Travel Deal of the Day (July 22, 2009)

If you are traveling to any museums than have admission fees this summer or fall, be sure to do a bit of research before your trip to save some money. Because of the decrease in demand for tourism/travel, many museums are offering specials. Museums with high entrance fees are most likely to be offering significant discounts. So, before you go to a museum:

(1) Check the website of the museum for any promotions;
(2) Check with any membership associations (AAA, ABA, AARP, university affiliations, corporate affiliations, etc...) to verify if any membership discounts apply (sometimes tickets must be purchased in advance of your visit);
(3) Check with the local tourism bureau/chamber of commerce to find out if any promotions apply (sometimes a museum will offer discounts to individuals that live close to the museum);
(4) Check the price of multi-day or annual entrance passes or the price of a "membership" - sometimes it is more cost-effective to pay for a multi-day entrance pass (especially if you know you will return in the near future); and
(5) Some of the best "deals" are offered via passes that provide entrance to a variety of attractions in a city. If you are planning a visit to multiple attractions within the same city, these kinds of passes can save you quite a bit of money. (I will provide further examples of these kinds of passes in the coming days - these kind of passes are especially good deals throughout Europe.)