Bank of America is running their Museums on Us program again for 2020, which offers cardholders free admissions to 200+ museums, science centers, and botanical gardens nationwide on the first full weekend of every month (Saturday and Sunday). Each person just needs to show their valid Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit/debit card and photo ID for free admission.
Each cardholder gets one free general admission for themselves only, so be sure everyone with their own cards brings them. If you have a BofA credit card, you may consider adding family members (of any age) as a free authorized user. Another option is to open a Kids Savings Account with no monthly fee and also comes with a debit card. You may need to open this in a physical branch.
2020 Calendar Dates (Check specific museum for hours)
- January 4th & 5th
- February 1st & 2nd
- March 7th & 8th
- April 4th & 5th
- May 2nd & 3rd
- June 6th & 7th
- July 4th & 5th
- August 1st & 2nd
- September 5th & 6th
- October 3rd & 4th
- November 7th & 8th
- December 5th & 6th
Here is the full list of participating locations. For example, one of the available museums is the Thinkery in Austin, Texas. We found it to be a fun and interactive children’s science center. The admission was $12 per person including kids (23 months and under free), which means this could have saved our family of five a total of $60 for that one day. I’ve seen other museums on their list with $20 admission prices.
Sign up for reminders! I admit that I’ve probably missed more free dates than I’ve actually gone. I recommend signing up for their free e-mail reminder before each free weekend. I signed up and didn’t notice any horrible spam from BofA, just the reminders.
Bottom line. While I wouldn’t open a new bank or credit card account for this feature, free museum admission on the first full weekend of every month is a nice perk if you already have accounts with Bank of America.
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You suggest adding kids as authorized users for the museum benefit. Another reason to add kids is to start their credit history. When I added my kids to cards, my cards showed on their credit history.
FWIW, my daughter had several cards as an authorized user on higher balance accounts they were always paid off in full, never late. From the age of 16. At 25 (last summer), she graduated nursing college, got a 70K job, put 5k down on a 22K new car and Ford would not approve her without a co-signer. IIRC only Amex asked for a their SSN so I don’t know how the others would have given her “credit”. Hopefully your results will be different.
Does anyone know if BofA-issued partner credit cards work for this? (e.g. Amtrak or Alaska Airlines)