The Museum will be open five days a week beginning August 29 

We hope you and your loved ones are well and staying as healthy as possible during this time of unprecedented challenges. At The Met, we have been working diligently on how we can reopen to the public safely and with the care and consideration that you have come to expect from us. We are now able to communicate the policy changes that will impact our visitors and trade partners starting with the reopening of The Met Fifth Avenue on August 29. The selection of new policies and guidelines listed below applies to all visitors, and we encourage you to visit our website to familiarize yourself with important details about what’s listed here and to review other aspects of our policies and guidelines that may apply broadly to all of your clients or to your clients with specific needs or concerns (for example, seniors).

Select Policy Changes That Apply to All Visitors and Trade Partners

• The reopening date for The Met Fifth Avenue only is August 29.
• The Museum will be open five days a week, Thursday to Monday, and closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• Revised public hours will be in place through at least the end of 2020. The hours are: Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays—10 am to 5 pm (10h to 17h); Thursdays and Fridays—Noon to 7 pm (12h to 19h).
• Current plans call for reopening The Met Cloisters on September 12.
• Special note on The Met Breuer: The Met Breuer is now permanently closed, and The Met’s two locations going forward are The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. (The Frick Collection will take over the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Breuer building during the Frick’s upgrade and renovation.)
• Admission tickets now include entry to all exhibitions as well as same-day entry to both Met locations.
• In accordance with government directives, The Met will implement a timed-entry requirement effective upon reopening. Your clients or sales representatives will be able reserve and confirm entry times through a new interface on our website, regardless of the channel used to purchase the tickets. We expect to have the interface available for use within the coming days, and will follow up with a URL directly linking to the web page. Redemption procedures for your clients upon entry will not change. We will provide suggested wording for this important change for use on your visitor guidelines pages (and wherever else applicable), as part of the contracting process presently under way.
• New visitor safety guidelines have been established and include, broadly: mandatory face masks for guests and Museum staff; physical distancing requirements; and the removal of all printed matter, including maps and brochures, in favor of digital formats. We recommend that your clients download maps, Audio Guides, and brochures in advance of visiting the Museum, and we will be happy to provide links to these materials that can be shared with them in advance.
• All coat- and bag-check services are suspended until further notice. Your clients are encouraged to bring as few items as possible into the Museum, although small, personal bags will be permitted.
• For further questions or clarifications about our new policies and guidelines, please contact us by email and we will be sure to connect you with the appropriate department if we can’t answer your questions directly.

Changes at The Met That Apply Specifically to the Trade

• All group tours are suspended through 2020, regardless of group size and including those that would otherwise be self-directed. We will reassess this policy and determine our plans for 2021 before the end of this year.
• The Museum can no longer accept paper vouchers, including those that were outstanding when the Museum closed on March 12. For more information about this policy change and ways we can work with you to accommodate outstanding vouchers, please contact mettours@metmuseum.org.

Marketing Support Aimed at Recovery Initiatives

As we strive collectively to encourage bookings and activities in new ways, The Met will do what it can to support the efforts of our partners. For those who target specific audiences or are implementing new concepts within your product offerings, we may be able to assist by curating engaging and memorable items from The Met’s digital assets for your use. Assets might include images of artworks (in addition to the institutional images that many are familiar with), books, videos, maps, brochures, and other materials. To the extent we can help, the assets will be provided at no cost. Please contact tourism@metmuseum.org for more information.

Thank you for your support of The Met. We remain committed to the success of our trade partners in this challenging environment. We also appreciate hearing your feedback on how we’re doing, so please don’t hesitate to contact us. We very much look forward to welcoming you to our galleries soon.

Warm regards,
Stephen