AAA membership- worth it for discounts??

[hmhs]

I'm seeing lots of discounts on Orlando rooms & theme parks for AAA members. Is this something I should be thinking about? We do travel with our 5 yr old and really like to do theme parks.

For those of you that have it.... is it worth the money for getting discounts? I'm sure it's also great for auto, but that would not be my primary motivation for getting it.

What do you think?

 

[dougsmom98]

I think if you travel a lot, it might be worth the cost of the membership, but my experience has been that Internet specials are usually as good or better than AAA. We have it primarily for roadside assistance. The Orlando Magic Card is free and often gives lots of discounts. Here is a link to that page http://www.orlandoinfo.com/magicard/listings.cfm?searchCategory=accommodations

AAA does have discount tickets to the parks, but we have found that discounts through Undercover Tourist offered through the Mousesavers Newsletter link is a better deal. The prices through the link appear to be the same as many other sites, but they include taxes and shipping which most other sites don't show you until the end. To sign up for the newsletter go to www.mousesavers.com. The newsletter only comes out on the 15th of each month so you don't end up with a lot of junk in your email and it also has discounts on lodging.

Other Internet sites like travelzoo.com have incredible deals that are hard to beat. If you need help finding a discount or a good price on a hotel, you can ask and people on these boards might know how to get a good price.

 

[katallo]

I think if you travel a lot, it might be worth the cost of the membership, but my experience has been that Internet specials are usually as good or better than AAA. We have it primarily for roadside assistance. The Orlando Magic Card is free and often gives lots of discounts. Here is a link to that page http://www.orlandoinfo.com/magicard/listings.cfm?searchCategory=accommodations

AAA does have discount tickets to the parks, but we have found that discounts through Undercover Tourist offered through the Mousesavers Newsletter link is a better deal. The prices through the link appear to be the same as many other sites, but they include taxes and shipping which most other sites don't show you until the end. To sign up for the newsletter go to www.mousesavers.com. The newsletter only comes out on the 15th of each month so you don't end up with a lot of junk in your email and it also has discounts on lodging.

Other Internet sites like travelzoo.com have incredible deals that are hard to beat. If you need help finding a discount or a good price on a hotel, you can ask and people on these boards might know how to get a good price.

Totally agree. After three years with AAA, we discontinued. Travel bargains were not that great.

 

[mncherokee]

We are AAA members and have been for years. Last summer when we drove from MN to WDW with a large group, we found that the best rates were AAA rates (for both hotels and airfare). Also, AAA provides maps, triptiks (routings with road construction), travel books all free for members. AAA also has many other partnerships for discounts beyond travel.

 

[dyna]

WE have had AAA for years but it would not be worth it for the discounts many times we find a better deal even out of the hotel books found at rest stops an get a room at last minute.

A lot of it depends on how much time you want to spend looking for discounts too. If you travel a lot an only want to use AAA discounts then maybe but you'd have to travel an aweful lot for that to pay off.

 

[TamaraQT]

Our first year visiting WDW we bought our tickets thru AAA. We did the park hopper, water park and more. At that time, we knew nothing about this site, mousesavers or undercovertourist. We did get a deal equal to undercovertourist I found out a month or so later. Also, last year we got our Universal studios 7day ticket for $79 from AAA. Most other sites were selling them for $89 and $99. Anyway, the year we bought WDW tickets it rained cats and dogs for 3 of the 7 days. I left all my trip tix and other orlando stuff at home. I called AAA and there was an office only 10 or 15 minutes from where we were staying. I rode over there and picked up discounts for movies, mini-golf, and all kinds of discounts. The best part was the trip tixs to get us from point A to point B with all the tourist stuff in between. It was a lifesaver for a rainy vacation. If it wasnt for them, we would have been driving around aimlessly looking for directions and discounts. Sure there are plenty of magazines, brochures and stuff laying around everywhere. But when I called AAA, they condensed it all and I didn't have to go looking for anything. They made trip tix for directions to and from the resort. It was great and it didnt cost me anything. Worth the $50 membership to me. Due to having a timeshare, we will be going to the Orlando area every year for a couple of years. I intend to visit my local office before I go in July.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

I have them for the roadside assistance. However, the discounts do pay for the dues.

 

[eugeniuss]

the money I have saved on having them unlock my car when I lock the keys in have payed for the membership several times over....

 

[denisegold]

I have to chime in- my AAA has paid for itself many time over.

I live in Mass, so sometimes the discounts can vary state to state.

We get our car insurance through AAA (Commerce Insurance) and that gets us an extra 8% (it goes up with the # of years you have AAA, but starts at 5%- and if you live in Mass, you know we need every penny we can get back for car insurance) If we insure our home through them, (along with the car) we get 20% off the home insurance. But that may just be Mass- not sure.

When we get to Clearwater, (next week) I am going right to their AAA office, and purchasing our Universal tickets- by purchasing them in Florida, we will get an annual pass for $95 each (it may be $99- I'm not sure off the top of my head), and that is good for anybody- not "just residents of Florida".

There are many local 10% discounts, as well- you just have to take a few minutes to scour your local AAA website, and them remember to show your card at the right time/place. Anytime I go to any museum or travel attraction, I always ask if they have a AAA discount- it's not always obvious. So I save a couple bucks here, a few bucks there- but it adds up and more than pays for the membership dues. Plus you also get the AAA car service, of course (which I have actually never had to use). But nice to know it's there if I need it.

 

[denisegold]

opps- i forgot- 10% off most food and gift shops at universal with AAA card.