Why hasn't a AAA travel agent called yet? (A Rant)

[KCMiller]

I called to get a quote (to compare to the travel agent package that my children's school marching band boosters group is going with). The AAA travel agent who I spoke to was rude, dismissive, and had inaccurate information (I asked about booking a stay that lasted until January 2 of next year, and she said that they weren't booking that far out). I asked her to send me a quote, and she sent a very curt note with a price. No details, no indication of which resort, what the quote included . . . the worst customer service I've ever gotten.

Maybe it would be different if I physically went into the agency, but I'm loathe to do it after that . . .


KC

 

[Marthasor]

Just an update ... AAA never did call! I did get a few PM's from some AAA agents that are Dis members offering to help me out. What terrible service! I want to cancel the membership now.

I understand your frustration, but don't give up yet!!! Think about what you want in your Disney vacation. If it's just rooms or rooms and tickets, you can go directly through Disney or a Disney specialist TA like Dreams Unlimited or Small World and STILL get the AAA room discount!!!!

It's when you want the dining plan that it gets tricky - if you want dining AND the AAA discount, you have to go through AAA.

Just a note - with AAA you ONLY get discounts on rooms. When you turn your trip into a package (tix and dining) you are still ONLY gettting a discount on the rooms and are paying full price for the tix and the dining!!! So don't let the package thing fool you!!! Usually when a special offer comes out (like recently with the free ticket upgrade) you can apply that to an existing AAA ressie, so you still have to watch the boards and then call your TA when the offer comes out. Trust me, if your AAA TA isn't a Disney specialist, they will probably know nothing about the offer and you may have to nag them to get them to see if they can apply it - not fun.

Yes, AAA travel can be frustrating. We used AAA for our trip last Dec. and while our TA was far from a Disney specialist, she was patient with me while I explained all of the intricacies of room categories, etc. that I learned on this board and at the end of the day, we got everything we wanted including our room requests.

If you do not want the dining plan, my advice would be to book your room through Disney CRO and ask for the AAA discount which they will give you if it is available for the room you want and the time period requested. Then, subscribe to the mousesavers.com newsletter. They always seem to have wonderful discounts on Disney tickets through the newsletter!!

Quite honestly, I will never use AAA for travel planning again. I will keep my membership for car stuff (it has definitely come in handy for that) and to get my room-only discounts at Disney. Getting a Disney package and going through them to make all of my requests just isn't worth it!!!

 

[DeterminedOne]

The only reason we joined AAA is for the discount. We already have the Premium package booked through WDTC but booking through AAA would save us nearly $400. (Based on a quote from a AAA agent on this site.) We haven't purchased airfare yet, so we can certainly use the extra $$.