(Update: BofA has added an additional six days of free museum admission in 2019, from 12/26-12/31. In case you need something extra and no-cost to do during the winter break! I just went back to the Thinkery in Austin, TX again recently and it was awesome again but those admissions quickly added up for an entire family.)
Bank of America is running their Museums on Us program again for 2019, 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 or 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.
2019 Calendar Dates (Check specific museum for hours)
- January 5th & 6th
- February 2nd & 3rd
- March 2nd & 3rd
- April 6th & 7th
- May 4th & 5th
- June 1st & 2nd
- July 6th & 7th
- August 3rd & 4th
- September 7th & 8th
- October 5th & 6th
- November 2nd & 3rd
- December 7th & 8th
Here is the full list of participating locations [pdf]. 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 $60 for that one day. I’ve seen other museums on their list with $20 admission prices.
While I wouldn’t open a new bank or credit card account for this feature, it is a nice perk if you already have such accounts. You can also sign-up for a free text reminder before each free weekend. I signed up and haven’t gotten any spam texts from BofA, just the reminders.
Do they generally let kids in free with cardholder adult?
I can’t speak for all museums, but not in my experience.
I got debit cards for my baby and 6 years old. Now my whole family go to two museums for totally free in houston.
Thanks for sharing. May I ask, did you open a Minor Savings Account or Custodial UTMA and get the kid debit card that way, or something else?
It is a custodial account, but i don’t remember which type.
Bank of America (and Wells Fargo!) also announced commission free trades on their brokerage platform(s). It got lost in the news shuffle, but I think it’s worth mentioning