I almost never write negative reviews but I feel compelled to share our experience because we spent so much time and money on these passes. And I don’t want anyone else to make the same mistake.
We purchased 3 48-hour passes.
Day 1: we hopped on one bus near Times Square which had basically no narration on the headphones. It played about 5 songs over and over. After hopping off, we used the app to use the live mapping and wait times feature. It said 20 min, which turned out to be 50 min. Not remotely accurate. Once aboard, it was the same issue as before with the narration. Isn’t the whole point of a tour to learn something about what you’re seeing? If we just needed a mode of transportation, there are much cheaper options.
Day 2: Jumped on the 10am uptown tour. It was the day before thanksgiving so obviously we expected some route detours due to the parade. Apparently this had not occurred to TopView because our driver ended up driving around in circles around Central Park West, 84th, Amsterdam, 86th, south (!!!) on Central Park West, back to 84th, back to Amsterdam, up to 88th and back to Central Park West. It took 2 hours to get from Times Square to the Apollo Theater. Only halfway around the route. Not because of traffic or unplanned road closures. But because the driver HAD NO IDEA WHERE HE WAS GOING. The driver was trying to go down residential streets, constantly honking at other vehicles. Everyone on the top deck was literally laughing at the driver’s incompetence and joking about how they hoped to get back before dark. We stopped at the cathedral to let a poor family of 5 with little kids stop to go to the bathroom. We waited for them. No one wanted to get off out of fear that another bus wouldn’t come along. It was such a joke. Eventually we got cold because this bus didn’t have the transparent winter topper that was advertised. So we went downstairs which had an overpowering smell of diesel fumes and we did our best to peer through the advertisement wrapping on the side of the bus. We could have done that from a city bus for $2.75. Instead, we paid $210.
Night 2: Reluctantly, we got on the scheduled 7pm night tour bus leaving Times Sq west. We boarded at 6:50. The busway close to full but we sat and sat and sat. The customers were getting frustrated and angry, including us. 6 people left and asked for refunds (not sure if they got them). Later, at 7:23, One worker came upstairs to count open seats. One female customer asked him, “how much longer until we leave?” The worker snapped back, “soon” in a very snarky way. Well, another 15 minutes passed. I assume the workers were trying to sell every last seat — understandable except that you had 75 or so paying customers having a terrible experience as they waited until 7:38 to finally leave. 7:38! The “tour” — not really a tour because guess what, still had no narration. Passengers were pointing out landmarks to their fellow passengers.
I completely discourage people from purchasing tickets to TopView. Surely there are other, better ways to explore NYC.
To summarize: TopView is a poor value due to a poor product with poor planning and poor execution.
Congratulations! You hit the trifecta.