For road trippers, travelers and users of automobiles, AAA membership is an essential resource. I’ve been a member of AAA, the American Automobile Association, for about 15 years now, and I’ve experienced a lot of benefits from the membership, in addition to travel discounts.
For road trippers, travelers and users of automobiles, AAA membership is an essential resource. I’ve been a member of AAA, the American Automobile Association, for more than 15 years now, and I’ve experienced a lot of benefits from the membership, in addition to travel discounts.
Some benefits available to AAA members include travel information and guides, discounts on hotels and restaurants, towing, car service, insurance, and discounts on travel gear.
Specifically, I’ve used my membership for travel information and gear, discounts on hotels, towing, and car care.
I wanted to share this resource that I’ve used for my road trips and automobile service so it can help you during this time.
Travel Discounts, Information, and Gear
One of the notable things about AAA membership is that hotels and tourist attractions give discounts to AAA members. The discounts depend on the hotel, but you’ll need to make sure you enter in your information before booking. Sometimes, you have to book your reservation directly with the hotel to receive the AAA discount.
Growing up, my parents would get travel guides all the time from AAA, including hotels, restaurants, and places to see. These premium guides provide a lot of information to assist with your travel needs.
There are discounts on travel experiences and gear from AAA. For example, my suitcase came from AAA at a discount. Here it is below.
Towing and Roadside Assistance
It depends on the plan you have, but AAA provides free towing as part of membership. I’m under the plan that has 100 miles of towing for free to your place of destination, whether an auto repair shop or your residence.
I’ve used this several times, including right before my first road trip of Tripping Thru the USA when I got into an accident. The towing people were super helpful and I’m very happy to have this service with AAA.
I’ve also used roadside assistance to have a service person jump-start my car.
Car Care
This is the most recent thing I got done. I needed a tune up after going on a round trip cross-country trip. Usually I would go to a local mechanic, but I decided to go to AAA, and things checked out.
I got new tires, had my car run through a series of checks, and had a splash cover re-attached to my car.
Things overall went smoothly, and I had a place to sit with water readily available to me. The service associate, Rodney, was responsive to my needs, and double-checked a specific request I had for my car.
Summing Up
AAA has a lot of benefits that you should take advantage of as a traveler and driver.
- Travel discounts, information, and gear
- Towing and roadside assistance
- Insurance
- Car Care
- Much much more!
AAA comes in three different membership levels: Classic, Plus, and Premier. Here are the prices for each membership level for the Mid-Atlantic region:
- Classic–$90 per year
- Plus–$138.50 per year
- Premier–$171 per year
I have the plus membership, and it has been totally worth it.