squeezed in plenty of attractions because we planned our itinerary well.
- Strollers: Doing all this with a stroller was new for us. We had an issue with elevators at One World Observatory, but otherwise everywhere else was very accommodating. We had to leave our stroller in a locked room at the Museum of Broadway and put our daughter in her baby carrier but that was fine.
Money Saving Tip: Maximize your pass by doing the most expensive attractions, then paying individually for cheaper attractions. If it’s your first time in NYC, you probably want to do the Statue of Liberty Ferry and 9/11 Museum. They’re both cheaper attractions, so don’t use your pass for them. Do the observation decks, Big Bus or other expensive things instead.
Is The New York Go City Pass Worth It?
In our honest opinion, we think buying a NY Go City Pass or New York Pass is a fantastic way to save money – but the passes only work if you’re organized, choose the right attractions, plan an effective itinerary and actually turn up to each attraction.
We saved $210 and $88 respectively with our passes, so for us it was well worth the investment. Those savings paid for our pizza and bagels addiction in New York!
However, the passes aren’t worth buying if you’re not a planner by nature or you prefer to be spontaneous when you travel. And if you’d rather just do three of the most famous attractions, the CityPASS might be a better option for you.
That said, we do think the Go City Pass and New York Pass excels when it comes to family travel because it has lots of kid-friendly things to do on top of the popular attractions.
If you read reviews about Go City on Tripadvisor or Trustpilot you’ll see lots of 1 star and 5 star reviews. The 1 star reviews are mostly left by people who didn’t plan well and the 5 star reviews are left by people who did. It’s that simple. Be a 5 star person and you’ll save money with these passes!
How To Buy
If you’re happy with what we’ve explained about our experiences and how to use the pass, and you want to buy a pass for your trip to NYC here’s the best way to do it:
Head over to Go City’s official website or New York Pass official website, select which passes you want to buy and enter MORGANS5 into the promo code to get 5% off all your entire order.
Next Steps
We hope our review helps you decide if the New York Go City or New York Pass is the perfect fit for your upcoming NYC adventure, but please let us know if you have any other questions in the comments box a little further below (remember, this is just a review of our personal experiences using the passes).
Still figuring out your plans for NYC?
- Follow our 4 day NYC itinerary
- Here are the top things to do in NYC
- These are the best places to stay in NYC
Finally, we recommend reading our ultimate first timers New York City travel guide for more helpful tips and advice.
Happy Travels,
Mark & Kristen
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Mark and Kristen spent 6 years traveling the world, visiting over 40 countries across 4 continents and more than 30 US states. They created Where Are Those Morgans in 2018 to help others plan the best possible vacations by writing authentic travel and hiking guides based on their real experiences.
Since the arrival of baby Maya in late 2024, Mark and Kristen’s extensive travels have slowed down but they still take plenty of trips. Where Are Those Morgans now helps millions of travelers each year to visit new places and hike new trails through information-packed blog posts and expert travel guidebooks. Read more about Mark and Kristen.