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When I turned 16 and started driving, my mom signed me up as a member on her AAA membership . All I knew at the time was that if I locked my keys in my car (again!) a AAA member would come and get them out for me. But over the years, I’ve learned that there’s a whole lot more than this service to AAA. In addition to roadside assistance, AAA provides other car and insurance services, financial services and a whole plethora of travel services.

It’s their travel services that I’ve learned to love over the years. I’ve used AAA for just about every travel service that they offer including:

•Hotel Discounts. Every single time that I stay in a hotel, I show them my AAA card and ask for the discount. There almost always is one.
•Hotel Upgrades. With the discounted rate that I get from the AAA membership, I sometimes indulge in a little luxury and upgrade to a suite or a better hotel.
•Car Rental. The discount also applies when showing my AAA membership at car rental places. More importantly, I’ve gotten some great advice on car rental companies and the right insurance to get by asking a representative from AAA.
•Booking flights. AAA helps you to find flights and get them at a lower rate. It’s even better than using a major online flight retailer and just as easy.
•Travel planning. I don’t ever really use travel agents but there was one trip that I went on that was deeply involved and required planning. AAA has trip planning services. Who knew?! They also have vacation information on a number of different destinations so if you don’t know what you want to do on your trip, they can help. They’re national park tours are reportedly quite popular although I haven’t been on one myself.

The one service that I haven’t used AAA for yet that I want to is their cruise service. I know that they can help you find and book a cruise at the discounted AAA rate. And since I live in a city that’s got a port, I should really be taking advantage of that! I’m sure they also have other travel and discount services that I don’t know about yet even though I’ve had my AAA membership for years. And even though it’s been years since I locked my keys in my car, it’s still nice to know that if it happens while I’m traveling, AAA will come out and perform the roadside assistance that I loved them for when I was a teenager!