AAA-Worth it?

[kamcgrory]

The card also saves 10% off of food and merchandise, or at least it did several years ago, at Universal Studios. Also, it covers the person named on the card. So, if you or your children are in someone elses car and need help, its covered as long as they are in the car and have the card on them.

 

[Barnabe]

Are there still significant Disney ticket discounts with AAA?

I don't think you can get significant discounts on Disney tickets anywhere... unless you're willing to listen to a sales pitch.

 

[peg110]

Are there still significant Disney ticket discounts with AAA?

Last time we went for 5 of us (4 adults 1 Child) we saved about $150.00 for a 7 DAY Base MYW ticket. This is over and above any other price we find including the "Undercover Tourist". Now, I can actually get them my employee discount from my employer because they are a "Partner" (or something like that) with Disney. Same tickets will save me about $250.

I know not all AAA offer the same discount though. Some not at all. Also for us, even though AAA has a website for tickets, it's not the "Discounted" price. You actually have to go into the office to get the discount.

 

[AnnaS]

Family of 5. We also have the plus. We did use it years ago for my sons many times (older cars at the time). We also use it mostly for the road assistance. Even though we only have 1 old car - it's good to have/peace of mind. If we are a passenger in a car, we can call AAA for road assistance for the driver (unless this has changed). Try to take advantage of any discounts offered (not much) when I "remember". We have used it for hotels, Amtrak, Payless (not so much anymore), New York & Company, WDW tickets, Earl of Sandwich, etc.

 

[texasroni75]

We mainly purchased AAA for roadside assistance for DD (college student with older vehicle). But, it more than paid for itself with room discounts at hotels during our roadtrips.

 

[masim]

It is nice to have the coverage when you need it. As pp said, one emergency usually covers the cost. Additionally I have the AAA Visa card. The rewards program gives you a lot of options, a lot more than just air miles. You can redeem them for cash or credit to your account. If you redeem them for cash, you get $500 for 50,000 points. But you can also get a AAA voucher, for the same 50,000 points you get a voucher for $700. I had 130,000 points and got $1760 worth of vouchers about $500 more than if I had redeemed it for cash. Was able to get 3 tickets to Aspen with $250 voucher left over.

 

[amcnj]

The cost has crept up to a level that every year I debate whether or not to renew. Before joining, look at the discounts and determine if you would really use any of them (or enough to make it worthwhile), see if your auto insurance offers roadside, and also check on limits to their services (I believe I read that they limit the number of some service calls per year but can't recall the details). Lately it seems the hotel discounts are a few dollars a night. They have some discounted admissions, but many are available elsewhere, and store discounts that are often matched by email offers.

I see some offers occasionally for a reduced price for new members.

 

[richmo]

To me, the roadside assistance, although I've only used it once in 20 years, is why I have it.

As far as discounts, I find it is one of the better sources of hotel discounts. Almost all of them have AAA discounts of some kind. Sometimes you can do better, sometimes you can't.

It used to be nice getting maps, but in this electronic age, that is much less of a benefit than in the past.

 

[msmama]

I got a flat tire in the middle of nowheresville California about 20 years ago. The next day I got AAA and I haven't been without since!!

I think I've used it maybe twice since but the piece of mind is worth it. Actually I had a flat tire in my own driveway a couple of years ago and I called them, they came and changed my tire for me!! I figure I'd been paying all these years, might as well use it!!

I do check AAA rates when I'm booking hotels online. In my experience, the rates are lower if you're booking far in advance, but usually AAA is not the lowest if booking last minute (in my experience).

AAA is totally worth it for piece of mind though!

 

[North of Mouse]

Last time we went for 5 of us (4 adults 1 Child) we saved about $150.00 for a 7 DAY Base MYW ticket.

Is this current info?? We used to have AAA as we saved 15% on the Fort Wilderness campsites (we have a motorhome and visit often) which more than paid our membership, but Disney has quit giving AAA discounts as of more than a year ago.

Did this not affect the discount tickets also? Haven't heard as we never use them, just get the AP.

We no longer get the AAA as we have any assistance that we need through our insurance - never ever used the AAA for assistance as long as we had it.

 

[RitaE]

We dropped it a couple of years ago. All the years we carried it, I think we only had two times that we actually needed a tow truck and both times the wait was in the 3 to 4 hour range. The final one was so bad that my husband ended up pulling out his cell phone and googling a local tow truck who came and pulled his car out of the intersection where it had stalled in under 20 minutes. There was no way he could just sit there for 4 hours waiting for the AAA contracted truck to make an appearance. And no, we weren't in some remote location to explain why it would take that long. Since it seemed kind of ridiculous to pay for AAA and then still have to arrange our own roadside service when we needed it, we dropped it. The hotel discounts are usually nice, but there are also numerous other ways to get travel discounts.

 

[peg110]

Is this current info?? We used to have AAA as we saved 15% on the Fort Wilderness campsites (we have a motorhome and visit often) which more than paid our membership, but Disney has quit giving AAA discounts as of more than a year ago.

Did this not affect the discount tickets also? Haven't heard as we never use them, just get the AP.

We no longer get the AAA as we have any assistance that we need through our insurance - never ever used the AAA for assistance as long as we had it.

That was current then (in 2014) and I tried to look up what I actually paid, but I cannot find it (it's too far back and i don't remember exactly which account it was from and when I actually made the purchase). We are, however, planning ANOTHER vacation for June 2016 and of course we want to save money. So we looked at AAA again. I am with a different company then I was last time and they offer discounted tickets too. So I checked.
A 7 Day MYW Base ticket lays out as follows:

From Disney  : $1427.12
Employer Discount : $1255.88
Difference  : $ 171.24

So my employer discount was better than we were able to get at AAA. (We did check, but don't remember exactly). It wasn't a HUGE difference though. I want to say it was about $50 from AAA discount price. The AAA discount this time was around $120.00 over WDW Directly but remember this time is for a 7 Day versus the 6 day and for 4 people not 5.

Despite this, AAA can save you money. In our case, since the membership was just about $100.00 the price of the tickets more than saved the cost of membership PLUS, you get the other benefits (if you use them) to increase the value. (Notary, Roadside Assistance, tour books, etc....)

 

[JanaDee]

The cost has crept up to a level that every year I debate whether or not to renew. Before joining, look at the discounts and determine if you would really use any of them (or enough to make it worthwhile), see if your auto insurance offers roadside, and also check on limits to their services (I believe I read that they limit the number of some service calls per year but can't recall the details). Lately it seems the hotel discounts are a few dollars a night. They have some discounted admissions, but many are available elsewhere, and store discounts that are often matched by email offers.

I see some offers occasionally for a reduced price for new members.

Our auto insurance is AAA. I've found the hotel discounts to be anywhere from $10-$20 a night, so it more than pays for itself. We've also used it to get free passport pictures, once each for DH and I and twice each for our 2 kids.

 

[SethandMac]

We went thru AAA for our first trip. Membership cost $50 and for our trip we got free parking and $30 Disney Dollars from AAA. Didn't save any money per se but got an annual membership for $20.

 

[amcnj]

Our auto insurance is AAA. I've found the hotel discounts to be anywhere from $10-$20 a night, so it more than pays for itself. We've also used it to get free passport pictures, once each for DH and I and twice each for our 2 kids.

Wow you get good hotel discounts. I just made a reservation and the AAA rate was only $5 or $6 lower. I must be staying in the wrong hotels!

 

[ceriously]

I love maps and at AAA they're free. I also love their travel books. I think it's a great deal. Especially when I'm ready to go to work and discover I have a dead battery. They can usually replace the battery and it has a long warranty, so saves me a lot of hassle.

 

[HopperFan]

Is this current info?? We used to have AAA as we saved 15% on the Fort Wilderness campsites (we have a motorhome and visit often) which more than paid our membership, but Disney has quit giving AAA discounts as of more than a year ago.

Did this not affect the discount tickets also? Haven't heard as we never use them, just get the AP.

We no longer get the AAA as we have any assistance that we need through our insurance - never ever used the AAA for assistance as long as we had it.

I bought one DS and I PAP via AAA. Other DS bought his AP in Dec at AAA with discount, I just pulled up my account and I can still get discounted APs and tickets. Savings on AP is $25 and PAP is $36 plus tax difference. I can get just about any other AP/Seasonal pass plus regular tickets.

I have found the hotel discounts I get basically match the non-refundable advance payment rates, but I can cancel. We have 4 of us on it and I can save enough to pay our fee and still save plenty more.

 

[peg110]

We went thru AAA for our first trip. Membership cost $50 and for our trip we got free parking and $30 Disney Dollars from AAA. Didn't save any money per se but got an annual membership for $20.

Parking can cost you more than $20 as I recall particularly if you go more than 1 day (unless of course you stay on property) so it could have been more of a bargain than you thought.

I get the Plus Membership because my mechanic is more than 3 miles from where I live. I have had to use the towing a couple of times over the years and my DW definitely makes use of the touring books. We have the for all over the place. Lots for Florida and now we hare going to Dollywood in July so she has tons of Tennessee books too.

 

[usd2bmd]

When I was pregnant with my first child I locked the keys in the car on 4 separate occasions-think the AAA guys knew me by voice alone...(and DH did get me one of those magnetic key thingys for a spare key, but I use that to unlock car, put key in cup holder and forget about it...pregnancy brain!)

I was meeting my sister halfway with my daughter. She was spending two weeks with her over the summer. We arrived before she did so I took the keys out of the ignition and put them in the cup holder. When my sister got there I got out and naturally hit the lock button as I closed the door. We were at Subway restaurant in Whitney Point, New York and when I called they kept insisting I give them an address for where I was. I didn't know it and neither did anyone that was there. They just kept telling me to tell them it was across the street from the high school. they finally out me through to the local dispatcher and he instantly knew where I was when I told him. My daughter still reminds me of that to this day and it was about 12 years ago.

 

[usnuzuloose]

It has been worth it for us. We have used it many times.