AAA Vacation...

[Gathrn]

Ok, a word of caution from a lurker here... (Yes, I mean me...) AAA is a great way of booking vacations and wonderfull family trips, (There, hopefully they won't revoke my membership...) but use caution when booking Disney through AAA.
I say this because after reading about some of the discounts and savings here on the boards I called AAA again and the conversation went something like this:

AAA: How may I help you?
Me: Yes, I would like to find out how much I saved going with AAA.
AAA: Umm... Ahhh... Yes, well.... You see.... We ran out of the AAA rate and you are booked at the regular rate (read $$$)...
Me: (Insert picture of me hitting floor here, or roof... At that point they look the same.) WHAT??? I thought by booking through AAA meant I would get the AAA rate...
AAA: I am sorry Sir, but there are no AAA rates avalible, and as you already put a deposit down...
Me: If I dont save money by going through you then what good is booking through AAA?
AAA: Well, you get to park in the Special AAA section!
Me: Ummm... Im flying in and not renting a car... :brick:
AAA: Well, umm... You get a neat Luggage tag...

Needless to say I had to talk to the manager and it took a few days, and some pixy dust but i was able to get the AAA rate.
(Yes, I am now off the roof and headed to AKL in Jan... )

So in conclusion to this long post: Be sure to check the facts and figures yourself in any package to make sure the numbers are correct... Because not all surprises are nice!

Note: The trip before this one to Disneyland AAA was wonderfull... (No, this is not a shameless disclaimer to try to keep my membership card.)

 

[tigsmom]

We have used AAANY twice now for our trips and have not had any trouble. No matter who you are dealing with always ask for rates and the % of the discount. This past Aug we booked our trip with AAA then the Fairy Tale plan came out...it was better than AAA. We contacted them (they had not heard of it yet). They got on the phone with Disney- a 3 way conversation- and changed our plans to reflect my Disney Club discount; they still took care of our hotel reservations on the drive down/back. They could not have been more helpful.

Maybe you just caught them on a bad day. :wave:

 

[beast]

I checked out AAA for trip packages to WDW back in 1997 and
in 2002 and found them to be expensive. If you have the time
to book everything yourself, you'll save money.

 

[lamarvenoy]

AAA SUCKS! Yeah I said it.I'll say it again, AAA SUCKS! I've been a member since 1987,I still continue my membership but now only use it for car trouble. When I bought annual passes there a few years ago it saved me about $30, somewhere between the AAA office and the Magic Kingdom 2 days later I lost the tickets. I had a receipt WITH SERIAL NUMBERS on the receipt and AAA refused to help me get new tickets. Disney said once the tickets are sold to AAA they have no more liability and if those tickets were purchased at a Disney store or on property they would with a receipt replace them. Yeah, its my fault I lost the tickets-but screw AAA for not standing behind me.It was not printed anywhere on the receipt about lost tickets not being replaced...it is now after my ordeal. The ironic thing is on the bottom of the receipt it had quoted on it,something cheesey about AAA travel services, Let us make your vacation a dream come true, or something like that. Tow trucks YES- Travel NO

 

[pepsistar]

Ohhhhh I too had a problem with AAA for Disney Res.'s I booked through AAA. I was told if I had to cancel change my res. It had to be done in the 5 days before. Well, I had a problem at work and could not go. Tried to call them and cancel but!! they were not there-- I tried to call but it was Friday after 5 when I finally got through, and then it was the weekend! ( NOT open!! )

When I called Disney res. they told me they could not change anything because the res. was made by AAA. Monday AM after much complaining and many talks with different people at AAA they finally relented and credited my credit card. ( thanks to a clever Disney agent! she found a way to somehow make a comment on the res. for me or they would not have believed me ) I will never book a room for WDW again through them.

I just returned from my last trip and had to get the AAA discount as the FL resident rates were gone. While talking to the Disney res agent I asked about the discount for AAA and how it worked. She said AAA calls them and makes the res. after you make it with them?? It is better to do it yourself!! ( sometimes it does not go through??? ) That way Disney can make any changes. You get the same discount!!!! You just have to give them your AAA account #.

I have not had to use AAA for other res's in years-- As my vacation's have been to WDW!! :lol: these days-- So maybe those would turn out better! ??? Mainly I just keep it for the road service. Maybe attraction tickets? Although they do not do WDW renewals anymore

 

[SpongeScott]

A luggage tag? Luggage tag? Please tell me that they really didn't say that. I too am an AAA member and I've not really been impressed with the service that I have received--adequate at best. And it's true you can save more by booking everything yourself as opposed to letting AAA do it for you.

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Travel agents can also book you a room with the AAA discount. I hve done this many times for my clients. I will book the room and get the tickets separately to save them more money.

Pam

 

[lamarvenoy]

Everyone should read my story BEFORE buying tickets at AAA!Sometimes the few bucks you save can bite you right on the butt.Besides, resort discounts through AAA aren't as good as most other discounts like Floridian,passholder etc.

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

I don't purchase tickets through AAA. I also get my clients the passholder discounts or any others that are available at the time.

Pam

 

[johnvree]

Originally posted by lamarvenoy
Everyone should read my story BEFORE buying tickets at AAA!Sometimes the few bucks you save can bite you right on the butt.Besides, resort discounts through AAA aren't as good as most other discounts like Floridian,passholder etc.

Exactly . . . I started with AAA when booking my trip for next May. They were very vague as to exactly what I was saving. The person I was speaking with also seemed unclear as to how I changed my reservations or as to whether I could cancel it in the event that Disney packages opened up. Bottom line, I decided I'd rather deal with Disney than AAA.

I'm also dissatisfied with the towing service. AAA is great if your car breaks down in front of a tow truck that participates in AAA. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy your breakdown for a couple of hours. AAA works a lot like HMOs. Participating towing services agree to certain reimbursement rates from AAA. Those rates tend to be lower than they typically charge their regular (non-AAA) customers. The end result: You are low on their priority list. They also know you're not going to call someone else (since you have AAA). So away you sit.

 

[wolf359]

AAA hit or miss..

I've booked two trips to Disney World and one trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg through AAA.

The AAA end of things on the Busch Gardens trip was fine, though I was surprised the AAA rate is often no better than what you can get calling yourself. I filed that in my head for later, even though it bit me in the butt when I tried to benefit from it.

The first Disney World trip was in February for my honeymoon. We had started planning that trip back in April of 2002.

Over the course of 10 months of planning we were helped by a couple AAA agents and several Disney CRO people.

Sadly, some of the AAA people know a whole lot less about WDW than I'd have expected, especially since they really pride themselves as being a WDW partner. I had to do a lot of walking through what to do to get our reservations right, but the bottom line is we got what we wanted.
I was also shocked by how rude *several* of the CRO's were on the phone when we were getting our reservations made. At one point our agent point blank asked to talk to someone else because the CRO was being so rude.

My second trip is coming up next month, just a quick and dirty weekend trip to Epcot and MK to see M:S and Mickey's Philharmagic.

This time I emailed my requests to the main AAA Carolinas website, stated clearly what I wanted, room and ticket-wise, and got everything I wanted at a great rate, and had the tix fed-ex'd to me very quickly.

However, in my attempts to "do it myself" I've learned that calling WDW direct is a REALLY hit or miss too. The best advice I can give is if you don't get what you want from one CRO, just say "thank you anyway" and keep calling back until you get the "magic" CRO. And pray they speak the same language you do.

 

[Gathrn]

LOL, Well I hate to say it but after reading some of the posts here, I feel better about my AAA Experience. (What do they say? Misery loves company???) :hammer:
Whatever the case I am sure my January Dieneyworld trip will be great! I will try to post a review of it at that time because I already know of a few things going through AAA did not do right just by talking to the AKL...
Anyway, the moral of this thread... Do your homework and make sure you are saving some $$$.