Question about the two free entries by using a 72-hr Roma Card

Mei, from the Roma Pass FAQ page:

http://www.romapass.it/en/FAQ/

Q: With Roma Pass 72 Hours do the free entries necessarily have to be the first two admissions at museums and/or sites?

A: Yes, the first two entries to museums and/or sites agreed upon with the Roma Pass 72 hours have to be used consecutively. From the third admission on (Roma Pass 72 hours) and from the second admission on (Roma Pass 48 hours), you must purchase a reduced price ticket at museum’s ticket office.

As has been stated, you can only use the free entries for the first two sites visited.

Use the cost sheet to see if you can still get a better price by visiting the Borghese on the third day. You'll pay the reduced price which is actually cheaper than some of the other reduced prices offered. You don't mention which other sites you plan to visit with the pass so it's impossible to say if it will work out better for you to use the free entry for the Borghese or use the reduced price for it.

For example, the cost for the Borghese is 15 euros with the reduced price being 8,50. The cost for Trajans Markets is 11.50 with the reduced cost being 9.50. In this instance you would save 1 euro more buy using the free ticket for Trajans Markets and using the reduced fare for the Borghese. Take a look at the prices for the sites you wish to visit to see which works out better for you. The most expensive full prices are not always the best reduced prices.

Donna

The Romapass card is either 2 day or 3 day. It expires at midnight of the last day. It is not 72 clock hours like the Florence card. So, if you activate it at 2 pm on first day, then come midnight - the first day is over and the next day starts.

Thank you all for taking your time to respond. It's much appreciated.

Kathy, it must get old for you to keep answering silly questions like mine as I could have clearly found the answer on my own (don't know how I missed that one). Thank you for being kind.

Donna, excellent point! I had thought all the discounted tickets after the 2 free entries will be just 30% off the full price. I do plan to go to Capitaline Museum, National Museum of Rome, Trajan's market, and Bath of Caracalla in the first two days. I will check out the listed full and discounted price and figure it out how to use the two free entries.

Sun-Baked in Florida, thank you for the tip. I did assume it was a 72-hr instead of a 3-day pass. Does the bus pass that comes with it also work the same way, i.e., expires at midnight on the 3rd day regardless of what time it was activated on the 1st day?

Mei

Back in the day there used to be two parts - the transportation card and the attractions card - and they had separate clocks.

Now they share the same clock - as soon as you have used it at the first turnstile or on the first bus they both run together and both end at midnight the n-th day later.

It isn't so easy now because you might want to travel to your hotel on the pass on arrival day and not start the intensive museum/attraction going until the next day. That's a bit more difficult now.

Thank you, Nigel. That's really helpful. I will have to make a game out of this and see how I could make it so that we benefit the most out of the card. :)

Mei

The card is like a plastic credit card. The bus and sites are on the same card.
You will be issued one card per person. Once you activate it, whether on bus or at a site - the pass starts.
Bus tip - you only have to scan it once on the bus at the small validation box. If you can't get to the box due to a packed bus - just hand your card over and say per favore. Another passenger will kindly scan it for you and pass it back. From that moment on - you do not need to scan it again on a bus. Just keep it on your person (i.e. Purse, neck pouch, backpack). You can just hop any bus and not take it out again. You do have to have it in possession though - in case of an inspection - or, get a hefty fine.
I don't remember - but, I think you can scan it for the metro rail as well.

Just a correct to something someone else posted. This is a 72 hour pass, NOT the "three day" pass it was a few years ago. It expires 72 hours after first validation.

This is from the official website:

2 museums
Metro, buses & trams
Discounts and reduced price ticketing for events, exhibitions and tourist services
Valid 72 hours from the first validation

This means the card can be used at 9pm on a Monday and be used til 8:59 pm on Thursday unlike the old pass which would expire at midnight on Wednesday.

Donna

Thanks again, everyone. You've all been really kind and generous with your time and knowledge.

Mei

Is there a PDF, or a link that shows the list of full and discounted prices for each site covered by the Roma Pass? Thanks.

Mei

Donna,
I want to thank you for the update. 72 clock hours versus midnight expiration is a significant improvement.

Is there a PDF, or a link that shows the list of full and discounted
prices for each site covered by the Roma Pass? Thanks.

Here ya go (and you're very welcome)!

http://www.romapass.it/files/doc/SitiAderentiCostoBiglietti201803_eng.pdf

The PDF from the official romapass website is out of date for some of the venues. You're better off checking out the official sites for each venue you wish to visit to see what their costs are.

donna

Sun-baked, I agree, this is so much better than the midnight expiration. They started this about 2 years ago.

Donna

The PDF from the official romapass website is out of date for some of
the venues

Donna, If you already know that some are out of date, it might be helpful if you'd clarify which of them those are?

Kathy, a lot of them are out of date, the Borghese gallery for one and the Baths of Caracalla for another. I'm sorry, but I don't have time to go through them all and list them. You can check a lot of them using the coopculture site or their official websites.

Donna

Ah, I didn't mean ALL of them, just the few you knew off the bat weren't right.

I see what they did the Borghese is list the actual ticket price without the reservation fee you'd pay if purchasing in advance. That's an odd duck 'cause, as you are required to make reservations for that one even with the pass, the extra € 2.00 fee applies.

Full price ticket: € 13.00 + € 2.00 reservation fee = € 15.00
Reduced ticket without pass: € 6.50 + € 2.00 reservation fee = € 8.50
Reduced ticket with pass - € 6.50 + € 2.00 reservation fee. =€ 8.50

Some others others that I looked at, such as Terme di Caracalla and Museo di Roma in Trastevere are correct...
€ 4,00 reduced fee the door for Caracalla, no advance reservation necessary, and €5,00 at Museo di Roma in Trastevere

...and some are not.
Castel Sant'Angelo looks to be off by € 2.00, and combo ticket for Museo Nazionale Romano is off by € 1.00 or a few euros more if there's a special exhibit.

The Roma Pass FAQ does state that "Please note: fees refer to the ordinary price of the museums; during cultural events and exhibitions, the price of tickets may vary. Some temporary exhibitions may have an added cost to the ticket, even for visitors entitled to gratuity." This may or may not be affecting the listed price at Musee Capitolini.

Anyway, Mei, you get the idea? Some of the R.P. listings may not be completely accurate but they're not off by very large amounts, and I'm pretty sure they can't account for ALL temporary exhibitions here and there. Just use the listing as a rough guide. :O)

Kathy,

I do. It's all pretty fluid. But if we visit the Capitoline museum and the Trajan's market on the 1st day as planned and go to Borghese and a few others in the next 3 days, it will be a very good use of the card. I can't wait for our trip to start!

A caution if you plan to use the card for the Borghese...access to the museum books full at least several days in advance. If you activate your card and the museum does not have an opening until after your card turns into a pumpkin, guess what, you'll show up there and have to pay full price... You still benefit from the card though. The Borghese requires Roma customers to call ahead to reserve your time slot. I found that they had an opening for us (as Roma card holders) the the online reservation site did not show. Bummer for us, our Roma card expired before the opening...hence my comment.
If you use the transportation and use it for museums the card is a very good value even if only for the time it saves you in lines. They treat Roma card holders pretty well.