New England Aquarium honors nearly four-decade-old ticket

The New England Aquarium last week agreed to let in a visitor who presented a ticket that was 38 years old but which specified that it allowed for a return visit “at anytime in the future.”

Rachel Carle’s great-aunt Catherine Cappiello had acquired the “late gate” ticket, which the aquarium stopped issuing about 25 years ago, in 1983, according to The Boston Herald.

Carle on June 11 decided to try her luck with the nearly four-decade-old ticket, which Cappiello gave her when she moved to Boston for college.

“I walked up to the ticket office and explained the story of the ticket,” Carle told CNN Travel. “They took a look at the ticket, laughed, and said ‘well, it says come back any time! There’s no expiration date!'”

She added that she had no idea if they would accept the ticket or not, but promised her great aunt that she would try.

“Whether they honored it or not, she and I would have been glad just to see the story through. We’re so glad they honored it!” she continued.

Aquarium President and CEO Vikki Spruill told the Herald they were happy to accept the ticket, which technically doesn’t expire.

“We honor each valid admission ticket, and this was one,” Spruill said. “Forty years is a long time to be carrying that ticket around, and we’re so glad she did.”

Carle tweeted about the incident, thanking the aquarium for their generosity.

Some feel-good news:

My great aunt kept this ticket in her wallet for ~40 years and gave it to me when I moved to Boston. Today the New England Aquarium honored it as my admission ticket Thank you @NEAQ staff for being so sweet and having a laugh with me! pic.twitter.com/GSG4nWDeUg

— Rachel Carle (@rcarletweets) June 10, 2021

CNN reports that Cappiello gave Carle two of the tickets, but that she plans to frame the other as a souvenir.