The Lollipop Road

Posts Tagged ‘free admission’

Well, the summer is almost over and we’ve been searching for a few last minute things to do with the kids, so this deal day, we’re focusing on a few remaining free and discount activities that you can do as a family before school begins again.

1. Once again, the National Park Service is providing free entry into our National Parks this coming weekend, August 14-15.  If you haven’t planned your weekend yet, you might want to check out our selection of articles on National Parks.
2. SeaWorld Orlando currently has an ongoing promotion with Pepsi that will give you a free admission with each full-priced admission purchased.  This offer is good for up to 6 tickets!  Tickets must be purchased by August 31, 2010 and are valid through December 21, 2010.
3. Are you a Bank of America customer?  You can gain free admission to select museums and attractions around the country on September 4th and 5th, just by showing your ID and any Bank of America card or statement.
4. Ever wanted to go to a free movie screening?  GOFOBO gives out tickets to movie screenings every day.  You will frequently need an RSVP code, but you might get lucky and find one at FatWallet.  You can also check out the Free Movie Screening Blog.  Here is an upcoming example: Hubble 3D – August 14, 2010 – 11:00 AM, Celebration! Cinema-North, Grand Rapids, MI.  Good Luck!

Enjoy what is left of the summer!

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This deal day we’re going a bit outside the box to talk about traveling for free.  Okay, so it’s easy to say, but can you really travel with kids for free?  Absolutely!

One of the secrets to traveling cheaply with the family is to concentrate on obtaining freebies for the kids first as they are usually the easiest to find.  When traveling, you can almost always find restaurants that allow kids to eat for free – okay that was easy.  Next, focus on attractions that offer free entry for kids or even for the entire family.  Okay, so this one may be a bit more tricky.  I start by focusing on the obvious – for example, Washington, DC is going to offer a multitude of obvious options.

Our National Parks are another good example.  During National Parks Week, all entry is free.  You can also enter for free at select times during the year during Fee Free Days.  Lots of museums offer free admission during select times and days.  Still looking for more?  Check out Free Attractions by state.

Now we’re making progress!  So, now that you have free meals and free attractions, how do you get there for free?  Yeah, this is the hard part.  Obviously, the driving vacation is going to be the least expensive…or is it?  One of the easiest ways to get free transportation is to sign up for an affinity credit card or use those piles of frequent flyer miles you’ve been stashing away.  Flying is always free for lap infants under the age of two, so if you have a little toddler, you’re half way there.

Using frequent flyer miles is an obvious way to obtain free travel, but even those tickets often come with a small (or not so small) redemption fee and taxes.  Besides, you spent lots of money (or at least your employer did) to earn those, so not exactly free, right?  Well, there are plenty of ways to earn miles without flying.  For example, you can earn miles for just making everyday purchases using one of the branded mile earning credit cards.  You can also earn miles for making purchases through an airlines website, eating out and doing things that you normally would do.  Check out some of the best affinity credit card programs and decide for yourself if you’re up to the challenge.  Check out Southwest Airlines latest offer.

Don’t want all those annoying credit cards…I’ll let you in on a little secret.  I earned enough miles with American Airlines to fly to Europe without having to actually fly American Airlines or use one of their credit cards.  AA has a relationship with BankDirect, so you can earn miles just for having a bank account.  With bonuses and monthly earnings, I was able to earn enough miles for that free trip.  Pretty cool, eh?

The same method can be utilized for earning free train travel and even free hotel nights.  The key to earning significant miles and points is to concentrate on the bonuses and exploit the unusual earning opportunities.  Remember the guy who earned lifetime status with American Airlines for buying food?  There are plenty of opportunities out there – check out FlyerTalk and InsideFlyer to become a mileage junkie.

So, traveling for free isn’t impossible, it just takes some research and planning.  Go forth, earn miles, eat and recreate for free and travel safely.  Check back next week as we dig up more travel bargains for your next family vacation.

Disclosure

When searching out budget friendly family travel, free is usually an offer we don’t refuse. We’ve taken advantage of free admission at National Parks, museums, train rides and other kid-friendly attractions – the cheaper the better, right?. However, I recently had the opportunity to visit the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City during their free public entry (Friday 4-8 PM) where free was an offer that I definitely should have refused. After all, getting kids into a museum is hard enough already – you don’t need to give them more reasons to hate it!.

I arrived around 4:30 PM after a pleasant ride to the Top of the Rock. At first blush, it appeared to be a bit crowded, but it wasn’t until I hit the exhibits that the full reality set in. If you aren’t familiar with MoMA, there are 6 floors connected by rather narrow escalators. On this particular evening, the escalators were packed solid with a constant flow of visitors, like a colony of ants relocating their nest. Breaking into their formation or stepping out of line risked a trampling by the human species.

Against my better judgment, I did break formation at the second floor, but was quickly repelled back into the conga line making its way steadily upward. Fearful of what awaited on the next two floors, I made the safer decision to exit on the upper floors – I prefer the Masterpieces anyhow. Weaving through the maze of ants foraging for food left little room to set out a picnic. It occurred to me at that moment that it was nearly impossible to actually enjoy and appreciate the incredible works of art that hung on the wall while dodging the throngs of visitors snapping photos and staring aimlessly as if the paintings would come to life if they stared just long enough.

Sparsely interspersed were those visitors who were trying to truly appreciate the museum; for them I felt especially sympathetic. It was at that point that I firmly concluded that free isn’t always fun. Heading to the exit like prey escaping from the ant’s nest, I struggled to disguise myself, re-enter the queue and escape without detection. Whew, it felt so good to be out in the oppressively humid streets of Manhattan again.

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The school year is almost over and we’ll be spending some time in the next few weeks focusing on deals for summer family travel.  With airfare up and additional fees the new norm, flying the family across the country may not be your best option this summer.  More car trips and local excursions could save you a bundle.

Here are a few family focused specials that just might help you save a few bucks this summer.

• As part of their conservationist efforts, SeaWorld is offering child admission tickets for only $5 with the purchase of an adult admission.  This offer is valid for kids aged 3-12 through December 31, 2010.  At an average savings of over $50, you can’t pass up this deal!
• For only $25 you can get 7 daily passes good at over 200 California State Parks. Save $15 off the regular sampler pass rate and up to $80 off of regular admission fees.  Act fast as this sale could end at any time!
• The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is offering FREE admission from June 7-11 and again on August 30th.  A family of four can save as much as $60!  Check out additional free days throughout the year.
• Visiting Vegas?  Our friends over at Travelzoo have a humdinger of a deal.  You can score seats for popular Cirque du Soleil Productions through August for just $50pp.  At a savings of up to 65% off, you can afford to see a few.  Book by July 5, 2010 using promo code SUMMER.

Until next week, be sure to follow us on Twitter as we tweet the best summer deals as they happen…enjoy!

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