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National Parks / Active Travel / Free / Outdoor Travel / Free Stuff / → All Tags

The Land of the Free: US National Parks Throw Open the Gates This Weekend

The new bike rentals won’t be free, but entrance to national parks will be this upcoming weekend. Uncle Sam is throwing open the gates to his backyard once again on June 5 and 6, so expect some serious crowds at your favorite national park. However, we’d probably avoid the Grand Canyon, because with a $25 entrance fee per car there will likely be loads of visitors trying to score a deal this free weekend.

Even private companies are getting in on the fun and are offering up discounts and freebies on certain packages—check the full list right here.

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Free Stuff / Free / Jetblue / Airline News / Boston / → All Tags

Jetblue Is Giving Away Tickets Today in Boston for Their 10th Anniversary

FREE STUFF ALERT! If you're in the Boston area today and interested in grabbing some free tickets on Jetblue, you might want to keep your eyes on Twitter today for a chance at 'em.

In celebration of their 10th Anniversary in the skies, Jetblue is doing just as they did in NYC a month ago by giving away lots of free tickets to the first-come-first-served people of Boston.

They'll be announcing their giveaway locations and any other details you need to know on their Twitter @Jetblue, so be sure to follow them! For hints at what to expect, we can tell you that in New York, they started in the business district and had three locations total throughout the day, asking the crowd to do things like bring them a birthday card, wear blue and bring an airplane-related item, and bring them a destination postcard. At each place, tons of people turned up, so don't expect them to hang out at the location for more than twenty minutes.

GOOD LUCK!

Related Stories:
· @Jetblue [Twitter]
· Jetblue Celebrates Their 10th Anniversary With a Fresh Paint Job [Jaunted]
· Travel Contests [Jaunted]

[Photo: ]

Free Stuff / Free / Jetblue / Airline News / New York City / → All Tags

Jetblue Is Giving Away Tickets Today in NYC for Their 10th Anniversary

FREE STUFF ALERT! If you're in the New York City area today and interested in grabbing some free tickets on Jetblue, you might want to head into Manhattan around noon for a chance at 'em.

In celebration of their 10th Anniversary in the skies, Jetblue is showing major love to the city they call homebase (hello, their Terminal 5 at JFK is nothing short of super awesome), and hopefully making your day with the free goodies.

They'll be announcing their giveaway locations and any other details you need to know on their Twitter @Jetblue, so be sure to follow them! Follow us @Jaunted as well, because not only are we wearing our running shoes today to track them down, but we'll keep you updated on their locations and anything we pick up along the way on this wild goose chase.

Related Stories:
· Free tickets to be handed out in NYC today! [Jetblue Blog]
· Jetblue Celebrates Their Tenth Anniversary With a Fresh Paint Job [Jaunted]
· Jetblue news [Jaunted]

[Image: Jetblue]

Free Stuff / Free / Museum Travel / Credit Cards / Travel News / → All Tags

A Card You Might Already Have Gets You Into 120 Museums For Free

Check your wallet. Is there a Bank of American credit or debit card in there? If so, then you've got a ticket to enter over 120 museums around the country for free during the first weekend of each month through December 2010.

It's a new program from the Bank called "Museums on Us," and it's actually pretty brilliant, with a surprising selection of very good museums included in the free days. All you need to enter the museums is your Bank of America card and another photo ID, and you're in—but sadly it's just for the cardholder, no +1 included.

The next weekend you can take advantage of the free admission is this weekend, and you can find a list of all of the included museums here. Still, we picked out a few of our favorite, after the jump.

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Theatre Travel / Culture Travel / Free / Cheap NYC / Events / → All Tags

All Of The Nation's A Stage For A Free Night Of Theater On Oct. 15

Gleeks and other theater nerds will be thrilled to know that they can catch complimentary shows in more than 120 cities across the country on October 15, the designated Free Night of Theater. But theater newbies benefit, too. They get a chance to dip their feet in the theater pool instead of having to dive right in and become full-fledged patrons of the arts.

The fifth annual Free Night aims to expose theater to the masses, especially those demographics that are typically underrepresented in theater audiences. It's the perfect time to try out a new company that you've been meaning to see or one that you've never even heard of. Offerings include everything from experimental companies to musical-theater troupes, and ballet companies to classical music concerts.

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Dunkin' Donuts Alternatives / Coffee / Free / Food Travel / Donuts / → All Tags

The Donut War Is On As Canada Moves Into Dunkin Donuts Territory

As committed lovers of all things donuts, we’re always happy to hear about another contender challenging Dunkin Donuts for the crown. Now that the Krispy Kreme kraze has cooled down a little bit, our money’s been on the Fractured Prune to grab the title of next big donut, but it looks like the winds are blowing southward—are Canadian donuts the next big thing?

Apparently, the Canadians actually consume the most donuts per capita and have more donut shops than any other country in the world. Who knew? And now they’re ready to take on DD on their home turf. Tim Hortons, the annoyingly un-apostrophe’d Canadian coffee-and-donuts mega-chain, is opening 13 locations in New York City today, and just to rub it in they bought ten more DD locations over the weekend.

The northern bakers are most famous for their very maple-y donuts and "double double" coffee (two sugars, two creams), and they also serve something called "timbits"—bite-sized round donuts that sounds an awful lot like what we call "munchkins."

To promote their invasion, Hortons is giving out free coffee to the first 500,000 commuters who stop by their new branch in Penn Station today. Let us know if you make it; we’re curious to know if these Canadian donuts are worth the hype!

Related Stories:
· Tim Hortons [Official Site]
· Dunkin' Donuts loses out to Canadian invaders Tim Hortons in war of donuts at Penn Station [NY Daily News]
· Dunkin’ Donuts Alternatives [Jaunted]

[Photo: taekwonweirdo]

Family Travel / NatureAir / Free / Travel Deals / Costa Rica Travel / Green Travel / → All Tags

Kids Fly Free On Carbon Neutral Costa Rican Airline

If you thought Costa Rica was just for hippie backpackers and torturing Spiedi, you should know that tourism companies are now pushing the eco-friendly destination as a family-friendly trip.

To back this up, Costa Rica's domestic carrier NatureAir is offering a sweet deal for those with little ones: free flights for children. Now through the end of August, kids up to 11 years old can fly free on all NatureAir flights within Costa Rica. Unfortunately, the offer doesn't apply to Jon and Kate-sized families—you only get one free child's ticket for every two adult seats purchased. Still, free is free.

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Wine Travel / Sonoma / Free / Wine Country / Facebook / Tourism Boards / → All Tags

Cali Wine Country Hooks Up Facebook Fans With Freebies

It seems like every tourism promoter and their mom is getting on board the Twitter/Facebook/YouTube thing, although we have yet to see many destinations that are actually blowing us away with their social media campaigns. Nonetheless, we're intrigued by Sonoma wine country's effort, because it has at least one word we like: free! (Also, wine!)

All you have to do is become a fan of "The Wine Road" on Facebook between June 21 and 26, and the group will toss you a free three-day "Ticket to the Wine Road," a savings pass that normally retails for $50. When you present the ticket at any of 152 different Sonoma wineries and 50 lodges, you'll get a boatload of freebies like complimentary breakfast, free bottles of wine with your room, and discounts on tastings.

OK, so it's mostly discounts—you still gotta pay for a trip out there—but it sounds a pretty sweet deal for just being a fan.

Related Stories:
· Wine Road Announces Facebook & “Ticket to the Wine Road” Promo [The Intoxicologist]
· The Wine Road [Facebook]
· All You Need Is One Hand and a Dream [Jaunted]

[Photo: Dave Schumaker ]

Film Festivals / Free / Cheap NYC / Movie Travel / Food Travel / New York City / → All Tags

NYC's Free Food Film Festival Has All Our Favorite F Words

If you can match us when it comes to cheapskate-ness, nothing bugs you more than the price of dining out nowadays—excepting maybe how much it costs to go to the dang movies. If you're smelling what we're cooking, then we have a feeling you may be as excited as we are about the upcoming NYC Food Film Festival.

From Saturday June 13 through Friday June 19, the festival will present a series of short films and features that all focus on our favorite topic—food. Better yet, each evening will be accompanied by food that matches the movie. You can take in a screening of Big Night while feasting on the timpano pasta made famous by the movie, or check out the new film Know Your Mushrooms while sampling a wild mushroom tasting menu.

Most (not all) of the screenings/tastings are free and take place at a variety of indoor and outdoor venues, including Jaunted fave Water Taxi Beach. Organizers only ask that you bring two cans of food with you to benefit the Food Bank for New York City.

Food. Film. Free. How can you go wrong?

Related Stories:
· NYC Food Film Festival [Official Site]
· Food travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Film festival travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: john w]

National Parks / Active Travel / Summer Travel / Free / → All Tags

Three For Free: Summer Weekends at 100 National Parks

If you’ve ever been to the Grand Canyon, you know what a bummer it is to pony up $25 per carload to get into the park. We realize upkeep and facilities aren’t free, but still, it’s a little hard to swallow when you just want to see nature’s beauty. Thankfully, the National Park Service is waiving entrance fees for many national parks for three weekends this summer.

The dates of June 20-21, July 18-19, and August 15-16 will be free of charge. The first weekend is Father’s Day, so feel free to take dear old dad out for a hike or two if the weather’s nice. He’ll definitely appreciate the experience of spending time with you in the great outdoors much more than that novelty tie you got him last year.

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Film Festivals / Free / Movie Travel / Recession / Screen on the Green / HBO / Facebook / Washington / → All Tags

The Recession Puts a Kibosh on DC's Outdoor Film Festival

Looks like free outdoor movies are joining music festivals on the list of things that won't live through the recession. HBO has announced that it's pulling the plug on DC's popular Screen on the Green series, which brings out thousands every summer for free classic movie screenings on the National Mall.

In what could be construed as a diss to DC, HBO will continue to sponsor this year's Bryant Park Film Festival, which is basically the exact same event, but in Manhattan, and kicks off with a showing of The Sting on June 15th. Given that DC already copes with a minor New York inferiority complex, Washingtonians are not happy, and nearly 2,000 of them have joined the Save Screen on the Green facebook page.

No word yet on whether Obama plans to bailout the film festival, but rumor has it The Kennedy Center is planning to step in with its own summer film series on their terrace level·also a picturesque spot, although considerably smaller than the Mall.

Related Stories:
· Screen on the Green Rescue Efforts Underway [DCist]
· Film Festivals coverage [Jaunted]
· Movie Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: voteprime]

Ice Cream / Free / Ben and Jerrys / → All Tags

Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day is Back

We don't know where you are at right now but we are sitting in front of our computers on yet another oppressively hot day in Los Angeles and we aren't fortunate enough to have air-conditioning. Which is why Ben and Jerry's free ice cream cone deal has us counting down the hours until we can escape our internet captors.

As a way to thank our customers for their support and to celebrate 31 years of scooping the chunkiest, funkiest ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet, Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops are happily giving it away!

Around the world, Scoop Shops are opening their doors from noon to 8:00 pm, to serve up a free scoop of your favorite flavor. Please check with your local Scoop Shop for more info!

And seriously, we suggest checking Ben & Jerry's website before you make your ice cream run as some shops are not participating in free ice cream cone day. Lame.

Related Stories:
· Ice Cream coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: CollinAnderson]