<p>I have only owned a AAA subscription once- a couple years ago. I let it lapse and ignored all the renewal letters. A week ago a guy called asking about my renewal and I gave in and purchased another year. In addition, I put my son on it.</p>
<p>Today son calls from the beach- he locked his wallet, phone, and keys in the car. Had to get a lockpopper from AAA to come open his car. What kismet. I am so glad that guy called me!!!</p>
<p>You can renew AAA from your cell and get immediate reinstatement. We let ours lapse and renewed it from the side of the Florida Turnpike when we had a flat tire.</p>
<p>Longstanding tradition in our family: When kid gets driver’s license, kid gets a membership in AAA. Mine says member for 34 years! Wouldn’t do without it!</p>
<p>If you do much interstate driving, make sure to get the AAA plus. It doesn’t cost that much more, and you can be towed 100 miles for free.</p>
<p>The only complaint I have about AAA is that sometimes it takes them a very long time to respond. 7 hours once when my daughter had an accident on the weekend and needed one of those 100 mile tows. </p>
<p>But to make it up to her, AAA ended up towing her all the way home, over 300 miles, and only charging her for two tows. They’re not obligated to do this, policy is one tow per incident, and they have all kind of disclaimers saying that towing is based on availability and it’s not their fault if they can’t respond quickly or even at all. But a supervisor OK’d them bending the rules; still not sure why, D. handled the whole thing with them.</p>
<p>We also are long time members of AAA. Another worthwhile benefit is their travel books and maps, which are free to members. I have found that the books are often more useful than the expensive ones sold in bookstores, and the hotel rates for AAA members are often discounted.</p>
<p>I joined AAA a few years ago when we were going on a massive road trip and were going to a slew of attractions. Just the discounted ticket prices for our family paid for the annual subscription.</p>
<p>I always do ask for the AAA price at hotels, when I haven’t booked in advance. It’s usually pretty good.</p>
<p>I’ve been a AAA member for a few years, but only recently discovered that not only do they come to jump start a dead battery, but they will replace it, on the spot, for free.</p>
<p>Too bad I didn’t realize this when D’s car battery died in the garage after months of sitting (she’s abroad). H tried to jump start it, didn’t work, so went to buy a new one.</p>
<p>I’m sure this perk is clearly spelled out somewhere. But I’m guessing there may be others, besides me, who may have missed it.</p>
<p>I also use their maps/books…I order them online and always get them relativel quickly. The membership is well worth the piece of mind.</p>
<p>If you drive an older car, is part of what I do for peace of mind. At times I just about make the price of membership worthwhile with maps and guidebooks. </p>
<p>The towing is contracted out to various local providers, and response time depends on how busy they are, and towing services in your local area. Has been 15 minutes at times, has been far longer when the car won’t start, is below zero, and they are flooded with calls.</p>
<p>AAA recently saved me; I swear by them. A note to Curiouser, though…The battery replacement only works in certain areas. Commerce, Georgia isn’t one of them, I unfortunately found out :(. The guy on the phone said that it’s mostly in metropolitan areas at this point, but a good perk, nonetheless, that they have recently added.</p>
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<p>Well, installation is free, anyway. My son recently had a dead battery and AAA came out, tested it, determined that he needed a new one and sold him a new one with a 3 year guarantee and installed it on the spot. It really was a lifesaver because he had no way of getting the car to the shop to buy a new one. The cost was a little higher than it would have been if he had bought it at Sears or a local shop, but the convenience factor was worth it.</p>
<p>AAA’s auto liability insurance is a good value too, if you’re a safe driver. (If you like to get the tickets and accidents though, better stick with who you have now, AAA will probably be a lot more).</p>
<p>They were also one of the few insurance companies here that would give us a break on our insurance because D and her car were 350 miles apart during the school year for her last two years of high school. Everyone else wanted $100 a month to insure the two of them for liability only, even though she was only driving 2 days a month, 9 months a year. AAA, I think was $35 a month.</p>
<p>patsmom,
D went out to start her car yesterday in front of our house, but it wouldn’t start. I called AAA and they came out, tested the battery (it was over 4 years old!) and replaced it. I had to pay for the battery, but I didn’t have to leave home. Very convenient and fast. I have both S and D as well as myself and H on the subscription. We rarely have to use it, but it gives me peace of mind.</p>
<p>I have a battery story (pre-AAA) and I would really like someone to explain the science behind this:</p>
<p>Son’s battery died in school parking lot and he had a friend take him to Walmart, he bought a new battery, and installed it. Put old battery in trunk with book bag (you know where this is going) and came home.</p>
<p>Never told us (don’t know why, just forgot about it). Just let life go on for a week, and I was looking for something in the trunk and discovered the old battery. It hadn’t damaged the trunk, the carpet, nothing. We removed it, disposed it, all was well.</p>
<p>However, the books that he had put in the trunk with the battery started crumbling along the edges. Very insidiously, they disintegrated over the course of the school year. They weren’t “wet” or anything. Even months later, they continued crumbling. We had to replace all his textbooks by the early spring. I still can’t figure out how the battery being in the trunk would start a disintegration process on nearby books, yet leave the carpeting untouched.</p>
<p>We’ve gotten good use out of our AAA membership, using it for their camping, hotel, and tourist info, as well as TripTiks, and the occasional tow. What was really embarrassing was the time I had to call to have my car towed twice in one day. The first time older son was pulling forward to back into the driveway. The car died and continued rolling forward into the ditch across the street. AAA came out and pulled it out (while the neighbors chuckled, no doubt). Then younger son borrowed it to drive to his music lesson. It died on the freeway and had to be towed back home. I was just happy that a different tow truck came the second time. Soon after that we donated that car to charity!</p>
<p>DP, assuming that the damage was done by sulfuric acid gas or droplets being emitted through the tiny vents, it makes sense for paper to be damaged, because sulfuric acid is reactive with organic compounds. Most carpet is made from synthetic fibers; they might react differently. </p>
<p>As an aside, batteries release hydrogen gas while charging. We found this out years ago when ex-S walked into the shed to check on the battery that was on the charger and flicked his lighter over the battery instead of turning on the light switch.</p>
<p>Other benefits of AAA -
They offer a prepaid visa/debit card that is terrific for kids traveling abroad (or anywhere that you can use an ATM machine). They are available to non-members as well, but there is an additional charge to purchase one. They can be reloaded 3 times and work just like a debit card but if lost you aren’t risking your own account. They will even get money to you right away if lost. </p>
<p>Another benefit: A 30% discount at Lenscrafters!</p>
<p>one of the best benefits of AAA is not having to go to the DMV to change or renew registrations on cars, dealing with plates, etc. Any was to avoid the DMV in southern california is worth every penny</p>