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  4. How to Get Into the Country’s Most Expensive Museums for Less

How to Get Into the Country’s Most Expensive Museums for Less

By Kathryn O'Shea-Evans ,  Kathryn O'Shea-Evans / Money and Money
September 26, 2016
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This story originally appeared on Money.com.

This Saturday, the long-awaited National Museum of African American History and Culture opens on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., becoming the 19th museum in the Smithsonian Institution family of museums.

Related: How to Get Free Coffee on National Coffee Day This Thursday

Like all Smithsonian galleries, the NMAAHC will be free. But that’s a rarity among top museums, where admission for a family of four can top $100—and that’s before you hit the gift shop.

Related: More Billionaires Are Donating to Hillary Clinton Than Donald Trump

MONEY took a look at some of the most expensive museum admissions in the country, then hunted for the best ways to score a discount. (Note: we’re not including student and senior discounts, though many of the museums on this list offer them).

Related: If You’re Running a Marathon This Fall, You Could Win a Free Pair of Sneakers

Turns out there’s an art to saving on art. Here’s how to do it.
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The Field Museum, Chicago

Credit: JEFF HAYNES/Getty Images

What it costs:$38 per adult for all-access pass

Why visit: At this 1893 natural history museum, you’ll see SUE, the largest (42 feet long!) and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex on the planet, and view mummies inside a replica 5,000-year-old Egyptian tomb.

How to save: Illinois residents are in luck: there are a handful of free admission days for them throughout the year; those on food assistance can visit any day for $3.

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Madame Tussauds Hollywood, Los Angeles

Credit: Jason LaVeris/Getty Images

What it costs:$63.95 walk-up price for the adult Ultimate Experience, which includes your very own wax hand and souvenir photo.

Why visit: Star shock moments abound here, thanks to (mostly) life-size wax figurines of everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Brangelina (who’ve now been separated).

How to save: The Ultimate Experience is a mere $30.99 if you buy it ahead of time online, a more than 50% discount. Save even more by opting for the general admission (no wax hand) which is $20.99 online, or just $14.95 online if you’re arriving between 5 p.m. and close.

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Museum of Science, Boston

Credit: Education Images/Getty Images

What it costs:$25 per adult, plus $6 if you want to see the planetarium.

Why visit:Permanent exhibits at this mainstay on the Charles River include bird language lessons in a virtual tour of Acadia National Park (tweet it!) and a tropical conservatory filled with flitting, free-range butterflies.

How to save: Local residents can borrow a free pass for four people from the Boston Public Library.

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The Mob Museum, Las Vegas

Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

What it costs:$23.95, but oddly, you can get an annual pass for $30.

Why visit: Not even Whitey Bulger would get in for free legally at this museum devoted to mobsters, where exhibits include bone-chilling murder weapons and another devoted to wiretapping, the ploy that helped take down John Gotti.

How to save: If you buy online, non-locals can get their tickets for $19.95; Nevada residents can buy it for $13.95 at the box office.

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California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco

Credit: ullstein bild/Getty Images

What it costs:$23.95, but oddly, you can get an annual pass for $30.

Why visit: Not even Whitey Bulger would get in for free legally at this museum devoted to mobsters, where exhibits include bone-chilling murder weapons and another devoted to wiretapping, the ploy that helped take down John Gotti.

How to save: If you buy online, non-locals can get their tickets for $19.95; Nevada residents can buy it for $13.95 at the box office.

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Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida

Credit: Danita Delimon/Getty Images

What it costs:$23.95, but oddly, you can get an annual pass for $30.

Why visit: Not even Whitey Bulger would get in for free legally at this museum devoted to mobsters, where exhibits include bone-chilling murder weapons and another devoted to wiretapping, the ploy that helped take down John Gotti.

How to save: If you buy online, non-locals can get their tickets for $19.95; Nevada residents can buy it for $13.95 at the box office.

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Newseum, Washington, D.C.

Credit: Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images

What it costs:$22.95.

Why visit: You can peek behind the curtain of journalism legends here, along with subjects themselves (the museum maintains the largest section of the 12-foot concrete Berlin wall outside of Germany).

How to save: Buy tickets in advance online for a 15% discount.

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The Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, Calif.

Credit: Richard Cummins/Getty Images

What it costs:$29 including Imax.

Why visit: Silicon Valley unicorns happily pay big bucks to build and program a real robot, track their body metrics using futuristic sensors, and ride in a jet pack chair that replicates the NASA manned maneuvering unit experience, complete with compressed air jets.

How to save: If you show up in the last hour of the day, you get a discounted admission rate.Bank of America cardholders get free admission for one person on the first full weekend of every month.

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Titanic Museum, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Credit: Barcroft/Getty Images

What it costs:$25.

Why visit: You could hop a ferry ride for much less than tickets to this museum—but here, you’ll be able to shovel “coal” in the Titanic’s boiler room and stroll a faithful recreation of its 1907 carved oak staircase.

How to save: Teachers can get comp tickets in September.

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National WWII Museum, New Orleans

Credit: Robert Mullan/Getty Images

What it costs: $26.

Why visit: This honorific ode to WWII maintains a vault with 100,000 artifacts, including uniforms, weapons, diaries, and photographs.

How to save: WWII vets get in free; members of the military for $16.50; the New Orleans Visitor’s Guide offers $2 off adult museum general admission.

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National September 11 Museum, New York

Credit: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

What it costs: $24 a ticket.

Why visit: A solemn remembrance of one of the worst days in American history, with artifacts, time-lapse videos, and live stories told every Tuesday from people who were on the scene.

How to save: The museum is free on Tuesdays from 5 pm to close. 9/11 family members, rescue and recovery groups, plus military get in free. FDNY, NYPD and PAPD tickets are $12 with a valid ID.

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Experience Music Project Museum, Seattle

Credit: John & Lisa Merrill/Getty Images

What it costs: $24 a ticket.

Why visit: A solemn remembrance of one of the worst days in American history, with artifacts, time-lapse videos, and live stories told every Tuesday from people who were on the scene.

How to save: The museum is free on Tuesdays from 5 pm to close. 9/11 family members, rescue and recovery groups, plus military get in free. FDNY, NYPD and PAPD tickets are $12 with a valid ID.

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Art Institute of Chicago

Credit: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

What it costs: $25.

Why visit: Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks and Grant Wood’s American Gothic are among the 300,000 works in the permanent collection at this 1879 art mecca.

How to save: Free to Illinois residents Thursday nights, all year.

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By Kathryn O'Shea-Evans ,  Kathryn O'Shea-Evans / Money and Money

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1 of 13 The Field Museum, Chicago
2 of 13 Madame Tussauds Hollywood, Los Angeles
3 of 13 Museum of Science, Boston
4 of 13 The Mob Museum, Las Vegas
5 of 13 California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco
6 of 13 Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida
7 of 13 Newseum, Washington, D.C.
8 of 13 The Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, Calif.
9 of 13 Titanic Museum, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
10 of 13 National WWII Museum, New Orleans
11 of 13 National September 11 Museum, New York
12 of 13 Experience Music Project Museum, Seattle
13 of 13 Art Institute of Chicago

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How to Get Into the Country’s Most Expensive Museums for Less
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