When a sightseeing pass loses money
Updated
The popular picks test
The calculator on each city page opens with our five popular picks for a first visit, for 2 adults over 3 days at a relaxed pace.
Across the 10 cities, that plan gives 6 Worth it, 13 Close call and 36 Skip it. Every pass in Rome and Barcelona comes out Skip it. No pass comes out Worth it in New York, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Lisbon and Chicago. Prices checked October 2026.
| City | Worth it | Close call | Skip it | Top of the result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 0 | 4 | 3 | C3: USD 30 less than the gate |
| San Francisco | 3 | 1 | 2 | CityPASS + Alcatraz: USD 98 less than the gate |
| Boston | 1 | 1 | 1 | CityPASS: USD 37.90 less than the gate |
| Paris | 0 | 1 | 4 | Museum Pass: EUR 24 less than the gate |
| London | 1 | 1 | 2 | London Pass Explorer: GBP 38 less than the gate |
| Rome | 0 | 0 | 7 | Roma Pass: EUR 43 more than the gate |
| Barcelona | 0 | 0 | 11 | Card Essential: EUR 34 more than the gate |
| Amsterdam | 1 | 1 | 3 | City Card Explorer: EUR 27 less than the gate |
| Lisbon | 0 | 1 | 1 | Lisboa Card: EUR 2 more than the gate |
| Chicago | 0 | 3 | 2 | C3: USD 2 less than the gate |
The popular picks are our choice, not a visitor ranking, and your list will differ. The patterns below are what turns a list into a loss.
The headline sight is in no pass
Some of the sights a first visit is built around sit in no pass at all: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Boston Tea Party Ships in Boston, Eiffel Tower summit in Paris, Catacombs of Saint Callixtus in Rome, Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and Oceanário de Lisboa and Pena Palace in Lisbon. You pay their gate price whichever pass you buy, so they add to the real cost of every pass and to the gate total alike. The pass has to earn its price from the rest of the list.
For Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo and Heineken Experience, with 2 adults, 3 days at a relaxed pace, Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House cost EUR 83 at the gate for the two of you, pass or not. I amsterdam City Card on its 1 day (24 hours) option comes out Close call: EUR 19 more than the gate (7%) for this plan. Prices checked October 2026.
Children get in for nothing at the gate
20 attractions in our data let everyone under 18 in for nothing. A pass bought for a child there pays for tickets the child does not need. For Musée du Louvre and Musée d'Orsay, with 1 adult and 1 child aged 10, both gates are free for the child. The Paris Pass All-Inclusive still charges for the child and comes out Skip it, EUR 242 more than the gate (526%). Paris Museum Pass publishes no child price, so the child is left out of it, and it comes out Skip it, EUR 39 more than the gate (84%). Prices checked October 2026.
Children and family math for city passes lists where children pay nothing and how each age prices.
Too few days for the visits
A day pass pays only when you fill its days. For Museum of Science, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Harvard Museum of Natural History and Paul Revere House, 1 adult on a 3 day trip, Go City Boston All-Inclusive Pass needs the 2 days option at a relaxed pace of 2 a day and comes out Skip it, USD 20 more than the gate (22%). Packed into one day, the 1 day option does it: Worth it, USD 10 less than the gate (11%). Prices checked October 2026.
Choice passes vs all-inclusive passes shows the same effect with longer lists.
Picks that are cheap at the gate
A choice pass charges the same for every pick, so cheap tickets and unused picks both cost you. For Empire State Building and Edge Observation Deck, 1 adult, New York C3 uses 2 picks of 3, costs USD 111 with the checkout fee and comes out Skip it: USD 23 more than the gate (26%). Add any 1 more of its included attractions with a ticket price and it pays off. Prices checked October 2026.
The Rome popular picks cost EUR 10 to EUR 20 at the gate for an adult, against EUR 38 a person for the 48 hours Roma Pass. For the five Rome popular picks with 2 adults, 3 days at a relaxed pace, Roma Pass covers 1 site on its 48 hours option and comes out Skip it, EUR 43 more than the gate (28%); 7 of the 7 Rome passes come out Skip it. Our data has no Colosseum price yet. The sellers' own pages list the Colosseum on the Rome City Pass, the Go City Rome pass, Roma Pass and OMNIA Smart, so for a plan with a Colosseum visit their figures on the Rome page run low. Prices checked October 2026.
What turns a loss around
- Every card has a break-even line: how many more of the pass's included attractions would make it pay for your group, cheapest first.
- A day pass may come right at a packed pace, with the visits it needs fitting into fewer days.
- Where the gates are free for your children, run the plan for the adults alone and compare the two results.
- Tick the sights you would do anyway, including the ones in no pass. A pass that comes out Skip it for a full plan has a real loss behind it.
The verdict rules, including the 10% lines, are on the methodology page. Start a plan of your own in the calculator.