AAA pays off!

[MaryFMac]

I just called AAA purely out of curiosity to find out how much we would save on our

7night AKL standard view /7day parkhopper plus dining MYW package....

Through AAA, it was $400 cheaper. The AAA representative was even shocked. He checked my information twice and checked two different computer systems just to make sure it wasn't a glitch.

Amazing.

 

[mlutz11175]

If you don't mind my asking - when are you going, and where is the AAA office located that you went through? I went to our local AAA office in Michigan and their price was basically the same for room + park passes ($1944) as I could buy pricing them separately with a AAA discount on the room ($1938). By the time you added in the $20 service charge they tack on, the only thing to recommend the AAA package over doing it myself were 4 free drinks at the AAA lounge, a free photo, and a discount card at some of the DTD restaurants & stores. We're at the PO Riverside in August.

 

[Marseeya]

Yes, can you give more details? I got a AAA package specifically so we could get dining (we're staying for 9 nights at AKL, standard room view) and it only saved us $100 over what we could get directly through Disney.

 

[MaryFMac]

Our reservation was for 7/26/05- 8/2/057 nights at AKL, Standard View, with 7-day Park hoppers plus dining.

Our quote from Disney was $2610.90
Our quote from AAA was 2200.90

I'm still pretty flabbergasted.

It was through AAACarolinas.

 

[disneygirl1977k]

We saved HUGE booking a package through AAA.....We are going August 28th through Sept. 4th and we (me, DH and DS -2 yo) are staying at CSR for 7 nights with the park hopper option MYW tickets and we got a water view room with the dining option and saved about $300.00.....very excited about that......it is definately the way to go, I think...if you are not a FL resident or AP holder.

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

We saved big time thru AAA also (close to $500). But doing your homework pays off. We wanted a package starting Sun for 7 nights at AKL. But we were arriving Sat, just late in the day. So we wanted room only at POP our first night. The package rate they quoted us (2 adults , 2 kids) with MYW tickets, park hopper option, dining included was well under the rack rate (the almost $500 discount). Then I was quoted rack rate for the room only the first night. I mentioned that it was the rack rate to my AAA agent, so she searched again for a discount rate (we have AAA and military eligibility). Miraculously, a discounted rate appeared.

I would say AAA is worth it IF you do your homework before you talk to an agent.

 

[indigoxtreme]

Must be where your AAA is located, I called yesterday for 9-4-05 leaving on 9-11-05 at POR 7 day expire park hopper ticket with MYWdining. They could only save me $75. I was shocked due to all the info here swearing how much everyone was saving. Not for me. I will just stick with Disney and keep hoping for a discount for Sept.

 

[poohj80]

Glad to hear AAA worked for someone! Our AAA actually quoted us a higher rate than booking directly through Disney and said there were no flights available on our days of interest. We then booked through one of the Disney specialist travel agents and got a cheaper rate and some extra goodies as well plus the exact flights we wanted.

 

[EeyoreJMH]

We find that not only do we save on Disney stuff, we just saved over $300 switching to their insurance agent for auto and homeowners' insurance (man, I sound like that Geico ad). We also used our AAA membership for our Cingular wireless service; although we were mid-contract with our regular Cingular plan, they let us switch over to the AAA Cingular plan, which saves us a little extra each month. The savings goes into our Disney fund for upcoming trips.

We're now looking at a AAA package for Disneyland and so far AAA is coming in with the best rate for a 5 night stay at Grand Californian with passes.

 

[jodistar]

I also booked with AAA and saved around $500 also. We will be going on October 30 for 8 days.

I think the reason some are making off better than others is because AAA have a limited number of rooms for each resort....I could be wrong. I know our first trip to Disney it didn't seem like that much of a deal but this time we really lucked out.

 

[Cplofdisneynutz]

I Agree we have used AAA for all of our trips so far and have saved at least $300 each time. I do feel it is worth it.

Hope you have a great trip.

 

[poohj80]

We also used our AAA membership for our Cingular wireless service; although we were mid-contract with our regular Cingular plan, they let us switch over to the AAA Cingular plan, which saves us a little extra each month. :

That's great! I didn't even know Cingular had AAA plans. May I ask what the rate is and what you get for it? I currently have Cingular as well.

We're now looking at a AAA package for Disneyland and so far AAA is coming in with the best rate for a 5 night stay at Grand Californian with passes.

May I ask about this too please? We are going to the GC for 4 nights and our AAA office quoted us a price $500 over what we saw on the Disney web site.

Thanks!
PJ

 

[sarahsmom3]

Can someone please explain what AAA is? Is it worth the money to join just for a Disney discount???

 

[Marseeya]

Can someone please explain what AAA is? Is it worth the money to join just for a Disney discount???

AAA is an auto club where you pay somewhere around $40 (most places are different) and you can get free towing and emergency services for any car you are driving. AAA members also get a lot of discounts at hotels, and some stores & restaurants.

We paid $100 for it for both my DH and me, and we got the plus version. Expensive, but it has already paid itself off. We saved $100 on our WDW trip, saved around $60 over Easter for our hotel, and DH has had to use the emergency road service twice!

 

[Maureenmouse]

I went through AAA carolinas and saved about $300 too on a 8 night MYW +dining package at CSR. I'm so excited.

 

[poohj80]

Guess I need to try a different AAA office...maybe in another state even.

 

[SRRN]

We went to WDW over Christmas,normally a VERY pricey time to visit.We called AAA and were offered POP for $55/night!!!!!We got a big discount on our car rental as well as a discount on our Park Hopper passes.We couldn't pass it up!

 

[donnabc]

Went to Disney in Jan and was disappointed to find out we actually saved MORE going through Disney than AAA....(NC)
Glad to hear someone's membership payed off

 

[kjs1976]

I got AAA for the Disney deals and some other local deals. Hasn't saved me money for WDW yet, but I used it when my car spun out of control on some ice last year and it saved me about $80 on a tow, then we just used it at an AAA auto mechanic and it saved us $124 on our bill. So it ended up helping me a lot more in the auto world than the travel world!

 

[mlutz11175]

With thanks to MaryFMac, I sent an e-mail to AAA Carolinas. The agent who responded said she's really supposed to refer me to my local AAA office, but would offer me a quote anyway. Her quote was a bit less than the one I got from the Michigan office, and basically the same as what I can get by piecing everything together separately myself-hotel & tickets. At this point, I may as well stay with what I've got and hope the rates go down as we get closer to our departure. I did save about $20/night with AAA on the nightly hotel rate.