Today we’re reviewing the POGO Phoenix pass, and sharing a few tips and hacks we’ve learned after having it for about a year.
If you’re anything like me as a mom, you try to get out of the house with your kids as much as possible to break up the monotony and save your sanity.
This is easy to do when the weather is nice and you can take advantage of all the free outdoor fun Arizona has to offer like parks and hikes/trails. But it can add up to hundreds of dollars a month to take kids to any kind of specialty attraction or activity. This is especially true if you have multiple children.
Earlier this year, I made the transition to stay at home, so our finances definitely have gotten tighter. However, I have found the BEST budget hack for getting my kids into different activities around town without breaking the bank!
Enter, the POGO PASS! Keep reading for all my tips and hacks for maximizing (and getting the BEST PRICE) for these passes.
XO,
Megan
What is a POGO Pass?
Great question! A POGO Pass is a unique one-time ticket purchase that gets you at least one admission into a ton of local family attractions around town. POGO Pass is only offered in 6 territory markets, and we are SO lucky that Phoenix is one of them!
The POGO pass is also great because it helps you explore places that you maybe didn’t even know about. Some of the attractions available on the POGO Pass are:
- The Phoenix Zoo
- KTR Chandler and Scottsdale
- Uptown Jungle (most locations)
- FatCats Gilbert and Mesa
- Phoenix Rock Gym
- Pangea: Land of the Dinosaurs
- Arizona Diamondbacks games
- Select ASU sports games
- Golfland
- AND MORE!
Lowest priced POGO Passes
The usual price of the POGO Pass is $120, but they have sales often (up to 50% off!) and you can usually find deals on Groupon or other coupon sites.
And the best news exclusively for our readers is that if you use code “EASTVALLEYMOMS” you will always get the lowest price no matter what deal or offer is currently available!
Even if you paid full price for your POGO pass, you would get your money’s worth after visiting just a few of these fun places. The regular admissions prices can really add up. Here’s an easy cheat sheet of how quickly it can pay for itself:
-
- Phoenix Zoo adult ticket: $40
- Pangea adult ticket: $16
- D-Backs ticket: $22
- Fat Cats 1 hour of bowling or Glow Golf: $13
- Phoenix Rock Gym adult day pass: $20
- Golfland adult ticket: $13
- TOTAL: $124
We’ve regularly purchased POGO Passes for our family over the past few years and have truly just loved it! Here are some of my top tips to getting the most out of your experience.
Do I need to purchase a POGO Pass for everyone in my family?
You have to purchase a POGO Pass for each person seeking venue admission. I always get one for myself and one for all children over the age of 2, since most places offer free admission to children under 2.
We also get one for my mother (my kids’ grandmother) who lives locally so she can take them places, as well. I’ve even gotten one for my mother-in-law who was going to be visiting us for 3 weeks following the birth of our second son so that she could have fun things to do with our oldest while she was here.
How long is a POGO Pass good for?
The Passes are valid for 12 months from purchase, so make sure not to wait to start using yours or don’t purchase until you are ready to start visiting places.
Also, always wait for a 50% off sale or use our code EASTVALLEYMOMS for the best pricing always! The savings are super compounded if you can get each pass for around $60.
Most importantly, be aware of time and day restrictions on when you can use the Pass at each attraction.
Also, a lot of the venues offer 2 visits per POGO Pass instead of 1, so pay attention to the places that your family liked the most to see if you can go again. Some of the attractions, like Fat Cats, offer 1 visit PER WEEK, PER LOCATION so you can really get a ton of longevity out of each Pass.
Some only allow POGO Pass admission during the weekdays or at certain times. We always consider this when deciding if we get one for my husband because he works full-time and wouldn’t be able to use his often. It’s sometimes cheaper to just buy him a regular admission ticket if we’ll all be going somewhere as a family.
Stay Informed
Follow POGO Pass on Instagram or Facebook for the latest information on sales and announcements on when they add new venues available on the Pass.
Get the App
Download the POGO Pass app, available on Android and iPhone. You can load all your family’s Passes into one account for easy tracking of your usage and convenient barcodes for admissions.
Keep it Cool
To me, the best feature of the POGO Pass is the mindset shift I get to have when visiting attractions. If I paid $100+ for everyone in my family to get in somewhere, I want to make sure we spend all day there and have the most fun! If my kids start whining or it’s not the best fit for us, I get so frustrated at the wasted money.
But if I know we got admission for pennies on the dollar or basically for free, I’m able to shake it off and not try to force us to stay somewhere we’re not enjoying. We’ll just try the next place and hope for a better fit, no worries!
POGO Passes Make THE BEST Gifts
Aren’t we all always trying to offer our children more experiences and less stuff? A common request for birthday or Christmas gifts is annual passes to places your children like to go.
Why not get one annual pass that gets you into multiple places? There’s sure to be some great holiday sales coming up, so start planting the seeds in grandparents’ ears now that POGO Passes for the entire family would be an amazing gift that you could enjoy all year round!
These would also make great gifts for birthdays, end of the school year, or incentives for chores, good grades, etc.
And don’t forget to use code EASTVALLEYMOMS for the best pricing no matter what sale is currently available!
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