If you're all about saving a buck when you travel and making the most of your dollars when traveling, hopefully this will be helpful to you. This is the Pros and Cons of the Go Boston Card. Some people don't worry about what they spend when traveling and like to go big - if so, this may not be helpful to you. But most people want to have fun without exactly breaking the bank at the same time - that's me!
I'll start off by saying that I am usually wary of these "Go (City) cards" or CityPass cards as they are usually very expensive for one person. I have to think about a family of four, so most of the time, these cards aren't feasible for me. But, I did a guys' trip to Boston and bought the card for just me. Here's the good and bad of it. The truth is that it really comes down to your travel personality (i.e. are you fast-paced and like to jam-pack your time, or do you like to take your time and see and discover things as you go?) How you answer this will depend on if this card is right for you.
So, here are the Pros:
1. The Go Boston Card is reasonably priced for the 1 or 2 day options, whereas similar cards for NYC or Chicago run a lot higher. Since this is reasonably priced, it is not a bad deal.
2. You can save a lot of money if you are organized and plan your day or days beforehand. You can really maximize what you see and end up seeing quite a bit. I purchased the $79 card for 2 days (and got a discount through my job - so it was $70).
3. If you're going to use this card - don't use it for the cheap stuff - get your money's worth by tackling the big ticket items that are included. Plan on 3-4 things per day to really maximize your time. I packed the two days out and ended up seeing a ton of stuff that would've cost me about $182.00 if I did them individually without the card.
OK, here are the Cons:
1. These cards are not cheap and if you are on a budget with a family, you might spend a lot more than if you just picked 1 or 2 expensive things and did the rest on the cheap side, as I like to do. This is where personality comes into play - some people figure it's vacation and don't worry about what they spend - if so, go for it. If you're a spend-thrift, you can make your vacations a lot cheaper and more meaningful. If you like to see all the big things everyone does, use the card. If you like to do your own thing and avoid touristy things - don't use the card.
2. To get the most out of this card, you have to pack in your day(s). This limits time you might like to spend at each attraction. And it limits you to doing what is available on the card. Other things you might like to do (i.e. The Boston Tea Party museum) may not be on the card. If you do things that aren't on the card, you are not getting the value of having the card.
3. Again personality - my friends were glad that I made a tight schedule as we did a lot of things. But, they also wanted to slow down and explore and look around, and soon got tired of the fast pace. If you don't like fast paced vacations - this is not the card for you. You're better off just picking the things you want to do and setting your own pace to do them (i.e. shopping, discovering neighborhoods, restaurants, and leisurely walking around)
The Go Boston Card is a great card if you use it as it is intended - however, whether it is right for you will depend largely on your financial habits when traveling, your interests, your personality traits, and the people you are with and at what kind of pace they want to do things. Hope this was helpful!