anyone use AAA travel ?

[markm0926]

just curious if anyone has used them, received a good deal etc.. They say they have some great deals if you book in the month on January.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[TreeOfLife]

AAA is great for the auto service. When it comes to their travel agents, it is a Russian roulette.

Our first trip was a package booked through them. They put us in the Holiday Inn and did not tell us that for a few bucks more, we'd be in a value resort enjoying better accomodations and TRANSPORTATION!

They showed me the pictures of a big resort then landed us in the old "Nicky Bird" motel. I *never* would have stayed in a motel with small kids!

They said the hotel provided transportation to the parks but failed to tell us how: On a schedule hours apart, riding in school buses providing no safety adaptations for standees and steaming in Orlando's heat. Oh, I forgot that the buses drop you off in Siberia, the walk to the entrance alone takes you almost 20 - 30 minutes.

They do not give you original tickets but vouchers. The aggravation is that you might as well not even get them because you have to stand in the lines just like anyone else buying tickets to swap the vouchers.

I believe they book through Kingdom Tours. I sent a big complaint when I returned and never booked through them again.

If you want to consider them, ask, ask, and ask! You may get a good agent but AAA's don't always fit that description. You might as well book on your own, save more and have things done at your convenience.

 

[Trekker]

My experience with AAA travels is that they tend to sell you packages that they have been told by Disnsy to sell. Most of thier agents IMO have never even been to Disney. And do not understand all the ins and outs of really getting the best deal.

If you are considering using a travel agent to book your vacation - I recommend Dreams Unlimited Travel . The folks working there are Disney nuts just like you and me. They only book Disney vacations and are very good at what they do. They can and will get you the best deal available and are wizards at helping get some of those elusive hard to get PSs.

Give em a try - they are good.....

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

I'm going to echo what has already been said.

DH and I booked our honeymoon in 1996 through AAA. They were only open one night a week and the place was packed. It took forever just to see a travel agent. We did book a package and put a downpayment. As the time came closer to our wedding (and hence our honeymoon) I began wondering when the rest of our vacation payment was due. So I called and it was past due! No one had contacted us or given a date or anything.

And then BEFORE we were married (hence before our honeymoon in Disney) we got a Thank You card from AAA saying that they hoped we enjoyed our trip and would use them again!

I think not!

 

[cmcvean]

I also made our reservations through AAA. I thought I would be getting a better room rate, but I ended up telling them about the codes when they came out, etc. I almost didn't get the code rate because it came out over the weekend and my agent was not in. I talked to the CRO and they couldn't change the code on my reservation because the travel agent did it.

Next year I'm just going to make them myself. The lady was really nice, but it seemed (because of these boards) that I knew WAY more than she did about Disney!!!

 

[mom2girls29]

We booked a package through them for our first trip. Since I was a novice then it seemed like a good idea. I don't have a complaint with anything the agent did. We did one of the packages which included a character meal and photo with Mickey at Downtown Disney. They included air, hotel, and transfers. I later discovered these boards and learned that I could have done it by myself.

When we went last year I had asked the AAA agent to arrange the air. Her idea of arranging amounted to calling me and telling me what date the fares started booking for my trip and if I wanted a great fare, I could start calling after midnight. She did nothing and I didn't get great fares. But, I made up for it at CRO when, after calling several times to arrange for a week at the All Stars with 5day hopper passes bcause that is all I could afford, I spoke with a wonderful CM who played with her computer and got us in CBR for the week with length of stay passes LESS THAN what we had planned for the All Stars. There are wonderful CMs out there but they are hard to find. I also bagged the Mears shuttle and arranged for Tiffany Town Car. He met us at the baggage claim area, loaded our luggage, and stopped at a grocery store for us so we could have bottled h20 all week. That stop is part of the price. On their website I found a $5 off coupon for first time users. Deals are out there, if you look and are patient.

Mary

 

[markm0926]

Thanks for the replies! I just got a price from AAA, and doing the package myself figuring everything at "rack rate" I can do better on my own. Plus I get the fun of planning the whole trip myself.
Thanks again!!

 

[allyn]

i have never booked a wdw package through aaa, mostly cruises, airline tickets, and a vacation to canada. i had one good experience with aaa travel about 10 years on the trip to canada where i really felt they did an exceptional job. since then they have been average or below average. i will never use aaa travel after my last experience (trying to book a group cruise) where they were downright incompetent.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

I used to be a AAA travel agent in southern california!

AAA forms partnerships with tour operators, Disney, different transportation carriers etc and agents are told to sell those products. AAA travel agents, about 6 years ago when I left anyway, are NOT paid commission but a salary so a really good agent doesn't make near as much as she/he would on commission. Therefore they lose the really good agents, they can't keep 'em. This was a common complaint with our clients. AAA agents are graded, and their salary increases are given, on how they meet QUOTAS of those preferred products and how much commission income they bring in for AAA. So they will whip out the preferred vendor's AAA partner brochure and sell from it. Unless you ask I kinda doubt most of them will be out looking for the cheapest code or whatever. It's really not the poor agents fault but the way they are forced to go because of management's decisions. They don't have time and they've got to meet those quotas! Needless to say I came to hate it because I actually wanted to help people! So I left . . .

Last week I walked into our local AAA and asked for brochures from a couple of tour operators to Hawaii, both of whom I know a lot about. The one that is my favorite, I've travelled with them before myself and sold tons from them - I was told was not a tour operator that was "preferred" by AAA anymore. I asked why and she didn't know. Leads me to believe that the travel agency is still set up to sell the vendors that AAA has negotiated better commission structions with because I KNOW the one I like does a much classier job with comprable price to the consumer!

Anyway, yes AAA is great for road service, maps, trip tiks, even some travel products if you know what you want and it's one you have to go through an agency to book. They are also great for people who do not want to do the work themselves - you do get a discount - it just might not be as good as hunting down the codes and booking the components yourself. Also good for their discounts as sometimes that's all that may be available (no codes). But don't count on them searching out any codes for you - it's not the Disney product they are supposed to sell and it would cut the commission!

Can you tell I still need to vent about this !