Culture-vulture alert: Some credit cards offer free entry to museums [Updated]

Here’s a cool way to use your credit or debit card to gain a little cultural capital -- without spending a dime. Bank of America and Merrill Lynch cardholders can receive free entry to more than 150 museums nationwide on selected weekends merely by showing their cards.

The deal: Museums on Us marks its 14th year of offering access to museums free of charge on the first full weekend of the month (meaning that April 30-May 1, for instance, is not included, but May 7-8 is). The program for February will start Saturday at participating sites. So here’s a chance to skip the Super Bowl and take in some art instead.

Here’s how it works: People who display their credit or debit cards, plus a photo ID, receive free admission to such spots as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and even the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. The program added about 30 new venues this year.

Twenty-four California museums are participating. They include the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, the Autry National Center of the American West in Los Angeles, the Birch Aquarium at Scripps in San Diego and the De Young Museum in San Francisco.

FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this post said that the Museum of Modern Art in New York was a participating museum, which it isn’t. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York participates in the Museums on Us program.

Check out the state-by-state list of museums using interactive maps at the Museums on Us website.

When: Good on selected weekends through Dec. 4.

Contact: Museums on Us