5 Reasons a City Multi-pass Might Be a Waste of Your Money.
So you have a week to spend in pretty much any large city and you want to hit all the major sites as well as explore on your own. A little internet research will usually turn up a multi-pass of some kind and the discount looks like a great deal.
Well if you have a decent budget and little time a multi-pass may work for you but if you’re searching for deals, chances are you are trying to do it as cheap as possible and if so, there are some things to consider.
1)Though a multi-pass is usually advertised as a huge discount, if you don’t intend to visit all the attractions included you may in fact be paying more. 5 attractions for $70 is a great deal only, if you can’t see the three you’re actually interested in for $30 and not all popular attractions may be included.
2)Most museums have pay what you can or free day options.
3)Many attractions included may only cover base entry with other fees on top to access the full experience.
4)Depending on the city some included attractions (gardens etc.) may be free or by donation and hop on and off bus routes are often easily accessible by public transport.
5)You can often get other discounts, seniors concession, YHA card, online deal sites, last min ticket kiosks and special days.
So the moral of the story is that if you’re travelling with a family and want to skip the ticket lines or want to see a wide range of attraction in a short period of time a multi-pass might work for you.
However if you are on a tight budget or would like to view attractions at a slower pace a city multi- pass is probably not for you.
Make sure you compare the prices, free options and how many included attractions you actually want to see before you commit to a chunk of change.
On the other hand purchasing a local public transport pass and loading it with money (as opposed to paying as you go) will always save you money and most attractions you will find to be easily accessible by public transport at a fraction of the cost of a hop on hop off bus.
Ann
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