How Useful is AAA?
 

I've received an invitation in the mail to join AAA. We've never used their discounts in the past as we usually get discounts in other ways. However, I am wondering if I should join? How do you you use your AAA card and what discounts do you get?

Highly recommend joining. Free maps, usually fairly good (not always the best though), plus free tows in strange places. And mainly, I always ask for the AAA rate with hotels and rental cars -- often makes a difference.

I have had AAA for about 10 years and have up to recently only used them for the auto service...I just recently went on their website and order a few maps and travel books and they came within 7 days...

I am a member mostly for their auto service and it has been great. I would recommend it. Even if you get a flat tire just once you'll be glad of the service. I just got their magazine in the mail and was pleasantly suprised at all the places I could get a discount on services.

I have been a member for 15 years and highly recommend joining. Besides tows, they will bring you gas, jump start you, and get you into your car if you lock yourself out.

I also use them extensively for maps whenever I am traveling in the US, Canada, or Mexico. I also get maps of my city to give to visitors if they will be driving around. They also have tour books for all of the states, which have been extremely helpful.

A lot of times, the AAA discount gets you a better hotel rate than anything else.

You can also get free travelers checks, get passport photos taken, get driving directions, and they also do foreign travel / tours.

We like the free maps and guidebooks they provide, which are really handy for long road trips. You can order them by phone or online, or in person at their offices--they customize a detailed driving plan for you, avoiding known construction and other delays.

I have also used them to jumpstart my car--a useful free service, even at home--and unlock my car when I locked the keys inside.

And then there are the discounts, which I don't think are better than those offered by other memberships like AARP or USAA.

I have found their airfares and rental car rates to be too high, so I don't use their travel agency services. But we bought some heavily discounted theme park tix in Florida once from AAA.

Hope that helps!

I agree with Cassandra.

I have been a member for many years. On a recent road trip, AAA towed me in Oregon from Depoe Bay to Lincoln City so I could have my alternator replaced. Twice, over the years, I have been locked out of my car, and AAA came to the rescue. On another occasion, an "oil change" left me with no oil. Again, AAA saved the day. AAA has changed flat for me three times and has towed me on one other occasion.

Whenever I see a sensible looking person changing a flat tire I wonder why he isn't an AAA member.

Every year I get new guidebooks and maps for the western states and Canada in which I travel. They are extremely useful.

In many thousands of miles of travel I have only been let down once by an AAA map. In driving from Taos to Durango in late May we encountered a snowstorm at a 9,000+ foot pass that wasn't noted on the New Mexico map.

At hotels, I am eligible for AAA discount or senior discount, and I prefer to claim the AAA discount.

Whether AAA is worth the cost of membership depends on how much you travel.

I use their free maps everywhere we go. I always pick up a TourBook, although the value is sometimes negligible. Like Cassandra said, the biggest value for me is the towing, especially since we upgraded to Plus.

All of the above PLUS here in CA we can pay our car liscense renewal fees and get our tags at the same time we are in the office getting a map or guidebook.
Good for procrastinators.
:)
Any other state have this ?
R5

After having AAA for many years, I quit when I found myself waiting waaaaaay too long for road service. But that was many years ago and maybe they've improved. I have road service now through my auto insurance company for a small amount extra on my premium.

AAA Travel agencies, nationwide, comprise one of the largest agencies in the world, and you can indeed get some significant discounts not found elsewhere on many travel products, such as cruises, packaged air/hotel trips (such as to say an AI in Mexico or Jamaica), and land tours. I think a lot of people think of AAA as only tows, jump starts, and TripTiks. They offer much more than that. I recommend the gold level membership as it offers much better road service benefits.

I have found that wait times for car service calls depend on the area. In DC, 1-2 hours was standard; in the Twin Cities, it was more like 30 minutes. Depends on how near the AAA contracted garage is to you-on-the-side-of-the-road!

We just quit AAA this year because we got horrible service a year ago. Car problems, called AAA they said it would be an hour wait and it wasn't. Called back and they said they told me it would be 3 hours (not true). We had someone recommend a car dealer in Homestead and the dealer had a tow truck out in 15 minutes. This was late May, hotter than H out and I told AAA there were 4 over 70's people sitting in the sun..please hurry. HA!

I called the head office and complained and they said "well, we've been having problems in the Miami area, sorry"

Yes, we got our tow charge back, yes their books & maps are good and their on line mapping service is very good, but for a lot less I can get about the same road service from our insurance. And there are several excellent FREE mapping services on line.

We just quit AAA this year because we got horrible service a year ago. Car problems, called AAA they said it would be an hour wait and it wasn't. Called back and they said they told me it would be 3 hours (not true). We had someone recommend a car dealer in Homestead and the dealer had a tow truck out in 15 minutes. This was late May, hotter than H out and I told AAA there were 4 over 70's people sitting in the sun..please hurry. HA!

I called the head office and complained and they said "well, we've been having problems in the Miami area, sorry"

As for discounts, we can get the same discounts through AARP, or from some hotel chains.

Yes, we got our tow charge back, yes their books & maps are good and their on line mapping service is very good, but for a lot less I can get about the same road service from our insurance. And there are several excellent FREE mapping services on line.

sorry for the double post

Yes, to everything that has been posted that's been positive on AAA.

In addition, their travel guides list just about every single city and town there is. Unless you go online, there's isn't another resource like this when you are stuck out in the toolies and need to find someplace to stop for the night. I'm thinking of our stop in Mohawk, Canada - one star motel listed in the AAA and it was a great little motel! Invaluable resource when I'm driving long distances.

Yes, their auto service could be a long wait, especially during peak traffic hours when the one tow truck has to answer three or four "urgent" calls. At other times, they can be less than 30 minutes wait. I've just called AAA and had them tow my car to my mechanic - without me. I can trust them with my car!

Before mapquest, we used their triptik maps; before universal atms, we bought travel checks there. Now we use the discounts in hotels and pay extra for the towing anywhere option.
Haven't taken any aaa trips yet though-are they good?

Easy travelers checks in foreign currency, Disney Tickets with VIP parking, guidebooks with hotels for even the smallest towns, discounts on hotel rooms, etc. I use AAA all the time in my travels.

Ditto to all the favorable comments. Sooo handy for US road trips, to have the books and maps.

I think it should be noted...re waits for service, that the service is only going to be as good as the local garages, right? I did have a lengthy wait recently for service on a Sunday nite, but they stayed in touch with me to let me know of delays.

We find their Lenscrafters $75 discount to be useful. There are some others, which we often forget to inquire about.

I've gotten some great hotel rates using my AAA discount. Even though my car comes with road side service, I keep my AAA membership. Last year I had a tire blow out in a VERY bad neighborhood. AAA was there in 15 minutes. I don't use it much, but when I need it, it's worth every penny.