Are you a member of AAA (American Automobile Association)?
They provide benefits such as roadside assistance, towing service, flat-tire service, battery service, and more for a registered driver. But did you know that AAA provides tons of great discounts as well?
We’ve had AAA now for years. I had heard that AAA offered discounts and every now and then I’d check the site out. Not sure why but I kept forgetting about their discounts. Well no more! I’ve been checking their discount page often recently. Every time we plan to take the family to an attraction I’ll check the AAA discount page (this brings you to the NY page) first to see what discounts they offer. Recently we’ve saved on Bronx Zoo and Intrepid tickets and we’re looking into Sesame Place discounts too!
Here are some of the discounts AAA offers:
Shopping
- Barnes & Noble
- Dell
- Target.com
- KMart
- Carfax reports
- Online Defensive Driver Course
- Hotel Deals
Entertainment
- Movie Tickets
- Six Flags Amusement Parks
- Sesame Place
- Busch Gardens
- Dorney Park
- TicketMaster
NY Attractions
- NY Aquarium
- Guggenheim Museum
- Circle Line Tours
- US Open
- Ripley’s Believe It Or Not
You also get access to AAA Tourbooks both printed and online. When we went to Disney World and Virginia Beach we asked for tour books so we can see what attractions were in the areas.
There’s also an iPhone App to help you find AAA discounts!
And check out the AAA Discounts Twitter profile too.
So if you have a AAA membership make sure you also take advantage of their great discounts and offers. If you’ve been considering becoming a member then perhaps the discounts will help sweeten the deal!
We’ve been considering AAA for quite some time, but we’ve never gone ahead and signed up. But we may now. We’ve never really factored in the discounts.
.-= Miranda´s last blog ..Saturday Staples: Personal Finance Reading =-.
The discounts are definitely worth checking out. Don’t let it be a factor though unless you plan to use the discounts.
The service really does pay for itself with all the benefits available. Don’t forget about the free maps. They are great if you are doing any big road trips.
Yes, the maps are nice too! I remember as a kid seeing the maps with the roads all highlighted when I would go on road trips.
I agree with you completely.
But besides the roadside assistance, towing, battery charging, and discounts, in m opinion, one of the greatest benefits of AAA is when it comes time to find a good mechanic.
AAA has been a godsend with their AAA approved repair shops. I have never had a problem when I’ve taken my car to get repaired at one of these garages.
In addition, if you are not happy with the repair AAA will investigate and the garage is bound to accept the AAA’s final decision on how the complaint should be resolved.
You, however, are not bound by the AAA decision and can still take the shop to court if necessary.
This just provides a little extra comfort in my opinion.
That’s great to hear about the mechanics. It’s always tough knowing who to trust out there.
We were members of AAA a few years ago until we switched to auto insurance that duplicated the roadside assistance coverage. At that time we cancelled.
We don’t have AAA now, but if we’re ever going on a trip or need a AAA discount, we just go to my in-laws and use their membership to get those things. When we went on a mediterranean cruise last year we got a bunch of maps through their membership. Definitely helpful.
You definitely don’t need duplicate coverage and odds are AAA isn’t worth it only for the discounts (unless you really use them all!).
Sounds like you found a way to maximize your in-laws membership!
We just booked our honeymoon to Jamaica with them. You don’t even have to be a member to use their travel agent services. We were not members at the time but we received a free membership for booking the trip with them.
The travel agent was great as she had been to many of the places we were looking at. Having a travel agent with experience really paid off for us. Otherwise, we probably would have went to a place that wasn’t as good. She talked us out of going to Puerto Rico because of some experiences she has had. Going in, that was a first choice. All in all, it was the cheapest price too.
.-= Adam´s last blog ..5 Motivational Tips to Start Saving Today =-.
I’ll have to check out their travel services next time we plan a trip!
We went to PR some years ago and had a great time. Jamaica as well. Have fun (and congrats).
I love those Trip-Tick maps that you can just flip through as you go, those are awesome. BTW AAA won’t come pull your tractor out of a mud bog behind your house in case you were wondering something about it not actually being an automobile. Still a great service though for my wife who likes to lock her keys in the car about once a month.
.-= Paul @ FiscalGeek´s last blog ..Calculate the True Cost of Debt =-.
Hmmm, I might have to re-think that tractor purchase….
My husband has AAA because he is on the road A LOT for work. Otherwise we wouldn’t have it, though — and I’m still not sure if it is worth it. As with many various insurance-type plans, the company makes plenty of money because it knows that most people won’t get their money’s worth. It’s one thing with health insurance where a health problem can force you into bankruptcy, but another if you can afford to get towed because you have an emergency fund (which we have now). Because of this, we may drop AAA soon unless we can get his work to pay for it.
Sure, there are a lot of discounts, but how many would you actually remember to use?! Heck, how many would you even use if you remembered? We haven’t used them. There are usually just as good discounts elsewhere and we don’t need any temptation to buy more stuff. Barnes & Noble? No thanks. Amazon is usually cheaper and the library is cheapest of all.
Free maps? Sorry, but they’re available at most visitor’s centers — along with discount coupons. And let’s not forget Google or the fact that more and more people have GPS anyhow (even my phone has it).
If you spend a lot of time traveling and vacation a lot where these discounts help (and can’t find them elsewhere, and use them), then maybe it’s worth it. I can’t say that it’s not a deal for someone. But for us? It’s just one more bill that’s not a necessity.
.-= Meg from FruWiki´s last blog ..FruWiki talk:Copyright information =-.
I’m not saying you should join just for the discounts. But if you are already a member or you are considering it then the discounts are a great added bonus. Every person has to figure out their needs though.
My wife and I have been members for years and until this post I never realized the other benefits that come with it!! I always thought of it as roadside assistance and nothing more. Thanks for sharing!!
JT@RedeemingRiches
Thanks for the post!
These discounts aren’t that great. You have to go to an AAA office to pick up the movie tickets and Most other discounts can be had by using your Master, Visa or Amex Card wisely.
Wow! I work for AAA and just want to say thanks for this great post and for all the kind comments. I’m so glad you find the membership useful in many different areas of your lives. If you want to search the discounts online you can visit http://www.AAA.com/discounts and search by type or geographic area (or just browse around and see what’s available). The iPhone app is available at the iTunes store as well, and it’s free. Thanks again!
My wife and I switched our auto insurance to AAA this year and saved over $400 (roughly $1200 a year for 2 cars, now $800 a year), so the membership has already paid for itself.
I’ve also been using it for the flowers that I send. 1-800 Flowers has a 10% discount with AAA. I was going to be buying the flowers anyway, now I just save 10%.