Anybody here a member of AAA? I've been receiving tons of mail from them with some decent offers to join - the last one being $18 off the admission fee so the total cost of a year's membership is $49 (versus $67).

So, any input on whether your AAA membership has been worth it to you? What benefits did you get from it? Ever had to use any of the emergency services?

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We have been members of AAA for the last 4+ years. Me+wifey save about $1-2K each year mostly on discounts on products and travel. Every two years we go to one upscale resort in MI, the rate we get via AAA saves us about a grand each stay.
Also, if you go to certain outlet malls and shopping centers, you get discount books that further saves you money.

So yes, it is worth it. Just remember to have it with you


Oh, and I had to use they tow service before. They were able to get to me faster than what OEM service could.

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'07 Porsche Cayman S: de-snorked... more mods to come. '05 Dodge Magnum RT: catback, high-flow cats, custom intake, projector headlights, SC FlashPaq... and on and on.
Blog: Follow me on Twitter

If you only care about the Porsche, you got Porsche roadservice. In fact, car companies have, at times, subcontracted with AAA to provide road services.

If you have other cars, it all depends. Got a dead battery? they come give you a jump. Run out of gas? They come give you a gallon or two. Get a flat, they come out and chang it provided you have a spare. No spare, they will tow you to a AAA garage. Get the more expensive service, they tow you up to 100 miles or so?

Yes, I used it getting a flat outside of Searchlight Nevada. They came out of Kingman and it took 4 hours. Without it, I would have been stranded.

Their triptik used to be great. Now with GPS, well not needed. Their tourbooks are STILL great. Rate all the hotels on the road. Very cool Used them many times

It all depends upon if you use their services. Tour books well worth it.

Thing is, I already get most of the roadside assistance benefits that AAA offers from my auto insurance company - breakdowns/towing, battery, tire, lockout, etc.

I do like AAA's travel agency services as well as the fact that most AAA offices have a satellite DMV office that can take care of most license/registration needs.

Who knows. It's only $49, maybe I'll try it out for a year.

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I've had it for years. The DMV services are great if you buy and sell vehicles a lot. They have been by my side for a couple hundred motorcycles. I insure 7 cars with them also. My Cayman S runs about $950 for example. Go for it.

When I lived in the Bay Area the AAA discount at Skypark at SFO more than coved the cost of the AAA membership and that was just one thing.

Plus even with Mapquest I still pick-up a dozen or so maps & travel guides during the year. For me it makes sense to have it.

I would say that if you have key discount opportunities it may be worth it to have the AAA membership too. Also, I don't know how your insurance company's coverage works. But, AAA goes with the member now, not just their car. So, if you are with a friend that has a breakdown, you can still call AAA based on your membership.

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'07 CS Speed Yellow

Is that $950 for a year, or for 6 months? If it's for a year, that's a very good premium.

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I should have mentioned that too. My insurance through AAA on the Cayman runs about $700/year (second car).

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'07 CS Speed Yellow

I like AAA. Things I have used them for:

• Tour books and maps (you can order them online and have them mailed)
• Hotel discounts
• Merchant discounts (easy to forget)
• Passport & visa photos
• DMV service (in my opinion not having to deal with DMV almost makes this worth it alone)
• On-line trip tik and trip planning

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2007 Cayman S, Arctic Silver
Gone but not forgotten: 1980 911SC
PCA San Diego Region

I've been a AAA member for more than 38 years, and even though I have roadside assistance on the Porsche under warranty - for the cars that are out of roadside assistance, it's great. I also have AAA plus for the 100 mile towing thing - and once, a couple of years ago when i had the turbo the Porsche roadside assistance took forever to come, so I called AAA, they were the in 20 minutes and I called and canceled the Porsche RA call. The maps, tour books (if you like to take road trips) and the discounts more than pay for the membership. I have my 3 cars, homeowners and high value items insured by them, too and they're great.

brad

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22-year PCA Member
PCA DE Instructor

I save far more than the membership cost on hotel discounts so it's been a no brainer for me for the past ... er, several decades.

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Dan

OK, you all have convinced me. I'll send in the membership application and dues. I figure, it's only $4/month for all of these benefits; can't go wrong with that.

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If I can present a different slant... One other thing to consider concerning the AAA is that it claims to represent the driving public, even though it's primary money maker these days is insurance. I am not up to date with it's current politics, but in the past it has lobbied against raising the 55mph limit, for example. I just checked the AAA foundation web site, and it looks like they are pushing for .04 BAC limits these days. If you are considering joining them, you might want to check into their stand on such issues and see if you agree with them.

Thanks for the heads-up. The issues you present certainly warrant some thought, but for me I'm pretty much OK with them. I honestly don't have much of an opinion on speed limits, and I'm all for lowering the BAC limit.

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Asked my wife and apparently she thinks we save more per year than I think, due to AAA. Hey, my job is to make money, she is to make sure it all lasts and O don't spend it all on more "weekend cars"

I love those regional books you get from AAA. They should have it all online. What a waste of trees.

Re. .04 BAC, well, considering I won't drive a car even after I had one beer (and I ain't no small dude), I HATE people who get DUIs... more power to them. Maybe there is a reason Germans have Autobahn and we don't. They won't even use cup holder

Want to have pro-car-enthusiast legislation, join SEMA network.

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'07 Porsche Cayman S: de-snorked... more mods to come. '05 Dodge Magnum RT: catback, high-flow cats, custom intake, projector headlights, SC FlashPaq... and on and on.
Blog: Follow me on Twitter

My wife introduced me to AAA when we started dating and we've had it ever since. We're gold memebers, which includes free towing up to 100 miles. Where we live we've used it a couple of times and its really paid for itself. I've had similar experience with OEMs road service and AAA has always been faster. What I've done twice is use AAA to tow the car to my house, then have the OEM road service tow the car to a dealership. Plus, with the discounts, trip services, and maps all make membership worth it to me.

That is not entirely true in all cases. It was the Northern California Club, CSAA that worked with the California Highway Patrol on recommending rational speed limits on the urban Bay Area Freeways. This lead to increasing the speed limits on most freeways to 65 mph. I don't know if the Automobile Club of Southern California was involved too. Certainly these changes were reflected in the southland as well.

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'07 CS Speed Yellow