On a budget, skip Chicago CityPASS — the spend outweighs the payoff.
~$120–130 adult (5 attractions)
Not an experience — a ticketing product. Treat it as practical metadata on the paid museums rather than a place to visit: real savings (~40-50% off gate) only if you genuinely power through four or five big-ticket attractions in a few days, and it often skips a standby queue. The honest catch is that it only pays off for the museum-heavy, fast-moving visitor; a trip built on free parks, neighborhoods, and the lakefront makes it wasted money.