Does anyone have any recent experience with either of these passes? [ [I know neither of these include the Duomo Complex.] Most of what I find online is at least 10 years old. Can you really just “walk right in” without a reservation with the Amici pass? [not including security obviously] How hard is it to make reservations online with the Firenze Card? I have seen that many museums don’t require reservations, but is that insanity?
Thanks in advance!
The Amici degli Uffizi card only makes economic sense if you are going to be in Florence for an extended period of time and are intending on visiting the museums it covers more than once. It used to cover a lot more of them than it does now (we bought family pass for the 2 of us some years back.) That said, maybe you don't mind not breaking even on it to have the convenience. Info on the website is current. Yes, you can enter the Uffizi without reservation with this membership: 4 members admitted every 15 minutes.
http://www.amicidegliuffizi.it/diventa_socio.php?pg=8&ln=en
http://www.amicidegliuffizi.it/home.php?pg=1&ln=en
Otherwise, only the most-visited attractions in Florence require or benefit from advance reservations. You are only allowed priority entrance with the Firenzecard for the Uffizi, Accademia and Brancacci Chapel with advance timed-entry reservations. See the card's FAQ section.
https://www.firenzecard.it/en/faq
Can't help you with making reservations with that card as we've never used it. Hope this helps!
(edited some typos)
I can only comment on the Amici card. Our experience matched Kathy's description - we were in Florence for an extended stay and planned to use the card for multiple revisits to the Uffizi as well as the other venues covered by the card. For our purposes it was wonderful. The Uffizi is terrific but can be a bit overwhelming. Though we fell in love with the place during our first visit years ago we remembered that visit turning into something of a mind numbing slog as we continued to trudge along trying to wring maximum benefit out of the entry fee. The Uffizi card allowed us to revisit the museum at our leisure for an hour or so - see the area we wanted to see - and then get out of there before the experience started to become stale. We visited the museum 4 times during our 3 week stay in the city.
The card gave us what amounted to head-of-the-line privileges every time we showed up at the entrance, ie no need to book ahead - we simply flashed the cards and were admitted with the next group. The convenience alone made the card a worthwhile purchase for us.
My more detailed trip report is here if you're interested.
