Is the Jordan Pass worth it and necessary for your upcoming adventure in the Middle East?

Our no-nonsense guide covers the essentials to help you make the right decision.

The Jordan Pass is a government tourism scheme that bundles admission to several of the most popular places in Jordan into a single ticket.

It also exempts you from paying visa fees.

We bought two and used them across our two-week trip in Jordan, and have a pretty good perspective on whether the Jordan Pass is necessary and worth it.

The short version is that the Pass is a no-brainer, money-saving purchase for many first-time travellers in Jordan.

However, it doesn’t represent good value to every traveller in Jordan.

In this brief post, we've shared everything you really need to know about the Jordan Pass, including honest insights on its benefits, its flaws, and the actual savings available.

We’ve also included advice on when and where to buy it for your trip, as well as an online scam to avoid.

Importantly, we’ve outlined the very specific circumstances where travellers absolutely should not buy the Jordan Pass for their upcoming trip.

What Is The Jordan Pass?

The Jordan Pass is a government-owned and operated tourism scheme that bundles admission to several of the most popular places in Jordan into a single ticket.

Run by the Ministry for Tourism and Antiquities, it includes entry to Petra, Wadi Rum, the ruins of Jerash, Amman's Citadel, Karak Castle, and dozens of other government-owned attractions.

It offers the potential to save you quite a bit of money, but does not include all the sites you'll visit in the country.

If you buy the Jordan Pass, the cost of your Jordan visa will also be waived - this is the main benefit that distinguishes it from similar 'combined tourism tickets' on offer in destinations.

Those visa fees will however only be waived if you stay in the country for at least three consecutive nights.

The pass needs to be purchased online in advance of your arrival in Jordan in order to realise and maximise the savings available.

After payment, you’ll receive your downloadable Jordan Pass via e-mail, and this is all you need to show to enter each included tourist attraction. The pass is valid for two weeks after you first use it.

For the avoidance of doubt, you do not require the Jordan Pass in order to enter the country or to buy your Jordan Visa; the Jordan Pass is also not an entry visa. Buying the Jordan Pass waives your visa fees, but it does not exempt you from having a visa!

Jordan Pass Prices + Packages in 2022

There are three Jordan Pass packages available, and each waives your visa fees and gives access to a selection of online travel guides:

· The Jordan Wanderer (70 JD / 99 USD) | One-day entry to Petra and free entry to 40+ attractions

· The Jordan Explorer (75 JD / 106 USD) | Two-day entry to Petra and free entry to 40+ attractions

· The Jordan Expert (80 JD / 113 USD) | Three-day entry to Petra and free entry to 40+ attractions

Clearly, the number of days you get in Petra is the only distinguishing factor in the packages and their pricing.

Before getting into the benefits in the next section, it's important to share the following:

· Arabic passport holders or nationalities should not buy the Jordan Pass. You will be able to access significantly cheaper local tickets for Petra (1 JD!) and many other places, so the Pass doesn’t represent good value. You will have to show a valid ID to access these rates.

· The Jordan Pass is not available to 50+ nationalities. Find the list here.

· Children under 12 years can enter all Jordan Pass sites for free when accompanied, so they do not need the pass (they do still require a visa though).

Read Later // How To Plan Your Petra Visit

How Much Money Will It Save You?

Is the Jordan Pass better value than doing things separately?

The answer really depends on whether you need a visa, how long you’re staying in Jordan, and how many ‘included attractions’ you’re actually going to visit on your trip.

However, many travellers will be able to save money instantly even if they only go to Petra!

PETRA TICKETS

Petra ain’t cheap, so it’s worth laying out the cost of visiting Petra without the Jordan Pass before explaining if the Pass offers up good-value to you.

Prices below are for ‘Accommodated Visitors’ i.e. those staying at least one night in Jordan.

Petra Entrance Fees for Adults

One Day | 50 JD / 64 USD / £58
Two Days | 55 JD / 71 USD / £64
Three Days | 60 JD / 77 USD / £70

As you can see, the 5 JD increments of the three Jordan Pass packages simply reflects the per day increases of the standalone Petra tickets.

As most other attractions in Jordan cost only 2-5 JD to enter, Petra tickets are therefore responsible for a large chunk of the Jordan Pass price.

VISA FEES

The Jordan entry visa costs, at time of writing, 40 JD per person (51 USD / £47).

This permits a single-entry stay of one month and is mandatory for most tourists. For a majority of nationalities and passport holders, it can simply be bought on arrival in Jordan with no advance paperwork or application.

However, some nationalities do not require a visa or must apply for pre-approval in advance of their arrival.

You can check latest entry requirements and whether you need a visa to enter Jordan here.

With your Jordan Pass, you will be exempt from paying the visa fee.

INSTANT SAVINGS

So, as a first-time visitor to Jordan who requires a visa and is planning to visit Petra, you'll instantly save money with the Jordan Pass!

Petra + Visa With Pass | 70 JD

Petra + Visa Without Pass | 50 JD + 40 JD = 90 JD

That’s about $25 / £23 per person, so definitely a good reason to buy it even if you’re not going to visit any other places included on the ticket.

If you do not require a visa for Jordan though, it probably does not make sense to buy the Jordan Pass unless you plan on visiting a lot of the other ‘included attractions’.

Read Later // Our Definitive Guide To Visiting Petra

What About The Other Attractions + Tickets?

You may reasonably think there's a bunch more savings available from the other '40+ attractions' included in the pass.

We think it's not so clear cut.

The official website is a bit crafty by inflating the number of 'included attractions' with quite a few sites which don't actually charge an entry fee in the first place. It also includes a number of places that those of you visiting for less than a week are unlikely to include on your Jordan itinerary (article published soon!)

So, don't be swayed too much by the '40+ attractions' tag as you 1) won't visit many of them and 2) entrances fees to many are minimal or free anyway.

On a reasonable one-week Jordan itinerary, we think you'll visit all or a combination of the following with your Pass:

Wadi Rum | 5 JD
Amman Roman Theatre + Citadel | 5 JD
Jerash Ruins | 10 JD
Madaba Archaeological Park | 3 JD
Umm ar-Rasas | 2 JD

That makes the realistic potential overall savings available with the Jordan pass go from 20 JD to about 45 JD ($57 / £52), which isn't too shabby! However, those of you on shorter trips may only make it to Wadi Rum and Petra.

Over the course of our two weeks, covering quite a lot of both on-beaten-path and off-beaten-path Jordan, we calculated that we saved 51 JD ($65 / £60) each due to the Jordan Pass, but still only made it to about 13 or so ‘included attractions’ in total.

This included the Bethany Beyond the Jordan Baptism site, a hugely important place in Christianity, which is excluded from the Jordan Pass’s standard packages. It can however be added to it for a discounted price (8 JD per person vs. 12 JD).

So, although the total potential overall savings are attractive relative to paying separately for each attraction, no realistic (or enjoyable) one or two-week itinerary will actually realise them all.

The biggest direct saving is therefore on your waived visa fee.

Plan | 11 Wonderful Things To Do In Amman.

The Excluded Attractions + Extra Costs

In addition, the Jordan Pass will not cover ALL of your entry tickets or activities across a decent independent Jordan itinerary.

This is because several attractions are private / not under government ownership, or you need a tour to experience it properly.

Based on our recommended Jordan itinerary, these excluded attractions include:

The Madaba Map | 3 JD
Mount Nebo | 3 JD
Petra by Night | 17 JD (we actually don't recommend doing this)
Bethany Beyond the Jordan | 8-12 JD
Wadi Mujib | 21 JD (April - September only)
Dead Sea Day Pass | 16 JD (not mandatory)
Wadi Rum Tour | 15 JD +

Is The Jordan Pass Worth It?

Based on our findings, the Jordan Pass could be more accurately described for some travellers as the 'get your Petra ticket in advance plus a free visa’ pass, but that isn't quite as catchy.

However, the opportunity to save a minimum of 20 JD and up to around 50 JD per person across a visit of one or two weeks isn’t to be sniffed at.

Also, the ability to pay in advance online for all of it, is an added convenience.

If all of the following applies, then you should absolutely buy a Jordan Pass for your trip:

· Flying in + out of Amman

· Staying for at least three nights

· Require a Jordan Visa

· Visiting Petra

There is however a little-advertised circumstance where travellers should absolutely NOT buy the Jordan Pass - and it’s all to do with a place called Aqaba.

The Aqaba Anomaly

Jordan splits its visa requirements into ‘restricted’ and ‘non-restricted countries’: citizens of the former require prior approval and a visa before travel, whilst citizens of the latter do not require approval and can simply buy their visa on arrival at the border or airport.

We recommend checking which camp you fall into here, but fellow Brits will be happy to know you’re on the ‘non-restricted list’ alongside EU and North American passport holders!

If you enter Jordan via Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, the main airport, then you will simply pay 40 JD for your visa or have that cost waived on display of your Jordan Pass. As the majority of international tourists fly in and out of Amman, that’s the process many of you will have to follow.

Simple.

However, from October to November, there are a significant number of tourists who will enter Jordan via Aqaba’s King Hussein International Airport.

The small southern city on the Red Sea, in close proximity to Israel and Saudi Arabia, is a winter sun, diving, and all-inclusive resort destination, and several European airlines only set up flight routes to Jordan in those months (i.e. easyJet from Manchester and London).

For non-restricted nationalities arriving in Jordan via Aqaba’s King Hussein international Airport, you will automatically be exempted from the visa fees for Jordan (source 1 | source 2).

You will still a require a visa for the country, but this will be provided on arrival and you will not have to pay for it! This is due to Aqaba’s designation as a Special Economic Zone Authority.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll recall there’s little point in buying the Jordan Pass if you don’t require a visa. This is because the money-saving benefits of the Pass for most Jordan itineraries become negligible if your usual visa fees are waived. Instead, you should simply buy your Petra and Wadi Rum tickets at the sites and pay for entrances to the other attractions you visit.

And so, if you are flying in and out of Aqaba, you should not buy the Jordan Pass unless you know you will be visiting at least seven or more included sites beyond Petra and Wadi Rum (or Jerash + five others).

But that’s not all…

All visitors arriving in Amman airport (except restricted nationalities) are also exempt from visa fees if they “declare that he/she intends to visit Aqaba while staying in Jordan”. In order to qualify, it’s obligatory to get “a stamp proof within (48) hours of his/her arrival from the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority/ Directorate of Labour and Visa or from any Police station in Aqaba (ASEZA)”.

Please see our source of this, at time of writing, on the here and here on the Jordanian UK Embassy website.

Now, if you’re already looked at our own Jordan itinerary, you may have realised that we went to Aqaba for diving. Therefore, why on earth did we buy the Jordan Pass for our own trip, given that we could have got our visa fees waived?

Well, the truth is that our Jordan trip was very last-minute and we didn't know for certain whether we'd be going to Aqaba when we bought the Pass. However, the main reason is that we only found out about this loophole after a deep-dive into research for this article...and were a little frustrated that the Aqaba exemption for Jordan visas isn’t something that’s talked about in other Jordan Pass reviews or prominently advertised on the official website except in their FAQs (and even then they only mention the flying in / out part).

As we often say, here at Along Dusty Roads we make the mistakes so that you don’t have to!

Of course, the above process of getting a stamp may seem like too much of a hassle on your trip and may be subject to change by the government in future, but we didn’t want to leave you in the dark. We recommend you double check the latest advice here before you travel.

Lastly, the Jordan visa fees are also waived if you enter the country from the Wadi Araba border (between Aqaba, Jordan and Eilat, Israel) stay a minimum of two nights, and exit at the same border.

When + Where To Buy The Jordan Pass

You have to buy it before you arrive in Jordan, and you have to buy it online via the official website.

There’s no alternative.

You can visit the official Jordan Pass website here, which is operated by the Ministry Tourism and Antiquities. That’s the only place to officially buy the Jordan Pass, and any other website which claims to offer an ‘application service’ on your behalf is either i) charging you more for the privilege and/or ii) a scam.

If you google ‘buy jordan pass online’ you’ll find at least three websites trying to do this on page one, including one with a very convincing 'jordan-pass.com’ url, and we don’t actually understand how they’re allowed to get away with it.

Therefore, make sure you visit and buy on the official website.

To purchase, click the red ‘buy now’ button, input your details and travel information, then select your ticket type. Remember, the ticket type / package is primarily based on how many days you expect to spend in Petra, so have a think about this before confirming. We recommend everyone spends the extra 5 JD to have the second day, even if you aren’t yet certain you’ll need it.

After that, confirm the number of passes you’ll purchase. Although you cannot buy a combined Jordan Pass for a couple or family (remember, kids under 12 don’t need one), you can buy all the Jordan Passes for your group or travel party in a single order.

Next, choose to add in the discounted Bethany Beyond the Jordan entry tickets or not, and then proceed to filling in personal + passport information for each individual.

Make sure to double-check your name and nationality before proceeding to payment, and note that there are Mastercard / Visa fees charged on orders.

We did the above in about five minutes, and were able to pay online without any issues. However, we’d recommend buying your Jordan Pass at least 48 hours before you travel, just in case there are any snags with the website or payment processing.

Activating + Using Your Jordan Pass

After payment, you’ll receive an email titled ‘Thank you for buying the Jordan Pass’ with several attachments. The most important are:

1. A red-and-white mobile-friendly version of your Jordan Pass.

2. A ‘print at home’ PDF version of your Jordan Pass, with much more details on rules.

Our email arrived a matter of minutes after purchase, so check your spam if it doesn’t appear.

We recommend you download both PDFs to your mobile before you arrive in Jordan, and make sure you don’t have any issues accessing / opening them up on your phone.

At Amman Airport

It’s best to have a printed copy of your Jordan Pass to hand for the airport, just in case your phone dies or there are issues with the QR codes.

After arrival in Amman airport, you’ll see a specific line for Jordan Pass holders on the right hand side. Join this and show your passport and Jordan Pass when called. The official will stamp and sign, then you have to continue to another passport desk a short walk away to have another check and stamp.

Remember, your visa fees will only be waived fully if you stay in the country for at least three consecutive nights! This is checked by border officials upon departure, and anyone who doesn’t meet the time requirements will be charged for their visa at the airport when they’re leaving.

Start planning for the capital of Jordan with our guide - 11 Wonderful Things To Do In Amman - or understand the four transport options from the airport to the city in this post.

Activation + Validity

The Jordan Pass is valid for 12 months after purchase, and will be activated from its first scan at an included tourism attraction (not on your arrival date or at the airport).

After activation, it will last for a period of two weeks. After that date, your Pass will not work.

At Tourism Sites

We simply showed our mobile pass at ticket offices, but the reality is that most of the time we’d just say ‘Jordan Pass’ and they wouldn’t even check.

The ticket will however be checked and scanned properly for entry to Petra, Wadi Rum, and Bethany Beyond The Jordan (if you’ve added it). Our ID was never asked for, but we recommend you bringing it to the Petra ticket office just in case.