Anyone use AAA?

[ellie&mattys mom]

Just curious to know...I have their book and it gives a perks like unlimited mugs everyone in the family gets one...and a few others.....

thanks!

 

[TiggerzFan]

We used AAA for our first cruise and also for our upcoming Sept. cruise. We had a good experience but it always depends on the particular agent you're working with. From what I've read on the board, the soda mugs are no longer needed but they're offering an additional stateroom credit in their place. Happy Cruising!

 

[tkd lisa]

We used AAA for our first Disney cruise. The price was not any cheaper than directly with DCL, but we got the mugs and a $100 credit.

Down side (for us) of using AAA.

1) Our particular agent wasn't knowledgable about DCL. All her info came from the printed materials available to any travel agent. I learned a lot more from these boards.
2) AAA required that we pick up our docs directly from them. Our local AAA office is 2 hours away. They refused to fed ex them to our house. Their reasoning was so that they could answer any questions we had. Refer to point 1), to see why this made no sense.
3) DCL wouldn't talk to us directly about any questions on the ressie. All questions had to go through the agent. I think this is true of most travel agent booked cruises though.

AAA didn't do anything specifically wrong, but mostly because of problem 2) above, I wouldn't use them again. If our office was in the immediate area, and the discount was good, I'd do it though.

 

[AladdinsPrincess]

I agree with the post above. We also booked through AAA and found them to not be very knowledgable about our specific DCL questions. In addition, our agent went on vacation the week before our cruise and forgot to send us our tickets! She was pretty much useless. Next time, we will likely book through DCL - they're the experts!

 

[ADisneygirl]

We used AAA to book both of the cruises we have taken. We liked that we got the soda mug program from them. Now that Disney is giving the soda away, AAA offers a stateroom credit, the amount depending on what category you have booked. I personally liked AAA; our agent was friendly and she had signs around her desk stating she was a Disney Cruiseline "expert". She certainly knew more about them than I did the first time.


tkd lisa~
Also, we live only a few miles from the AAA office, but she had our docs mailed to us. She never said we had to pick them up in person. No problems.

I guess, like with everything, successful travel planning all depends on the person you are dealing with. I have had some CM's who answer at WDW seem to know nothing as well. We just politely say goodbye, and call back. Chances are high you won't get the same CM. If I didn't think the AAA TA knew what he/she was doing than I would book the trip myself through Disney.
I guess we lucked out with our AAA agent!


Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

 

[Rock'n Robin]

My dad booked us through AAA since we have 3 rooms with 11 people. The downside for me is that we leave in 2 weeks and we don't have our docs yet! Supposedly they were mailed Monday, where the heck are they?
Robin M.

 

[ellie&mattys mom]

thanks our AAA office is really close....

and I am having a hard time finding agents that take the Disney Credit Card besides Dreams Unlimited and Disney themselves...

 

[appink]

I booked our upcoming cruise through AAA and got a great agent. I booked over a year ago and have asked her many questions and received great service.

 

[cjsmom97]

I have booked all my trips through my AAA TA and let me just say... she is WONDERFUL!!!! She has helped me sooo much. Their office just got the award for having booked the most Disney trips in the entire Chicagoland region (a pretty high honor). As for paperwork, she has been great about it. If you were to ask most of the people booked through her, they couldn't even tell you where she was located. We call, tell her what we want, she books it, puts the deposit on our cc and mails us the slip, we mail it back, DONE! She has spent countless hours on the phone for our group in November. Since she isn't in the office 6 days a week, if I need something while she is off, I just call her at home or leave or a voicemail and she takes care of it from home. She has been very thorough in making sure we understand possible issues that may arise from over-booking our reservations to not having enough hotel rooms for the night before our cruise. If anyone wants her info.. PM me. Kim is worth her weight in gold!! And, I realize that isn't how a lot of people feel about their travel agent. The TA has to be willing to develop a relationship with you to see what your needs are, not to just book something for the commission. Just my 2 cents!

 

[Hannosmom]

I second that cjsmom97. Kim has been fabulous to work with. She is definately a 5 star TA!

 

[Ratt45]

DW and I have booked through AAA both of the previous 2 cruises and have once again for the upcoming cruise. We have been extremely pleased with our agent there. I guess she must be an oddity from I have read on here. I guess other AAA agents stress the other lines more. That's wrong and unfortunate.

I say that once you find a travel agent you, stick with them.

 

[kcashner]

I find that I know more about Disney and DCL than the local AAA agents do! In addition, any special they offer can be matched or beat by my favorite agent. Actually, since I know what I want, I book thru DCL now, and then transfer to a discount agent. It gives me the best of both worlds.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Just to note we got our docs today--they were mailed out from DCL to the Cincinnati AAA office Monday, then yesterday Cincinnati mailed them up to Toledo where they arrived this morning.
I booked our cruise last year totally on my own--but my dad likes to have a TA he can go see in person.
Robin M.

 

[gottaluvdis]

Originally posted by ellie&mattys mom
thanks our AAA office is really close....

and I am having a hard time finding agents that take the Disney Credit Card besides Dreams Unlimited and Disney themselves...

I find it odd that agents won't take the Disney Visa card - it's a Visa just like any other Visa and should be accepted just about anywhere. I got my Visa after I paid for my cruise, but I just assumed it would be accepted anywhere.

I also belong to AAA but to be honest, I've never used them for their travel agency because I've always found better prices elsewhere. I'll use AAA discounts to book things like hotel rooms myself, however. I used Travelocity for our cruise because they had the best rates at the time and a stateroom credit of $50 on the 3-night cruise.

 

[ellie&mattys mom]

With the Regular Credit Card I am having a hard time finding Travel Agents that will take it besides Disney themselves...

It is the non Visa...that is only good at the stores and WDW

 

[GrayFal]

Originally posted by Hannosmom
I second that cjsmom97. Kim has been fabulous to work with. She is definately a 5 star TA!

Ditto!