Is the Jordan Pass Worth It? A Complete Guide for Travelers to Jordan
If you’re planning to travel to Jordan on a low budget, there’s an essential travel hack you need to know about. It’s called the Jordan Pass and it’s something that can save you lots of money while you travel in Jordan.
One of the main questions I had in my mind when I heard about it was: “Is it worth it to buy the Jordan Pass?”
It felt like an expensive investment to make. But when I started researching about it, I quickly understood that it’s so worth buying it.
On this blog post I will explain what the pass is, why it’s worth buying it and the one situation when it’s not worth buying it.
What’s the Jordan Pass?
The Jordan Pass is an official travel package that the Jordanian government offers. It combines visa entry fees with admission to more than 40 of Jordan’s main tourist attractions—including Petra, Wadi Rum and Jerash.
This pass is specifically designed to save you time and money when you visit Jordan. It’s very practical because you can use it all over the country just by showing the QR code on your phone.
This makes it much more convenient than buying individual tickets each place that you want to visit. It also makes it cheaper to visit Jordan’s attractions.
What exactly is included in it?
One of the main advantages of the Jordan Pass is that you can get a free visa when you enter Jordan.
Citizens from many nationalities have the right to get a Visa On Arrival to visit Jordan, which usually costs 40 JOD (about 56 USD). But the Jordan Pass waives those visa fees completely. That means that you can simply show your pass at the airport and get your visa without paying any extra.
You pay no visa fees in Jordan if you have the Jordan Pass
Besides waiving the visa fees, it also includes free entrance to all of these attractions in Jordan:
🏛️ Amman & Northern Jordan
🏜️ Central & Southern Jordan
🌄 Wadi Rum & Aqaba
Wadi Rum desert (UNESCO World Heritage site) – the entrance is included; tours and accommodations in the desert need to be booked seperately
✨ Petra
Entrance to Petra is included in the Jordan Pass.
You can get a 1-day, 2-day or even 3-day ticket, depending on which package you choose.
Something important to know is that the Petra By Night Show is not included in the Jordan Pass. It’s a show that happens some times per week: on mondays, wednesdays and thursdays. It allows people to go into Petra between 8.30 and 10 pm to watch it lighted up with candles.
You can visit Petra at night time if you get a ticket for the Petra By Night Show
In order to go to that show, you need to buy a separate ticket for 17 JOD at the entrance on the day of the show. It’s not possible to buy tickets online.
Are there popular places that are not included in the Jordan Pass?
Even though it includes most of the popular attractions in Jordan, there are a few places that are not included in the pass.
One of them is Mount Nebo, which is believed to be the place where Moses viewed the Promised Land. In order to visit Mount Nebo, you will need to pay an entrance fee of 3 JOD. You can also join a tour to Mount Nebo that already includes the entrance fee.
Another popular place in Jordan that is not included is the Baptism Site. That’s also a place of high religious importance: the site where Jesus was baptized.
Entrance to the Baptism Site is 12 JOD, but you can also choose to include it in your Jordan Pass for an extra fee of 8 JOD. Make sure you choose this as a add-on when you’re buying your pass online, because you can’t add it later.
How much does the Jordan Pass cost?
It depends.
There are 3 different packages that you can get and each price is different.
The cheapest package you can buy is the Jordan Wanderer. It costs 70 JOD, which is about 100 USD. It all that mentioned above and grants you a 1-day ticket to Petra.
The other packages are called the Jordan Explorer and the Jordan Expert. The first one costs 75 JOD and includes a 2-day ticket to Petra; the other one costs 80 JOD and allows you visit Petra for 3 days.
I bought the Jordan Explorer so I could explore Petra for 2 days
So basically, the only difference between them is the amount of days that they allow you to spend in Petra. All the other inclusions are the same for all three packages of the Jordan Pass.
Is it worth it to buy the Jordan Pass?
The short answer is yes! Almost always.
The Jordan Pass easily pays for itself by waiving the 40 JOD visa fee and including the cost of Petra’s entrance ticket, which is at least 50 JOD. Since the cheapest package costs 70 JOD, you would be saving 20 JOD by getting it, even if you only visited Petra and no other attractions.
This makes the Jordan Pass a great deal to save money on your trip to Jordan!
Buying the Jordan Pass saved me so much money while travelling in Jordan
There is just one situation when the Jordan Pass is not worth buying.
That is if you have booked or want to book a tour that includes the Petra entrance ticket. Like I explain on this blog post, there are several ways to visit Petra and one of them is by joining a tour. Many of them don’t include the entrance ticket to visit Petra, but some do.
Here are some examples of tours to Petra that include the entrance fee:
In that case, since the price to get into Petra would already be covered in the tour price, it probably wouldn’t be worth it to buy the Jordan Pass.
There is also a situation when it’s impossible to buy the Jordan Pass: if you stay in the country for less than 2 nights. One of the requirements of the Pass is that you stay in Jordan for at least 2 nights and 3 days.
That means that if you take a tour like this, you’re actually not allowed to buy the Jordan Pass.
How can I buy it?
It’s not possible to buy the Jordan Pass in person when you arrive to Jordan. The only way to get the pass is to buy it online before you travel to Jordan.
The only place to buy it is on the official website, but it’s not always an easy task. I had a really hard time to buy it and it took me several days to manage.
I still don’t know why, but after writing my card details on the Jordan Pass Website, I got an error message and the payment didn’t go through. The first card I tried with was Revolut, which usually never fails me, but this time it did. Next time, I tried with my Lunar card and I got the same error message.
I tried to pay for the Jordan Pass with several cards but got this error message every time
I was concerned that they would still draw the money from my account for my several attempts of paying for the pass, but thankfully they didn’t.
At the end, the only way I could pay for the Jordan Pass was by using my swedish bank card. That one worked with no problems at all.
If you’re thinking of buying the Jordan Pass for your trip to Jordan, be aware of this potential problem and try to buy it some days in advance. That way, you will have time to find a solution instead of stressing out trying and failing to pay for it last-minute.
I hope this post has given you a clear understanding of what the Jordan Pass is and why it’s such a valuable option for travelers. With the potential to save both time and money, it’s an incredibly practical choice for anyone planning a trip to Jordan. From Petra to Jerash and beyond, the Jordan Pass makes exploring this beautiful country simpler and more affordable—definitely something to consider before you go!
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