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Skip the Line tickets: Are they worth the money & should you buy them?

  • Alex Curtis

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    INSIDER SECRET: Be sure to use one of the best credit cards for travel when planning (and paying for) a vacation. That way you’ll earn valuable travel rewards on purchases you were going to make anyway.

    You’ve planned your trip to Europe and have a long list of exciting attractions to visit. But the reality is that with everyone else also excited to see the same famous sites, it could be easy to spend more time waiting in line than actually seeing the attraction. I have known folks that spent two hours in line at the Colosseum in Rome, only to spend about 45 minutes inside.

    It is a shame to spend so much precious vacation time waiting in line to see something. One solution is purchasing “Skip the Line” tickets. But how do they work and are they worth the extra cost?

    Waiting in line can be one of the worst parts of tourist attractions. Skip the line passes can be the answer to your frustrations – but are they worth it?
    (Photo by TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock.com)

    Are “Skip the Line” tickets worth the money?

    As last-minute flight deals, credit card rewards and the influence of social media personalities have increased, we have seen a huge resurgence in the amount of foreign travel people are doing. This increase in travel has helped boost tourism in many countries, but that means the lines just keep getting longer. Skip the Line tickets have become many cities’ answer to the issue.

    What are Skip the Line tickets, exactly?

    Skip the Line tickets are exactly what they sound like — special tickets which not only offer admission to a specific destination but also let you jump ahead to the front of the line when you arrive.

    There was a time when Skip the Line tickets literally meant not waiting in line at all. You could walk straight up to the entrance and head straight in. However because more and more people are buying these tickets to save time, even Skip the Line tickets require waiting in line, albeit a much shorter one.

    Every destination handles these tickets slightly differently, but it is best to think of these tickets as “priority tickets.”

    Skip the Line tickets work similarly to TSA PreCheck lines at the airport. You might still have to wait in line, but for far less time and the line moves much quicker. (Photo By Thaspol Sangsee/Shutterstock.com)

    How much extra do skip the line tickets cost?

    The cost varies significantly between each attraction but generally is only a few dollars more per person (usually <$10).

    For example at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, there is often a five-hour wait to get into this famous museum. Purchasing a Skip the Line ticket is only ~$5 extra and can get you in within 15 minutes.

    Consider for a moment being able to skip the lines at two major attractions in one day, each of which saves you two hours of waiting. You now have four extra hours of free time for an additional cost of just $15-20 per person. In Florence, that would potentially give you enough time to visit a third attraction, grab a long lunch or stroll through a park.

    Which attractions let you skip the line?

    Skip the Line tickets are popular at most major attractions around the world, but especially popular throughout Europe.

    Here are some popular attractions that let you pay extra to skip the line:

    Some of the world’s most popular attractions can have lines that take several hours to get through normally. (Photo By Raffael Alexander/Shutterstock.com)

    This list highlights the most popular attractions that offer Skip the Line passes but is by no means exhaustive.

    Should you skip the line on your next vacation?

    Always check to see if any of your destinations offer Skip the Line passes before your next trip. These passes are incredibly valuable for travelers because it is an easy way to buy more time to explore the wonderful city that you are visiting. If you can skip the line, go for it. Nothing is more pleasurable than walking past a several-hours-long line to go right in.

    Bottom Line

    In recent years, special passes have started being offered around the world at popular tourist destinations that allow you to skip the line for a small nominal fee (usually less than $10 per person). These passes go by many different names but are often simply referred to as Skip the Line passes.

    Only you can decide if they are worth it, but our advice is that if you are only going to visit a city once, you want to make the most of it. Skip the Line passes are your new secret to getting more out of your vacation.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)