Disappointed in AAA

[sz9144]

Boy, I am disappointed in AAA. They actually quoted me MORE than disney for a CSR package- and the girl knew nothing about the january disney month special.

so I just went ahead and booked with disney directly.

I was a little freaked out by disney tho- they seemed to have my whole life history in their little computer- a little too "orwellian" for my comfort!

 

[Buzz2001]

Have a great trip! Check out my CSR website below for pics and info.

 

[GQ's Ghost]

A word about call centers.

The majority of call centers are "farmed out" to either over sea's opperations or in country opperations.

There are 4-6 main "customer contact" programs in use for everything from cable TV, to hotels, and insurance.

The person you speak to about a disney promotion could have just gotten off the phone speaking with someone selling them HBO for their cable service.

most opperators keep people on 1 program, but it can happen.

And these people usually could care less about what they are taking calls for and know nothing beyond what is printed on the cheat sheet infront of them or in their on line script.

Be patient, you will almost always know more then they do. If you want expect phone support, costs go up.

So companies have a catch 22....offer cheap services and cut down on costly phone support / slaes....or offer better support / sales and raise prices.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

I'm waiting for a quote from AAA as we speak. It sure seems to be taking a long time for a simple quote.

 

[sz9144]

actually- I called our local AAA directly, not a call center.

Buzz- you are the main reason I decided on CSR- your website and enthusiasm are addictive!

 

[LukenDC]

AAA travel agents seem to be hit or miss. I recommend using a Disney specialist agency (i.e. Dreams Unlimited, Magical Vacations, Small World) since they will continuously monitor your reservations and apply any discounts or codes. The Disney specialists can also reserve rooms at AAA discounted rates.

If you still want to use AAA, then you should do a search on this board for recommendations of specific agents. You can use any AAA travel agent, not just the ones in your area.

 

[sharonmickey]

I have not had good luck with any of the four AAA offices that I have tried. I've found it cheaper (and less frustrating) to call Disney directly then ask for the AAA discount. In fact I usually make the arrangements for friends too.

Good luck. I hope you have a fun trip.

 

[BarleyJack]

I agree with the above. Granted this is our first time planning a trip, I have found our AAA agent to be less than friendly and not all that well informed. The nicer we are to her (about questions, changes, etc) the "shorter" her emails become, it almost seems as tho we are bothering her. I would love to tell her something along the lines of, "Why are you so rude in your emails? Are you having a bad day? This is our dream vacation and your attitude is ruining it for us". I'm afraid that if I spoke up, we could arrive at our resort without actual ressies or our ADRs. Oh well. Next time we'll do it ourselves or go with an agency that specializes in Disney.

 

[DanenRox]

Oh...will the Disney people factor in a AAA discount? If memory serves (and most often it doesn't) Disney directed me to call AAA directly the last time I asked them about AAA rates? Am I using the wrong lingo. I'd prefer to book through Disney if I can but I don't want to give up the savings.

 

[Mr. Pig]

Disney can give a AAA discount directly for room only but a package must be made directly through AAA.

I agree with PP. AAA can vary a lot from office to office. Ours is not too bad - of course we know more than she does but that is not unusual. We have now done several reservations through AAA and received good (not great) discounts. Since I get a discount on my AAA membership through the company I work for it is worth the price.

 

[kjetjl]

I was a little freaked out by disney tho- they seemed to have my whole life history in their little computer- a little too "orwellian" for my comfort!

I hear you.

 

[DanenRox]

So may I tap into the knowledge base here...re: "January is Disney Month" promoted by AAA. Will the discounts quoted this month be any less than the rates I was given last month? I almost called AAA when I received my newsletter today to ask them to refigure my impending fall trip...should I?

 

[Chris]

I called a AAA agent today and got a quote of nearly 1000.00 LESS then the Disney quote.

 

[Joshua_me]

We've had the best results actually physically going into a AAA office.

Often times, if the first person you encounter doesn't seem to know the best discounts available, someone else in the office will... Like most any computer frame, there's 10 diiferent ways to get to the 'main one', and helps to be persistent.

Then again, we live in FL full time. Most of our discounts come from being residents...so I'm sure that has something to do with it...

 

[sharonmickey]

Another comment on booking with AAA as opposed to booking directly through Disney. I booked my room directly through Disney (as did a friend and his wife). We are both able to call Disney to verify reservations and that we are connected to each other's reservations. Another friend booked her room through AAA. When she called Disney to check that we are all connected Disney informed her that they cannot give her any information on her reservation - her AAA travel agent has to check for her. Very frustrating for her.

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

We booked through AAA... The woman we spoke to on the phone (at the office) was very nice. When we went in, she was on vacation, so we had to deal with someone else. This person was not getting our commision, so she was rude, didn't want to deal with us, and even told us to come back in a few days. It was myself, DH, MIL, FIL, and my parents - no way we were all going to get back there again at the same time! She told us the reason she wanted us to come back was because Jan is Disney month... you get a lousy $25 per room.... We find out today that we don't even qualify because of the time of year were going! Then she told us that we could get something else (can't remember what its called) because we have so many people, but it costs - found out today that thats not true either.
So I've come to the conclusing that you have to try different people and just see who works best with you, and actually knows what there talking about!

 

[Kitka]

This is another reason we cancelled our AAA reservation and booked directly with Disney. I had another AAA rep that would not look into the January special. I was surprised their "Disney specialist" would be so uninformed.

 

[hoosiergirl7]

I'm using every option available for our trip in April. We are military too so I checked into Shades of Green for our trip however they were booked the days we were going to be there so then they look at rooms at other resorts at a discounted rate. We've done this once before when they were undergoing remodeling in 2002. I did talk to a AAA agent today who knows about the January is Disney month deal and I'm waiting for her to get back to me.

I've also looked into Expedia, Travelocity & Orbitz as well as keeping my options open with Disney directly.

I want the best bang for my buck so we'll see what AAA comes back with and Shades of Green too. I have a feeling though that Shades of Green might give us the best deal - they did before.

 

[magchavez]

I just received a quote from AAA and it was $300 more than what I could get on the Disney website myself.

The AAA agent told me that January is Disney month which means if you book a Disney package in the month of January and travel between March 1, 2008 and May 31, 2008, you receive a $25 gift card voucher, redeemable at DisneyWorld. Doesn't seem like that big a deal to me.

Maggie

 

[huggiebear23]

My mom is a AAA Travel agent and I know that she is very good, but if you guys are having trouble getting good service, call back and ask for someone else.

Also one note. My mom is well informed with Disney but not as much as me ( thanks to DIS). I would not expect her to know all that info considering she is a general travel agent and is not a specific Disney expert. She books my rooms and get me the AAA discount and I take care of all the dining etc.

Good Luck!!!