CAA card in Florida

[Tiger926]

My DH and I just returned and noticed a problem with using our CAA card. The first problem we noticed is that some people do not know that CAA is the same as AAA. They kind of gave us blank stares, but once we explained that is was the Canadian version of AAA, they were fine. Secondly, many places that advertise AAA discounts such as Sea World or local restaurants do not in fact honour the card. The only restaurant at Sea World that we found that honoured our card was Bimini Bay, which was fine with us because we really enjoy this restaurant. On a positive note, most places in Universal/IOA/CityWalk honour the card and this really adds up to be good savings. We saved money on food, clothes, etc... in the park, as well as at the Hard Rock Hotel.

My question is: has anyone else had a problem with using their card? I think that this is more of a AAA issue because places had it advertised that they honour the card, but as soon as you ask for the discount, they say that they have changed their policy. Just curious if anyone else has had problems with it. It seems that less and less places are actually honouring the CAA/AAA cards anymore.
Tiger

 

[PoohBWV]

Just wanted to say welcome back. We have personally not encountered any problems with using our CAA card in Florida, but we have never used it at Sea World. Hope your trip was excellent.

 

[Tiger926]

We did have an excellent trip. I also forgot to mention - we stayed at the Marriott Village which advertises great benefits to AAA members. What a joke! Most of the staff was not even aware of AAA, and so we didn't even bother with it when we purchased stuff at the hotel because it was a major inconvenience. Also at check-out, we were informed that we should have been upgraded for being AAA members, but she also told us that she didn't know of any other benefits to AAA members. We then showed her the computer printout that we pulled off of their website promoting AAA benefits such as the upgrade, discounts, etc... and she said that she thought that this had ended. More CAA/AAA confusion. I am going to email CAA tomorrow to see what they think. I'm interested to see if anyone else has had any issues with using their card.
Tiger

 

[katypop]

glad to hear you had a good trip despite the caa card problem. i've been wondering for a while now, the AAA discounts at wdw resorts, do you know if they are available with a CAA card as well and if cro would know they are the same?

thanks
katypop

 

[CindyAnn]

Katypop - I've had no trouble using my CAA card for AAA discounts through CRO. I've also been able to use my CAA card exactly as if it were an AAA card in some other states.

Tiger926 - So, it sounds like most of your problems were with honouring a AAA discount in the first place, rather than recognizing CAA and AAA as being one and the same? Is that right? I have to admit that we've encountered hotels and attractions here in Ontario which didn't honour advertised discounts (at least advertised in the current CAA books) too.

 

[Tiger926]

This is a good question. When you first show your card sometimes people look at it funny, but then you just explain that it's the Canadian version of AAA. But, I actually have a question for you - I didn't realize that Disney honoured AAA/CAA at their resorts. I thought that the only benefit was with the passes. Are their other discounts (restaurants, shops, etc...) available for AAA/CAA? We have never been told of any discounts for Disney at CAA. Sorry I couldn't answer your question and instead I posed another one!
Tiger

 

[Tiger926]

You are right CindyAnn. I am sorry if that didn't come across in my post. The problem was in actually honouring the discount period. It had nothing to do with honouring a Canadian card. I am going to email CAA in the next few days as I am interested to know why there is so much confusion surrounding the discount program. In regards to the Marriott, they were just plain confused about the program and didn't even seem to know that their hotel was honouring the discount, despite advertisements on their website. I have emailed Marriott and am waiting to hear back from them, so I'll post an update when I get a response.
Tiger

 

[CindyAnn]

When I made reservations a few years ago through CRO I had both a Magic Kingdom Club Card (now Disney Club) and a CAA card. When I inquired about discounts on rooms for a January trip (about 1 month prior to departure), the MKC rooms were all gone. However, they did have AAA/CAA rooms left, and we were able to get 3 rooms at CBR for 20% (I think) off the standard rate. At that time the MKC discount and AAA/CAA discount were for the same amount. The rate varies depending upon the season and the grade of hotel (value, moderate, or deluxe). You can't use that discount through AAA/CAA itself - it has to be via CRO. To my knowledge there aren't any on-site restaurants at WDW which honour the AAA/CAA card - I only wish!

Tiger926 - I think it's great you're planning on following up with CAA and the Marriott. I also have an Entertainment Club card, and it's wonderful for getting discounts on a variety of restaurants in Toronto. It also makes you eligible to receive 50% off the rack rate at the Swan and Dolphin in WDW, though I haven't tried to use it for that so far. However, like CAA, participating Entertainment Club attractions/hotels/restaurants can also change at a moment's notice.

 

[katypop]

thanks for the great info CindyAnn. that's the answer i was hoping for. i better get calling to see if i can get the discount rate, i have already booked!


katypop inkbounc

 

[katypop]

i do love these boards! i called cro and they did in fact have aaa rates for the days we had booked at csr, we've saved $25.00 a night which is really close to 40.00 by the time we exchange our money. we could not get the discount for pop century our first 5 days there but we were offered the aaa rate at the all three other all-stars at a savings of 15.00 a night if we wanted to switch resorts. we decided not to though. the cro agent asked for my aaa number and i said it was actually caa and he said no problem! i didn't need to explain, he knew!


katypop

 

[CindyAnn]

Katypop - I'm so pleased for you! Every little bit helps with our poor limping dollar. Now, if you read Jo-Anne's thread, you might even be tempted to think about buying an annual pass for one member in your family. People sometimes get amazing (45%) room discounts with an annual pass and it's only about $65 US more than a 7 day hopper plus pass. Maybe the combination of good airfare prices through Southwest and an annual pass in hand would mean my family would actually get to go twice in 12 months. Sounds great to me!

 

[katypop]

thanks for the advice CindyAnn, i do intend to watch and listen for ap discounts as we get a little closer, i imagine it will be a while yet before they are anounced for april. there are three of us going so i am hopeful for buy one get one half price 7-day hoppers to be offered again as well. we went to wdw for the first time in may 2000 but the deal was only on until april30 so we couldn't use it. this time we're arriving april 21 when the resort prices begin with
regular season and hope the same deal on hoppers comes out so we can use it.


katypop