September 19, 2007

Q: Is the NYC Explorer Pass a bargain? A: No

(Update: An NYC Explorer Pass representative e-mailed a full reply, printed below.)

NewYorkology has never been a fan of the NYC Explorer Pass, and even less so now that its advertising pitch is makes it seem like the card-holders can cut lines (asterisks included.)

And while the pass can save you money under certain circumstances, it's not a sure thing. The new Explorer Pass lets you choose any five activities for $109 (or $69 for children under 12;) or any three for $69, (or $39 for kids.) Here are the options - with regular prices listed:

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island - True, the Explorer Pass lets you skip the ticket line for the ferry (which you could do anyway by purchasing online and printing out your tickets,) but you still have to stand in all the other lines. But the serious flaw here, is that they do not give you a free monument pass, which is the only way to get into the Statue of Liberty museum and onto its pedestal. In addition, they don't warn you anywhere about this, unless you pick up the phone and grill them (like NewYorkology just did.) Normal price: $11.50 adults; $4.50 kids.

Top of the Rock Observation Deck VIP Entry -- If you book your timed-entry tickets in advance, it's just like getting VIP access because Top of the Rock is so well run that you never notice that you're in line for the few minutes you actually are, because you're wandering through their mini-museum. Regular price: $17.50 adults; $11.25 for kids.

Metropolitan Museum of Art VIP Entry - At most times, the line you have to stand in for so-called "VIP entry" is nearly equal to the regular entry line. The regular $20 admission to the Met is by suggested donation, meaning that you can pay just a penny. (More free NY museum hours here.)

Museum of Modern Art VIP Entry - MoMA is normally $20 for adults, except Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m. when it's free to everyone. However, the Explorer Pass thinks sending you to the information desk for entry counts as VIP. Hardly. (If you want real VIP MoMA, book a before-hours or after-hours private tour for $50 or $60.)

Gateway to America Water Taxi tour w/bonus 2-Day Hop-on/Hop-off pass -- Dollar-wise, this is a good deal since the one-hour tour normally costs $20 per adult and $12 for kids and the hop-on/hop-off pass is usually $25/$15. However, no one tells you the Water Taxi only runs one to two boats an hour and on weekends they're frequently too full to pick up all the passengers waiting, and the top outdoor deck fills up even faster. Also, their "schedules" are broken. But once you're on, they're great boats and a nice ride.

Hop-on/Hop-off Double Decker Tour - If you want to sit on a bus and listen to some possibly-factual narration, the Explorer Pass lets you choose one of these: CitySights NY Downtown (normally $37/27,) or Uptown ($37/$27,) or All Around Town ($49/$39,) or the Night Tour ($37/$27.)

NY Waterway Skyline Tour - Normally $23 for adults and $13 for kids.

NY Waterway City Lights Evening Cruise - Normally $23 for adults and $13 for kids.

Ripley's Believe It or Not! - Normally $24.95 and $18.95.

"Sex and the City" Hotspots Tour - Normally $37.

New York TV and Movies Sites Tour - Normally $34.

Central Park Movie Tour - Normally $15.

NBC Studio Tour - Normally $18.50 and $15.50.

Rockefeller Center Tour - This costs only $5 more (for a total of $23.45 for adults) if you book it with your NBC Studio Tour.

Woodbury Common Premium Outlets Day Trip - You're kidding right? You'd spend all that money to come to NYC so you can take a long bus ride to a suburban mall? ($37/$27)

So to the calculator.

To make the Explorer Pass pay off, you need to choose something like the Water Taxi (normally $45,) the City Sights All Around Town bus tour (normally $49,) and the "Sex and the City" tour ($37.) Though that's a lot of time sitting on your tuchis in a city made for walking.

Update: Here's the full reply:

My name is Shannon Bullard and I work as a Marketing Analyst for New York City Explorer Pass. I’m writing in response to your September 19th blog entry in your “Cheap Stuff” section on NewYorkology. My coworkers and I have always appreciated your contributors’ ability to paint a clear picture of New York City for tourists and locals, so I was disappointed to read your comments about New York City Explorer Pass! I consider NewYorkology a valuable resource about New York City (in fact, I’ve used it to plan several trips to NYC), so I wanted to write to you and clear up some misconceptions about our product.

When I first read your article, my initial impression was that this entry was written from the perspective of someone who experienced the card from a New York City local’s point of view, and not from a potential traveler’s point of view (re: the point of view of our customers). This is no slight against you, because being a local New York guru is what you do best; I’m just afraid some of finer points of the Explorer Pass experience were lost to you and I’d like to have a chance to defend our product:

1.) Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
Admittedly, you were right about the lack of information on the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island attraction page. Nowhere on our site did we mention that after our customers travel to Ellis Island that we provide complimentary entry to the Statue via the “monument pass.” Though the information was available in our guidebook, we neglected to place it on the website. This was our mistake, and we appreciate you bringing it to our attention.

That information has been updated on our website and will continue to appear in future printings of the guidebook.

I hope that you will have the chance to update your site with this new information.

Also, you mentioned that customers “have to stand in all the other lines” with the Explorer Pass. Standing in line for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island is unavoidable, this is true. However, while Explorer Pass customers (having skipped the long line to purchase tickets) only have to wait in line for the boat to Ellis Island the time spent in is brief compared to the ticket line Non-Explorer Pass customers must endure before entering line for the boat to Ellis Island.

The advantage of having the Explorer Pass instead of just buying and printing out your tickets ahead of time online is that with the Explorer Pass, you can get your tickets without having a reservation. A Non-Explorer Pass customer with a pre-purchased ferry ticket not only must select the exact day they want to travel, but you can’t exchange your tickets after you purchase them. On the Circle Line website in the finer print it says all sales are FINAL and there are no changes due to weather or unforeseen circumstances. Meanwhile, Explorer Pass customers not only have the added benefit of being able to skip the line like print-out-ticket customers, but they also get the flexibility to choose the day they would like to visit the island without fear of being rained out.

2.) Top of the Rock
Secondly, I’d like to respond to your point about the Top of the Rock Observation Deck. Though I completely agree that the Top of the Rock is an extremely well managed business that can deal with an influx of tourists better than most New York attractions, I don’t think it’s completely accurate to describe the line as non-existent. We’ve found that many of our customers travel on peak travel days when most attractions, even Top of the Rock, have longer lines than usual. The benefit of the Explorer Pass is that we always shave a little time off your Top of the Rock visit, whether it’s 2 extra minutes or 30-minutes.

In fact, when Explorer Pass customers arrive at the Top of the Rock, we direct them to the Will Call booth where they can pick up their tickets and avoid standing in the ticket line. Though this advantage might not always be completely necessary if an Explorer Pass customer arrives during a non-Peak time, it certainly is an advantage when they do arrive during peak times.

3.) Museum of Modern Art
You are absolutely right, MOMA is free on Friday’s from 4pm to 8pm. However, not all customers want to take advantage of free Fridays at MOMA. During this four hour time block, the museum sees a huge mob of visitors, which makes it hard for first time visitors to enjoy everything the MOMA has to offer. Plus, not all visitors want to see the museum on Friday night. Who knows? They might have theater or dinner plans, or any number of things that could prevent them from attending this museum during free hours.

4.) Hop on Hop off Double Decker Tour + Other NYC Explorer Pass Tours.
I completely understand that for a true New Yorker, the thought of sitting on a bus for 2 hours seems ludicrous. (I personally like to travel like the locals live.) However, for someone new to the city who may not know the city streets as well as you or I, or even for someone who never has navigated a big city before, these tours can be very comfortable excursions. Not only is taking a tour cheaper than paying for a collection of taxi rides, but these tours cater to the tourist sensibility. They provide fun information while letting visitors get out and see the sites. For Explorer Pass customers, there is no huffing across the city or cab hopping, instead they kick back and relax while in an air-conditioned bus.

5.) Woodbury Common Premium Outlets Tour
While outlet shopping is not for everyone, foreign travelers in particular look forward to a day at the outlets (take a glimpse at the boards on Trip Advisor and you’ll see what I mean). We appreciate their enthusiasm and want to provide those individuals with an included solution in case they’d like to visit the outlets. The best part is, for those individuals not interested in the outlets, we have a number of other options they can experience instead.

All and all, I’m impressed with the time you took to research and write your entry. However, I’d like you to bear in mind, just as we have, that travel is not one size fits all. We understand that there are many off-the-beaten path travelers who may not benefit from our travel passes. However, we also hope that you and your contributors understand that there are some tourists perfectly content to enjoy a Double Decker tour or day at the outlets.

For these travelers who want an overview of the city, I believe our card is an excellent solution to their travel needs. The benefits are not always monetary. In some cases, you might only save $16 dollars –which is still better than you pay at the gate—but you’ll have the added benefit of flexibility while still being able to save time. Another benefit is our included full-color guidebook (something that isn’t offered when you pre-purchase individual tickets online or buy at the gate) which comes filled with subway maps, area descriptions, detailed attraction pages, and information about cabs, subway, and the like.

Thank you for your time, Amy. I know this email was quite long. Regardless, I respect your editorial eye, and I’m always receptive to ways that we can better market our product and reach out to travelers so, if you’d like to have a dialogue, I’d be more than happy to free up some time. Let me know what you think!

Shannon Bullard
Marketing Analyst
Smart Destinations, Inc.

September 19, 2007 01:10 PM in Basic NYC Guide, Cheap Stuff, Tours

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