Is it worth it to buy a City Pass?

City pass review
Before our vacation to New York, my hubby bought two City Passes to save us some money. You have to try to save money in New York because everything except the street food is overpriced. Basically, City Passes are tickets to the main attractions in a particular city and they save you 40-45% off the regular price of admission. We decided it was worth it to buy the pass for New York for two reasons: One, New York's attractions are mostly expensive and the only free ones are Central Park and Times Square. If you want to do the tourist circuit, you have to pay. Two, we were planning very last minute, and it's hard to find deals last minute. You kind of have to make this call yourself, and check out the options for your destination city, but here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Your NPR/AARP/AAA/NRA/Y2K membership might provide discounts to some locations, and most discount student and veteran/military tickets.
- Were you actually planning to go to the places listed? NYC's list is pretty well-rounded, but others - like Houston - feature lesser-known attractions that may not have been part of your plans.
- The coupons expire in 9 days, so don't buy a book intending to use it throughout your two-week winter break or something.
- You have to leave the coupons in the book - don't tear them out before using them.
- Having a City Pass often entitles you to skip lines and offers discounts, too. It was very convenient to skip lines at the Metropolitan Museum of art and the Empire State Building, where lines were long.
- If you're going to a city with a lot of history like Boston or Phillie I wouldn't bother. Most of the historical attractions are free. And who wants to go to the Boston museum of fine arts anyway?
- Want to relax on your vacation? Then don't buy one. It gives you an agenda!

Vacation Emergency sort-of solved

Last night the hubby and I got on Hotwire and Lastminute.com and hunted for vacation deals until 10:30 pm. Taking vacation is so complicated as a pharmacist: You have to have some one to cover for you or you just can't go. It's not like you can just put an "away" message on your email and deal with a big mess when you return - you have to be there and fill the drugs! So while I *have* to take vacation, I can't just take it when I want - there has to be someone available to cover for me. So I have to juggle travel deals with days I can take off. Insane and stressful!
We debated taking a great deal to London in November, but eventually passed on it. That's an expensive trip to take, even with low-priced airfare, and I think it merits a little more forethought. Instead we're going to NYC for a few days. There's always something to do in New York, and we'll combine the trip with a visit to our godbabies in phillie. I miss the northeast; it will be good to go back.
Of course we are going in November, the ugliest month in the area excluding March. Oh well, can't really complain about vacation, eh?
In your helpful comments, Charbelle recommended the Thunder City Marathon. Guess what, girl? I already checked it out last night! A close friend moved to Charlotte two years ago and I texted him last night about staying with him for the race. Unfortunately it's a busy weekend for the company so I may not be able to take the vacation days. Great minds think alike, though!
Now the rest of my vacation days will just have to be staycations, which several of you suggested. I think a few days at home would be a good opportunity to catch up on art projects. For an artist, my walls are pretty bare!
What have you done - or would love to do - on a staycation or a few days off?
Tomorrow I show you how to turn frumpsville pants into classy Audrey slacks. See ya then.