Colosseum tickets - June 1st deadline??

get a Roma Pass for the rest of the group to use it for the rest of
the time.

Having Roma Passes will not affect your ability to enter the Colosseum, Forum, or Palatine on any day, any time within open hours. The after-2:OO PM/June 1 thing doesn't apply to those passes. At least it doesn't as of right now.

My sister is arriving in Rome at noon and I think she should be able
to hit the streets and tour at 2pm

I wouldn't count on that as it could very well take them longer. In any case, if she and the boyfriend are not using Roma Passes for entry to the Colosseum, I would have them purchase an "open" general-entry ticket online from the coopculture website to REALLY save time on arrival day.

Thank you Kathy - that helps me quite a bit! As for the time it takes to get off the plane and to the hotel door, I was thinking one hour to get out of the airport and pass through all the customs, 45 min on the train and another 15-20 to get to the hotel. That is assuming all the stars align and runs smoothly but its not a huge disruption if they arrive at their hotel at 3pm instead of 2pm. That should still give them plenty of time to tour the Colosseum if they feel up to it.

I am going to stick with the original plan of having them purchase off of the Roma Passes for our group then!

So I thought she and her boyfriend could go see the Colosseum and
Forum without us BUT get a Roma Pass for the rest of the group to use
it for the rest of the time. (The rest of us have seen the Colosseum
and I don't need to again - but I do want to walk the Forum again)

Tickets are good for two consecutive days so they could do the Colosseum on arrival day (assuming no serious flight delay) and do the Forum/Palatine with you and rest of the group IF you do it the day after arrival. Your sister/boyfriend would use the the ticket they bought and used for the Colosseum the day before, and the rest of you would use your Roma Passes.

Is this making sense?

If I may chime in on your question, what is a Roma Pass? What is it good for? I'm traveling to Rome in June and just posted a question about tours and now I see your post and wondering if you could explain the Roma Pass to me. Thank you so much.

Actually, September is pretty high season in most of Italy. In Rome it goes all the way til the end of October.

Are you sure a romapass is going to be of value for your trip? If you only plan on using it for the forum you may just want to book an entry ticket now that can be used at any time. On June 1 the rules for the "open" entry tickets change to becoming valid after 2pm but all entry tickets bought before then can be used at any time.

Joan, the romapass is a sites pass for Rome. There are two passes, a 48 hour pass and a 72 hour pass. The 48 hour pass gives you a single free entry to the site of your choice covered by the pass, discounts to all other sites covered by the pass and the use of public transportation for the length of the pass. The 72 hour pass gives you 2 free entries plus all the other benefits listed for the 48 hour pass. If you plan to visit several sites covered by the pass it makes sense to get one. If not, just book through official websites in order to bypass the long ticket lines at some sites.

Donna

To add to Donna's explanation of the Roma Pass:

You only get free entry to the first sight (48 hour version) or first two sights (72 hour version) you see with the Pass. You cannot choose to activate the Pass and get discounted admission to some sights, then see a free sight.

It is activated with first use, which is either transportation or sightseeing, and then lasts 48 or 72 hours from that time. So, if you take a bus with it, that starts your pass - even if you don't use it to see any sights that day.

It is not good for any Vatican City sights.

Despite these restrictions, it can be a good deal, but you have to understand it and make sure it works for your needs. If not, you can do better with a separate transit pass (not expensive) and pre-booked tickets to the major attractions like the Colosseum and the Borghese Gallery.

Despite these restrictions, it can be a good deal, but you have to
understand it and make sure it works for your needs. If not, you can
do better with a separate transit pass (not expensive) and pre-booked
tickets to the major attractions like the Colosseum and the Borghese
Gallery.

Agreed. A pass is only worth the purchase if you do the planning to make it work in your favor. I wouldn't buy it just for the transport piece for reasons Harold has explained. We use public transport rarely in Rome as it's much more fun, and can even be more convenient, to travel the city on foot.

Roma Pass website for Joan:
http://www.romapass.it

Amy, as this trip is not your first to Rome, I assumed you'd done the necessary math to determine if passes were worthwhile purchases for your group?