1

I am wondering what the difference between unlimited free admission and unlimited admission in the following. Suppose the pass allows a person to visit an amusement park.

The Happy Pass, which costs $120, offers unlimited (free) admission for 12 months.

I'd appreciate your help.

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

“Unlimited” admission means that for the period of validity of the pass, the holder may visit as many times as desired.

“Free” admission means that for the period of validity of the pass, any given visit requires no additional payment of an admission fee.

A pass that offers “free” admission may be good for a fixed period, or for a specified number of visits, whichever occurs first.

A pass that offers “unlimited” admission for a fixed period may require a (discounted) payment for each admission.

A pass that offers “unlimited free” admission for a fixed period will not require payment for any admission within the period of validity, and the holder may visit as many times as desired within that period.

Improve this answer
18
  • To some extent "unlimited free admission" is redundant in order to make it absolutely clear what the pass includes. "Unlimited admission" would only suggest all visits would be free.
    – Andrew
    Commented Oct 30, 2017 at 23:26
  • @Andrew your analysis is supported by the fact that "free" is in parentheses. This suggests that the author recognized that its inclusion was not strictly necessary.
    – phoog
    Commented Oct 31, 2017 at 2:48
  • Don"t you think there would be a contracontradiction if "free" were included? After all, the pass costs $120.
    – Apollyon
    Commented Oct 31, 2017 at 4:30
  • "Free" does not necessarily mean that you don't pay for ANYTHING, but that you don't pay for this specific thing. In this case, you pay for the pass, and then there is no additional charge for each admission. Advertisements will often say things like, "Buy 1, get 1 free!", or "If you buy this car now, we'll include a premium stereo system absolutely free!", etc. The idea is, you paid for one thing, and then you get something else for free. (Of course often you're not really getting anything for free, the price of thing #2 is simply rolled into thing #1. But that's another story.)
    – Jay
    Commented Oct 31, 2017 at 5:00
  • I agree that the idea "you paid for one thing, and then you get something else for free' works for your car example and "buy one, get one free" case. But it's doubtful whether the reasoning extends naturally to the pass case. After all, when a person pays for the pass, they are buying a pass that allows them to make as many visits they want. It's nothing like "if you buy this pass, you will get a second pass for free."
    – Apollyon
    Commented Oct 31, 2017 at 10:35

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .