Visit the Seattle Museum of Flight for Free — One Day Only

Visit the Museum of Flight for Free
Visit the Museum of Flight for Free

Here’s your chance to sign up for free tickets to visit the Museum of Flight in Seattle or 1,000 other museums participating in Smithsonian Museum Day.

Save the Date!  September 22, 2018 is Museum Day

Admission tickets to the Museum of Flight usually cost $22 per person, but on Saturday September 22, 2018 admission is free thanks to the Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day program.  You can get a ticket for two people via the Smithsonian Museum Day program, so that is a $44 value!

Not in Seattle?  There are 47 other aviation museums offering free admission through the Smithsonian program this year.  In fact, the Seattle Museum of Flight is just one of over 1,200 art, science, history, natural history, children’s and aviation museums that will admit ticketed patrons for free on September 22, 2018.  Many of the participating museums normally charge admission, though some of the smaller museums are always free.

Smithsonian Museum Day TicketYou must register online in advance to order a ticket and there is a limit of one ticket per email address.  Each ticket admits two people.  The ticket is valid only for free general admission. It does not include entry to special exhibits or IMAX screenings.

If you’re in Washington, DC, you can get a free ticket to the Kreeger Museum of modern art, the National Building Museum, or the Newseum.

In New York City, check out The Intrepid, the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt design museum, the Museum of the City of New York, or the Jewish Museum.

In Baltimore, the Museum of Industry and the Trolley Museum are great choices for families.

Find a museum in your locale with this online search tool.

Discover Quirky Attractions Near You on Museum Day

The best thing about the Smithsonian Museum Day is the database of smaller museums.  Many museums that may not be on your radar participate in the program because if offers them national exposure.

  • Consider these options:
  • The Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez Museum in Jamestown, New York.  Where else can you play with an interactive Vitameatavegamin set?
  • The Ancient Spanish Monastary in North Miami Beach, Florida.  This is an actual 12th century Cistercian cloisters that was  dismantled and shipped to the United States in 1925.
  • The Leonardo in Salt Lake City, Utah.  This is a really fun hands on science museum.
  • Gropius House in Lincoln Massachusetts.  If you are into Bauhaus architecture this is your place.
  • U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. It’s the largest space flight museum in the world!

You can find a museum in your locale with this online search tool.

 

 

Where to Find the Hippest Cultural Attractions in Washington, DC

ArtHouse on Meetup.com
ArtHouse on Meetup.com

Residents and visitors to Washington, DC have their pick of a broader array of free cultural offerings than anywhere else in the country.

That’s a bold statement — but one that is justified by the many festivals, private and public museums, embassies, theaters, clubs and parks offering free or low-cost events.

There is no central cultural calendar for the DMV — the metropolitan DC-Maryland–Virginia region.  Cultural Tourism DC publishes a daily calendar and a weekly newsletter.  They are a good start, but are not comprehensive by any means.  The best you can do is to subscribe to the various mailing lists of the places that interest you the most.

Visitors to DC can also look to listings in the Washington PostWashington City Paper, or Washingtonian magazine but some of the most interesting, offbeat, and fun and free happenings won’t be found there.

ArtHouse on Meetup.com
Ronn the ArtHouse organizer

I pride myself on knowing about cool and unusual events, but there is a guy who surpasses me tenfold.  That would be Ronn, the founder and organizer of the ArtHouse on Meetup.com. He has a knack for ferreting out the hippest cultural events in the DMV!  He organizes meet ups for hip house concerts, art openings, walking tours, foreign films and more.

Yes, Meetup.com is actually a great place to find out about fun events and get togethers, many of which are free.

Here is Ronn’s pitch:

Meet with local film and arts lovers to watch indie, foreign and classic films! We’ll also attend art gallery openings, theater performances, Embassy evenings, museums, author readings and interesting concerts. And more often than not, there will be a reception!

The ArtHouse has attracted over 8,000 members, and members may add their suggestions for upcoming events.

Every month, Ronn sends out a bulletin previewing a curated selection of interesting group events for the month.  You can access the newsletter online here.

Here is a sample of some of the upcoming July 2018 eclectic listings in the ArtHouse Meetup:

Anyone can join the ArtHouse.  It’s not just for singles.  What a great way to to have fun and to meet interesting people!
Is there a Meetup group like this in your area?

How to Snag Tickets for an Amazon Warehouse Tour

Infinity scarf with secret pocket
Infinity scarf with secret pocket

I returned from Quebec City, Canada one night to find a package waiting for me.

Inside was a special “security” scarf designed for travelers.  The scarf is a wraparound infinity scarf with a secret zipper and a hidden pocket — designed to hold your passport or other valuables when you travel.

I saw the scarf at a travel conference I was attending in Quebec City and found the design to be very clever  I decided to order a scarf with a hidden pocket from Amazon.  Miraculously, the scarf arrived home before I did!

Seriously, how does Amazon do it?  Many items on the site are now available for same day delivery, and many more can be delivered within 24 hours.  They must maintain an enormous inventory of items in their regional warehouses!

Amazon schedules tours at these warehouse locations
Amazon schedules tours at these 8 warehouse locations

Amazon calls their regional warehouses “Fulfillment Centers.”  There, products are retrieved, packed into boxes and shipped to homes around the country.

Amazon has 75 of these enormous warehouse throughout North America.  Each building is about a million square feet.

Eight of the locations are open to the public for free tours.

My husband studied industrial engineering, and factory tours are right up his alley.  But it turns out that tours of the Amazon fulfillment centers are very popular and fill up quickly.

How to Book a Tour of an Amazon Fulfillment Center

Amazon offers tours of their fulfillment centers at these eight locations:

Plan ahead to get a ticket for an Amazon Fulfillment Center tour
Plan ahead to get a ticket for an Amazon Fulfillment Center tour

The free tours are scheduled on the first and third Tuesday of each month.

In the U.S., tours start at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time; and in Canada, at   11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. local time.

The tours last one hour.  Each tour is limited to 35 people.

If a tour is filled up you can join a waiting list to be notified if a space becomes available.

In my experience, the best way to find availability is to check the website in the days following the last scheduled tour.  That is when tour dates will be posted for the following month.  For instance, if the last scheduled tour is June 19,  start checking around that time for the July tours to post.

That will be the best way to snag a ticket!

You can also email tours@amazon.com for help with a reservation.

What Are the Working Conditions at Amazon Warehouses?

Working conditions in the Amazon fulfillment centers have come under heavy criticism.  Here are three articles that discuss worker safety and health in some detail.

See the Intrepid for Free!

Visit the Intrepid for free!
Visit the Intrepid for free!

The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum  is is a military museum in New York City that showcases the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier and houses the submarine USS Growler, the Concorde SST, and the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

Admission tickets usually cost $33 per person, but on Saturday September 23, 2017, admission is free thanks to the Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day Live program.

This year, 1,250 museums and cultural institutions across the country are participaing in the Smithsonian program, which offers two free tickets to those who register online.

If military museums are not your thing, you can visit the City Museum of New York or the Cooper Hewitt design museum for free.  However, you must download you tickets in advance for this September 23, 2017 event.

If you’re in Washington, DC, you can get free tickets to the Kreeger Museum of modern art, the National Building Museum, or the Newseum.

Find a museum in your locale with this online search tool.

Museum Day Live! is an annual event.

If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be T-Mobile Tuesday!

If you haven’t gotten on the T-Mobile Tuesdays bandwagon yet, listen up!

Every Tuesday, T-Mobile releases a bunch of giveaways to their customers via the T-Mobile Tuesdays app.

Between my husband and myself, we have enjoyed:

  • Four large pizzas
  • Two dozen donut holes
  • 25 cents per gallon off gas
  • Four pairs of $2 movie tickets
  • Two pairs of socks!

Without a doubt, the best deal for us has been the movie tickets!

But if you’re lucky, you may win other prizes like gift cards, Lyft credits, hotel discounts, and more.

If you have a T-Mobile subscription or a prepaid plan, you are eligible to participate in T-Mobile Tuesdays.

I’ve written before about our cheapie Walmart T-Mobile plan that costs just $30 per month.  The freebies we’ve been winning lately have more than offset the cost of our monthly plans!

My sweetie got me these funky T-Mobile socks for Valentines Day
My sweetie got me these funky T-Mobile socks for Valentines Day

 

How to Benefit from T-Mobile Tuesday Deals

If you are a T-Mobile customer, it is easy to win free stuff every week!

Just download the T-Mobile Tuesday app from the Apple App Store or Google Play and register with your T-Mobile phone number!

Have you scored any deals on T-Mobile Tuesdays?

Free Admission to Mount Vernon February 20th and 22nd

Visit Mount Vernon for Free on February 20 and 22
Visit Mount Vernon for free on February 20 and 22

Washington locals and visitors alike can celebrate President’s Day in style by visiting George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon.

This year marks the 285th birthday of the first President, and lots of festivities are planned at George Washington’s historic home and estate on the Potomac River.

You can enjoy period music, character performances, story-time, tours of the mansion and birthday cake with General Washington.

Regular admission to Mount Vernon is $20 for persons age 12 and older but admission will be free on President’s Day — February 20, 2016 — and on George Washington’s actual birthday — February 22, 2016.

There is lots to see including the historic mansion, many outbuildings where trades were practiced, the slave memorial, gardens, a pioneer farm, and George and Martha Washington’s tomb.  The setting is on the Potomac River is quite spectacular, making for a pleasant family outing.

 

Free for Kindle: Lonely Planet’s Tackling the UK

Free for Kindle
Lonely Planet Guide to UK: Free for Kindle

Lonely Planet is offering a free e-book to England and Wales that provides travel information for the cities where the Rugby World Cup is taking place this year.

Even if you are not traveling for the games, you may find this travel guide to Great Britain to be useful.

The book, Lonely Planet Tackling the UK: Explore England and Wales during the rugby this autumn, is available free for Kindle from Amazon.  

Lonely Planet’s Tackling the UK travel guide includes tips for saving time and money on transit, food, accommodations, sightseeing, nightlife, and shopping.

Tackling the UK covers these destinations
Tackling the UK covers these destinations

The book covers London, Brighton, Gloucester, Milton Keynes, Exeter, Birmingham, Leicester, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and Cardiff.

This 386 page book was published August 1, 2015, so the information should be current.

 

Safeway Offers $15 Rebate on Purchase of $200 of MasterCard Gift Cards

Save $15 on Purchase of MasterCard Gift Card at Safeway
Save $15 on Purchase of MasterCard Gift Card at Safeway

Safeway stores are offering $15 off your next grocery purchase when you buy $200 worth of MasterCard gift cards now through September 15, 2015.

This deal may make sense if you need to make the minimum spend requirement on a new credit card, or if you have a credit card that earns bonus points for supermarket purchases.

MasterCard gift cards are hard to cash out, so think of as an opportunity to spread out your minimum spend requirement over several months.

This deal requires you to purchase two $100 gift cards.  Each gift card carries a $5.95 fee.

You will receive a coupon for $15 off your next Safeway purchase of $25 or more.

The coupon may have a near in expiration date, so you might want to buy the gift card first, and then proceed to do your grocery shopping while applying the $15 off coupon.

UPDATE:  MilestoMemories has offered a clarification below.  You really need to read the fine print before jumping on a deal.  His clarification means that this is not much of a deal!

Free Access to Consumer Reports Car Buying Guide

2000 AA miles for $14.95
2000 AA miles for $14.95

You’ve heard of magazines for miles?

How about miles for magazines?

The AAdvantage frequent flyer program of American Airlines has a new promo offer to earn 2,000 miles.

The offer involves signing up for a free 30-day trial of the Next Issue digital magazine service.  After your free trial, you can earn 2,000 AAdvantage miles if you subscribe to the service.

This is Not an Offer for 2,000 Free AAdvantage Miles!

I misread the offer and thought I could get 2,000 easy miles for signing up for Next Issue, after which I would cancel my subscription.  That is not the case.  You only earn the miles if you subscribe to the premium service for $14.95 a month, after your free trial ends.

Download the Next Issue app on iTunes
Download the Next Issue app on iTunes

I registered for the service, downloaded the Next Issue app, and took at look at the magazine offerings.

First up was the complete Consumer Reports 2016 Auto Guide.  I could access vehicle specs, crash test results, reliability data, ratings, and the results of the Consumer Reports road tests.  This is tremendously useful information for me as I am in the process of researching new cars.

Remember to cancel your registration before the 30-day trial ends or you will be charged $14.95.

If you want to spend $14.95 on a one month subscription, however, you can earn 2,000 AAdvanatage frequent flyer miles.  You can cancel your subscription at any time.

I’m Not Going to Subscribe to Next Issue

Next Issue allows you to read 100 popular magazines online or offline.

Current titles include People, US Weekly, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Time, GQ, Consumer Reports, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Parents, Dwell and dozens of others.  

Enjoy unlimited access to all the magazines you love — all in one app, for one low price — with Next Issue. Plus, earn 2,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® miles when you become a subscriber before October 1, 2015.

A subscription gives you access to past as well as current issue.

The service works on iPhones and iPads, Android phones and tablets, and Windows tablets and PCs.  I found it difficult to read magazine articles on my iPhone 5s — it’s just too small.  I don’t have a tablet, and the service won’t work on my Macbook, so I won’t be subscribing.

You can access the offer here.

Destination DCA: Behind the Scenes Tour

 

Happy 74th Birthday, DCA!Happy 74th Birthday, DCA!
Happy 74th Birthday, DCA!

To celebrate the 74th anniversary of Reagan National Airport (DCA), the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is holding a behind the scenes tour of operations at the airport.

Destination DCA will give 25 lucky participants insight into the past, present and future of Reagan National Airport.

MWAA will randomly select 25 guests for lunch and a guided tour of the airfield at DCA.

The event will take place on June 23, 2015 from  1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

To enter for a chance to attend, go to http://www.mwaa.com/reagan/8025.htm.

Entries open open Tuesday, June 16, 2015 and close on Thursday, June 18, 2015 at 12:00 noon (Eastern Time).

This event sounds like great fun!