I God. I need new glasses too. They're so scratched up it's amazing I can see anything through them. Sadly, I can't afford ANYTHING right now. Sigh....
Are you just looking for reading glasses or do you a prescription to fill? Not that I have any experience with either store.....
so helpful, I know
I need new ones too but we have to switch eye docs because of insurance change. Mine are all scratched up and falling apart.
America's Best should be named America's Worst. I have yet to talk to anyone who used them who didn't get ripped off somehow. They advertise cheap glasses and then nickel and dime you to death.
Walmart is pretty cheap for the eye exam. I get my glasses there because I travel out of state now and then and can get my glasses fixed for free at any Walmart....and there is one in almost every town now. It saved my butt in Florida once.
The main way I save money on glasses is to decline fancy lens options and then pick from the cheapest price bracket available on frames, usually I can find something from the 'clearance' section.
I have bought lotsa glasses over the years and am totally unconvinced that (for basic plain-vanilla type glasses, anyhow) there is any meaningful difference in *quality* among chains. Everywhere I've ever tried has been willing to redo a lens if it came out too different from prescription; and every time I've ever in with a broken pair, stores have been happy to repair it if possible (sometimes they've even done it for free *without* it having been *that* store that I bought the pair from).
If you want more than one pair (e.g. if you need prescription sunglasses) it is heavily worth waiting for an appropriate sale, too.
I took my kids to Lenscrafters and got their glasses in an hour - and while I wouldn't say they were cheap, we got great quality with a great price and they were up front about everything. I'm going there myself soon.
The last pair I got from WalMart has lasted me 5 years and the only problem I had was the rubber nose pad broke. WalMart just seems to be more hit-or-miss for my family.