American Automobile Assoc. (AAA)

[heyabbott]

Would you book your trip through them if you are a member?
I hope this is not an in appropraite question.

 

[safetymom]

I have done that. But you can also call Disney and use your AAA discount to book your reservation directly with them. I think that is the better way.

 

[Luv2Roam]

If I were traveling to WDW, and a member, I would check with them to see what special WDW packages they have for upcoming months.
January was AAA Disney month. And you never know what other special AAA packages are out there or coming up.

 

[LukenDC]

I am a AAA member, but I have not booked a trip using one of their travel agents. I have read accounts of people who have booked their Disney trip with a AAA agent and their experiences were hit or miss. Occasionally someone will post the name and contact information for a AAA agent who has proven especially helpful. Since you can use any AAA agent and are not limited to those in your geographic area, I suggest doing a search and reading some of the older threads on this topic.

I have used the AAA website to book hotel rooms and airfares. They sometimes have great deals.

 

[SB in KY]

If you want to just make a room only rreservation you can book directly through Disney and just give them your AAA number at booking...if you want to book a package (room + tickets + dining) then you must book through AAA if you want to get the discount on your room (10 - 20% off rack rates depending on the season). It is the only discount about right now for packages and although not great it still helps a little.

 

[George_T]

I booked through AAA here in east Tennessee. Got about 15% off of package for POFQ the last week of September. It's our family's first Disney trip, and I can't wait!

 

[psar]

AAA travel agents are not always disney specialists. For the first time this year we booked with them because of the MYW with dining. We are splitting our stay and were trying to find the best way to do this.(cheapest) I had already researched prices using APs, AAA room only, disney web sit ,etc. I was armed with price quotes. The agent I spoke with originally was full of misinformation, so I asked for someone who was disney savy. Ended up saving over $700 dollars finally, but only because I knew what to do! Depending on what you are looking for, you can get a decent price - just beware.

 

[disneybound05]

i booked my trip through AAA. i booked in July and we leave next week. i don't think i will use AAA again. as psar noted... they are not always disney experts. my agent couldn't answer a lot of my questions, she forgot to make PS for our dinners (i had to call last weekend and was lucky to get 8 of the 10 restaurants i wanted), and she forgot to apply our AAA discount when she reserved our room.

the final straw... a few days before final payment was due i told her to go ahead and charge the card originally used to make the reservations. a few days after final payment was due i called her to confirm that we were all set. i was told she was on vaca for 2 weeks. another agent had to pull my file and found that the payment was never made. it was now 4 days late. the agent told me i was lucky my reservations were not canceled by disney.

 

[disneybound05]

also wanted to mention... TammyMcMan recommended Dreams Unlimited. i will try them next time around.

 

[dawnrose]

we live in CA and have used AAA for several of our Disneyland trips as the perks and convienience have made it worth it for us. As for being Disney experts, they are not. However, we recieved 25 disney dollars for booking our trip in Jan. for WDW and it was slightly cheaper pkg thru AAA. I don't expect them to do any of the reservations or anything ....we do all that ourselves. 6 more weeks until we're there!

 

[misandrog]

I booked through AAA here in NH. We booked airfair separate, but did book hotel, transfers and tickets through them with their packages. So far, everything has been ok...even got the sea world tickets through them.

14 days left

 

[Maureenmouse]

I booked through AAA and got about a 15% discount on a MYW + dining package. When we picked up our info, we also got a preloaded Cannon Camera. I guess it was just a little perk.

 

[imatoad]

I'm fortunate, my AAA TA is a Disney expert, and takes care of everything for me, even my PS's, and she's saved me a bunch of money. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

 

[SGB13]

Which office is that? And would you pass along their name? I'm getting ready to book a package and was worried about which office to book thru.
Since you don't have to use your local one, I thought I would try any that had a Disney expert. (Besides, my "local" office is over 2 hours away!)
TIA

 

[MaryFMac]

We saved about 400 dollars booking through AAA for our July/August trip at AKL.

It never hurts to call a rep., asks specifically for someone who deals with Disney packages, and see if you get any deals.

 

[rarrington]

I found a GREAT Disney AAA agent - her name is Michelle and she is near the Charleston, SC area and her number is 1-800-643-5332. Someone on these boards referred her some months back and she has been VERY knowledgeable and helpful.

I found that my local Virginia agents wouldn't even return my calls. Last August I joined AAA for the purpose of a Disney discount and booked my room only ressie (CR tower) through Disney. When MYW packages came out I decided I really wanted the package deal because of the dining plan but Disney doesn't give AAA discount on packages - just room only. That's when I didn't have any luck with local agents - and I knew exactly what I wanted to book so it would have been easy for them. I went ahead and booked my package through Disney at full price. Then in March I heard about Michelle and took a chance and called and left her a message with the dates I needed and all of my information. Within the hour she called me back and then was immediately able to get me exactly what I needed. She answered my many questions (I wanted to be sure she knew her stuff) and she did! There was one question she was unsure of regarding the use of Disney Reward Dollars being applied toward the package payment and she called and got the answer of "yes they can do that" within 5 minutes. She offered to make any PS for me, but since I was less than 90 days out I had already taken care of all that. A week before payment in full was due she gave me a call, as well as called when she mailed my final packet of information with vouchers and such to be sure I got everything. I leave in 2 days but I feel very confident that she did a super job and I have the Itinerary from Disney with all of the correct information on it as well as my special requests for my room (she put them on there - of course it's up to Disney whether I get them).

Booking through AAA for our 7 night stay in CR tower saved us over $200 on the package (plus she got us 8 day passes rather than the 7 day that I was going to get with Disney. Little difference in price of tickets but she had the insight to get that extra day for me so we can check out the park on our arrival evening). Also - allowed us to get the MYW dining which by my estimate will be saving us $250. So well worth it to me!!!! Definitely get a quote and do the comparison.

Good luck!

 

[AJKMOM]

There have been several reports here about people not being able to check on their reservations (room requests, tickets, packages, etc) except through their travel agent. Any questions? Talk to your travel agent. Disney won't deal with you if you book through a TA, including AAA.

Before internet was popular and I knew what I was doing, I booked through AAA, and I still have worthless tickets to Discovery Island to prove it. They wouldn't let me get just park admission and airline tickets since we were staying off-site. I had to buy "something else". Another time, we ended up with Wide World of Sports admission tickets as part of a package. Still have them, too.

 

[trypnotic]

In 2003, my parents treated my brother and I with a trip to WDW via AAA. First, they insisted that we get the Ultimate Hopper Pass and as far as I understand, unless you plan on doing everything possible within WDW for each day of your trip, this isn't for you. This is back when I didn't know nearly as much about WDW so I went along with it.

This year, I attempted to get park tickets through them, again them insisting on the Ultimate Park Hopper and the rep told me there was nothing else that they offer (uh?). Also, we'll be there for 7 days and she also informed me they only have up to 5 days. Maybe this particular individual wasn't quite knowledgeable? Who knows but my experience with AAA helping us plan our vacations hasn't been all too favorable.

However! I did get a discount by simply having a AAA membership for our last night's stay at All-Star Music for this trip. 15% was it? I can't recall. I was able to make that reservation through WDW and just give the rep on the phone my card number and present it when I get there. Aside from that, we booked our flight through Travelocity, our hotel through Hotwire and purchased our hopper tickets through the Disney Store.