AAA-Worth it?

[ktkerber]

Thinking about AAA, is a membership worth it? How do you get the best/lowest price for membership? I am mainly interested in travel discounts not so much roadside assistance.

TIA!

 

[kymom99]

Funny, my coworker and I were just talking about this. It seems to keep getting more expensive every year, like everything else I suppose. I keep it for the roadside assistance, because I tend to need it a couple times a year. I also use it for hotel discounts, but there are other sources that can get you similar discounts.

 

[Lavaluma]

We think it's worth the price. We mostly keep it for the roadside option. We pay extra for the plus and have used it several times to have a vehicle towed to the garage. 1 tow costs more than a years' membership. The travel savings are a just a bonus. We've saved up to $10/night on a hotel, but AAA is not always the cheapest option and the AAA discount rooms are not always available.

 

[Monykalyn]

Agree with the discounts not really a big bargain usually-however with 3 drivers in the family (one a teen) the roadside assistance is invaluable to us. My husband had to have a vehicle towed after it broke down last year -and like a PP said-that alone was worth it. I have used it a couple times for flat tires when I am by myself (as my DH said-we are paying for the service-use it). With a kid off to college in a year we plan on keeping the higher service just so we have some peace of mind if her (older) vehicle has trouble at least it can be towed to a service center.

 

[capegirl]

It is getting expensive, but roadside assistance is also very expensive especially if your vehicle needs to be towed. That said, even one service call could make the AAA membership worth it. We recently got a great discount on a van rental through Hertz, and because DD also has AAA we did not have to pay extra for her to be added as an additional driver. We also got some good discounts at Hilton hotels. So yes, totally worth the cost of membership.

 

[MichiganKris]

There is usually some sort of discount code available to take a couple bucks off the membership, you just need to search for it. When I got the membership earlier this year it was cheapest to sign up on line. I think it was $42 a year, but I went with the basic membership since I didn't need the roadside assistance this year and only wanted it for the discount. My daughter was on a travel volleyball team so we had lots of hotel rooms to pay for early this year and it more than paid for the membership, but you do need to make sure that the AAA room price is the lowest available, sometimes there are other discounts that are more.

 

[kymom99]

Many insurance policies include roadside assistance. Mine does. However, it isn't as handy because with AAA you just call the number on the card and they send someone to you. I can get reimbursed from my insurance for a tow, but I would need to call someone myself, and that could be a big problem for many reasons. So having AAA provides a fair amount of peace of mind in my case.

 

[JanaDee]

It is worth it for us.

 

[pryncess527]

It has not been worth it for me. I dropped it a few years ago and have not missed it. I can almost always find the same discount, or better, without AAA. And my car insurance offers me free roadside assistance (and provide dispatching service making it just as easy as AAAs)

 

[Judique]

There is usually some sort of discount code available to take a couple bucks off the membership, you just need to search for it. When I got the membership earlier this year it was cheapest to sign up on line. I think it was $42 a year, but I went with the basic membership since I didn't need the roadside assistance this year and only wanted it for the discount. My daughter was on a travel volleyball team so we had lots of hotel rooms to pay for early this year and it more than paid for the membership, but you do need to make sure that the AAA room price is the lowest available, sometimes there are other discounts that are more.

Sometimes there are other discounts that are better by maybe $5. In a case like this for a nights stay I like to use the AAA rate even if it is a bit more because it is almost always a refundable rate, while many cheaper rates can be nonrefundable.

Also, I thought the cheapest AAA service provides a minimum tow? I always keep the cheapest AAA, and have used the towing several times. The first 3-4 miles were free, than I had to pay the balance usually at $4 or $5 per mile which is way cheaper than the $150-$175 you will pay just to get tow guy to come if you don't have AAA.

Just used AAA in Florida in February when I picked up a nail in a tire - came in about 30 minutes - told me where to find Good Year for the tire repair, and had the tire changed quickly.

 

[peg110]

I have AAA Plus. I get it because I can get discounts on WDW Tickets. Typically I can save over $100 or more on my tickets (for Sea World too) over top of what I can get at other places. (I have looked too).

I usually get my AAA in time to get my WDW Tickets. Plus we usually drive from NE PA so it's a good thing to have. Then I let the membership expire. They end up calling me to try and get me to renew. Eventually they will offer me 18 months of AAA at 3/4 the price of normal membership, so I take it (again, as it's getting closer to the "NEXT" trip). If I am not ready now for the trip, I just tell them, it's a bad time financially, call back in X months, weeks or days... And they do.

Road side is nice if you use it. DW loves the books and maps, and of course there is always the Notary Services. If I have to transfer a plate on vehicles or something, it's always cheaper as an AAA Member.

Of course your mileage will vary, but it's good for me. I just need to remember to tell them at the restaurant that I have it to get my 5% off.

 

[powellrj]

We used to have AAA, but they closed the office in our town, plus the price kept going up that it was just cheaper to have AARP and use the towing our insurance offers.

 

[Narnia_girl]

It's worth it to us, too. We have a teen son who attends college 600 miles away.
Besides the roadside, we have used it for discounts on Amtrak tickets, Earl of Sandwich food, hotels and food at Universal Studios.
I've also used them for trip planning--they send you maps and travel guides for your journey.

 

[HopperFan]

Had it many years for myself, DH, DD and DS. We added kids when they went to college so we knew if they got stuck they could call for help.

I get my money back each year just on hotel discounts that I book, then add my DH travel for business where he uses the AAA discount, we drive paid off cars so have had occasion to use the road service even though we have insurance. We can actually double-dip because AAA tows have a mileage limit and our mechanic is beyond that - so we use AAA then we get reimbursed the difference from insurance co. Both have a tow limit per year. Once we died on drive home from Disney in middle of no where. They had a truck to us in 15 minutes and he towed/carried us to repair shop - couple hours later we were on our way. Another time died in parking lot in Ocala and in 30 minutes a truck arrived, installed new battery and it cost us no more than had we gone to the shop on our own and had it done.

We have gotten our Disney APs from AAA for a discount. We got awesome rates at Discovery Cove many times - they even book it for us when we buy through them. At Universal we used to get discounts for food. In Orlando and at home we get Coupon Books at the Premium outlets to save a few bucks.

I wish I were more diligent because they have lots of everyday kinds of discounts I should be using like restaurants. We have a new AAA Travel shop / Automotive repair right by us and I can go pick up brochures, travel BOOKS and they even create travel maps for your specific trip. I think you can get all that online too.

 

[Narnia_girl]

I wish I were more diligent because they have lots of everyday kinds of discounts I should be using like restaurants.

Me too! I always use it when traveling but forget to even check the restaurants and other deals within my hometown.

 

[Barnabe]

It's great for roadside assistance: dead batteries, flat tires. The travel book and maps are really nice. I order them online and they're mailed to our house. I used the AAA discount at the Dolphin to save 20% off on food and cocktails. I've also had my free passport photos taken there. Yes, it's worth it.

 

[kathy884]

Without it, getting roadside assistance is kind of a pain. Last time without it I searched the internet and called three places before I found someone who would come out, and I had to wait 45 minutes. With it, just two weeks ago, I called the one number, got a text message saying they were on their and a very helpful person and truck was their in 15 minutes. I got it just because of my son. We've also been able to use the discounts on various things here and there, nothing substantial, but close in saving to membership. // I think I'd drop it, except I have a 19 year old driver and would like things to be super easy for him if he ever has a problem.

 

[limace]

Are there still significant Disney ticket discounts with AAA?

 

[usd2bmd]

We have it for the roadside assistance. My daughter lives at home while she attends college so that gives us the piece of mind knowing that someone can get to her if she has trouble. I have used it when I locked my keys in the car in the middle of nowhere.
So to us it is definitely worth it.

 

[Monykalyn]

We have it for the roadside assistance. My daughter lives at home while she attends college so that gives us the piece of mind knowing that someone can get to her if she has trouble. I have used it when I locked my keys in the car in the middle of nowhere.
So to us it is definitely worth it.

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!)