How to Get Free Museum Tickets and Discounts

If you are at all like me, you probably have great aspirations to take advantage of your city's local art museums and other such cultural Mecca's of learning. And each week as you flip through the events section of the newspaper you take lots of mental notes, reminding yourself to save the dates and check out some of the awesome opportunities to do so. Art and history museums, science exhibits, university art galleries, or the latest showings at the world famous museum attraction that happens to be right around the corner from your house. How exciting! But then, like myself, the event date rolls around and you just never get around to participating in it.

Why does this happen? I am constantly scolding myself for missing out on once in a lifetime opportunities that people all over the world would be honored to witness that go on practically in my backyard. After giving it some thought and conversing with a few acquaintances who also frequently find themselves in this pickle, I've concluded that one reason we avoid attending these affairs (though admittedly not the only reason) is the money factor. Let's face it, the economy stinks, everyone's wallet is tight right now no matter who you are or where you work. All of us are trying to cut back where we can.

However I did a little investigative research and realized much to my own excitement that there are legitimate and legal ways to enjoy our local cultural centers while continuing to spend wisely. Museums often advertise standard fees to the public which in general do not tend to be all that inexpensive. But if you do a little digging you can actually find yourself some really fabulous deals.

I went on a hunt to scout out some practical ways to obtain free admission to various museums or cultural attractions in the US and beyond and came up with the below alternatives. Some of these opportunities are 100% free and some, for the real serious museum connoisseurs require a fee but still in the long run save you a lot of dough. But skim through the various options and hopefully you should be able to find one that is suitable for you.

Bank of America's Museums On Us Promotion:
Bank of America offers customers free admission to over 70 museums nationwide on select days. This promotion at one time only ran during a single month annually but the company has recently extended the offer and card holders can now take advantage of it throughout the entire year. How does it work? It's easy. There are no sign up forms or advance tickets to reserve; simply show up at a participating museum on an appropriate day, flash your bank card and identification and you are in.

The Museums On Us Free Admission Ticket Promotion is currently valid on the first weekend of every month, so for the month of April 2009 that is equal to the 4th and the 5th. Program details for May 2009 and thereafter are scheduled to be updated soon and can be verified on the Museums On Us official website. You can also access this website to determine which cities in your state participate in the Bank of America free ticket promotion.

Free Museum Passes from your local library
Public Libraries are an excellent resource for museum tickets. As advocates of all things educational for all members of the public, regardless of economic status, most libraries are thrilled to offer free passes to museums or other cultural affairs to their respective communities. In fact some libraries even offer their own in house art or history exhibits which are generally accessible for free during certain hours.

Details may vary per location, so check with your neighborhood library for specifics. The way it works for most though is that each library location is granted a certain number of free museum passes that they are allowed to "rent out" free to library card owners. The library members are usually required to be in good standing with few fines and no outstanding due books. Depending on the particular museum as well as the library the passes may be only valid for a certain number of days. Additionally, some libraries require the pass to be physically returned to the same location it was "checked out" immediately after use.

Again, the restrictions differ according to library and museum in question but overall if you are willing to be responsible and follow the requirements of the museum pass rental policy this seems like an incredible opportunity to take advantage of your local cultural institutes free of charge. For more information call your library or check out their website.

Get the Go Card Discount Attraction Pass for ticket discounts
A well accredited travel agency known as Smart Destinations offers unlimited access to 400 attractions in 15 cities for a discounted price. The program is known as the Go (city name) Card, with the name of the appropriate city to fill in the blank. For example Boston has a GoBostonCard, Toronto has a GoTorontoCard, etc. It does unfortunately cost some money but if you are planning to visit a bunch of museums and attractions in one area the cost for the GoCard is significantly lower than if you were to pay for each activity individually. The GoCard package also includes a complimentary guidebook and bonus deals and coupons for various area restaurants and shopping locations.

The GoCard unlimited attraction discount passes are available in 1 day, 2 day, 3 day, 5 day and 7 day packages. Prices vary depending on location and duration of pass but you might note that the website often runs promotional sales. To find out more about GoCard packages, pricing and participating cities, visit the Smart Destinations Travel website. You may also contact them at 1-800-887-9107.

Become a NARM Member
This discount museum pass option is certainly not for everyone but if you have reasons to visit nationwide museums on a frequent basis it is worth looking into. NARM stands for North American Reciprocal Museums and it consists of a network of affiliated cultural institutions throughout the United States, Canada, Bermuda and El Salvador.

In order to be a part of the NARM Program, one must pay $100 or more in membership dues to one of the reciprocal museum partners. Qualifying individual NARM members will receive a gold sticker on their membership card displaying the official NARM logo. Once again, the eligibility requirements for this discount opportunity are pretty hefty I realize but once one becomes a part of the NARM Association, he or she receives the following:

*Free and/or member priced admission to any museum in Reciprocal Museum Network
*Tickets at member discount prices for any extra exhibit or event such as concerts and lectures held at the reciprocal museum location.
*Member discount prices in gift shop of any reciprocal museum.

To see the list of all 334 member institutions or for further details on how to enroll in the North American Reciprocal Museums Program, visit the NARM website.

Flash your credentials
Depending on your age, employment status, profession and/or organization affiliations you may be eligible for free admission to museums and other related attractions or at the very least a discounted ticket with proof of eligibility. Some examples of lucky individuals might include students, senior citizens, and kids under age (?). Teachers or librarians sometimes qualify depending on the particular institution as well as members in some capacity of the media. The same is true for union members or those with AAA cards. Of course the lucky winners vary according to museum but if you possess any of these mentioned credentials it would be well worth your time looking into. Call your attraction of interest or check out their website and see what you can find. You might be surprised to see that expanding your cultural horizons is a lot less expensive than you had previously thought.