AAA of Southern New England: Discounts, Services and More
Basics
AAA membership is a good deal. A person can join for a year for $48 plus an $11 start-up fee. Additional members of the family (over sixteen) can be added for $24 a person. (There’s also a program for kids 15 years, 9 Months and older. Not sure what a kid needs with a AAA membership, but it’s there.)
AAA of Southern New England serves Rhode Island and Massachusetts. It has branches in 20 Massachusetts towns including Boston, Plymouth, Pittsfield, Saugus, Somerset, Worcester. There are offices in nine Rhode Island towns including Greenville and Warwick, and the AAA Southern New England Headquarters in Providence.
Roadside Service
AAA’s most famous function is of course providing roadside assistance to members in need. If your car breaks down, battery dies, you’re on the highway, you can call AAA for help. Other services include opening your car (locksmith fees up to $50 covered) and bringing you fuel if you run out (you pay for the fuel.).
AAA will also tow your car to the nearest AAA garage or to the garage of the company they’re using to respond to the call. If you want to go to another garage, the first three miles of the drive are free, then a charge sets in.
AAA members of over three years standing get five road service calls free of charge. If your name isn’t on the membership card, you can’t technically use the service, which is why it’s a good thing, I guess, to get all family drivers on the membership. A bonus plan is available upping the number of calls and coverage the member is eligible for.
Travel Help & Discounts
AAA Of Southern New England, like all AAA, offers a lot of travel help by way of tour books and trip-tiks. The tour books include detailed information on hotels, attractions and restaurants in a particular region (New England, Mid-Atlantic, etc.). A ranking system is used to help you gauge a place’s quality and price. Trip-Tiks are detailed “mile by mile” road maps which help you get from your starting point to your specific final destination.
AAA of Southern New England also offers travel agency assistance, help getting an international driver’s permit if you’re traveling overseas. Overseas tour books and maps are also available (for a “nominal” fee.).
AAA also offers travel discounts and special tours through its Member Choice Vacations. General discounts are offered to hotel chains like Days Inn, Best Western, Double Tree In and Hilton and plenty of others all over the country. Car rental companies like Hertz also offer discounts for AAA members. AAA membership also provides benefits to out-of-state destinations like Disney Resorts, Six Flags, and The Grand Canyon.
Shopping And Others Services
AAA offers discounts at very large variety of national chain stores like Target, LensCrafter, Payless Shoes, and OfficeMax.com, to name just a few, plus restaurants like Hard Rock Caf�©. Members should definitely checkout the website before a shopping expedition, because there are lots of discounts to be found in the 5-10% range.
Also, AAA offers discounts on phone plans from Cingular Wireless and internet discounts from Earthlink.
Local Offers
Locally, Southern New England members can your AAA membership to get discounts from local travel transportation companies like Boston Coach which offers 5-10% of chauffeurs and motor coach services for travelers. You can also get 10% of limo service from Worcester Limousines.
Other local businesses offering AAA discounts include car-related retailers like Cape & Island Tire (limited time offer: 5% off tires; located in Falmouth, Orleans, East Wareham and Dennis, MA) and Hogan Tire & Auto Service in Lowell, Natick, Beverly, Westwood, Waltham, and Natick (5% off all parts and labor up to $50).
Families can enjoy $1 off discounts to the New England Zoos (Franklin Park Zoo and Stone Zoo) or the Roger Williams Zoo outside of Providence, RI ($5 off select memberships). Or even Southwick’s Zoo (Mendon, MA, $2 off admission). If you’re more into a different type of nature behind glass, you can check out the Harvard Natural History Museum for $1 off admission. Or, continuing with the museum theme, check out The Samuel Whithorn Museum ($3 off tour of federalist period home in Newport, RI), the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI for $2 off admission or the Salem Witch Museum in Salem, MA (.50 off adult admission). More history as well as open seas fun can be found in Boston’s Seaport District on the Spirit of Boston cruise ($5 discount).
Other discounts include having winter fun: free and discounted passports to skiing at Mt. Wachusett and special gift cards offering discounts there. There are other activity offers, too, like discounts to Boston Celtics games, Boston Cannons games (that’s lacrosse…) and Trinity Rep theater tickets in Providence.
AAA Of Southern New England gives its members VIP coupons to the popular Wrentham Premium outlets where they can shop at stores offering discounts at places like The Gap and Timberland Outlet while getting discounts of up to 20% at other stores there like Reebok, Rockport, and Samsonite.
Restaurants in Southern New England offering AAA benefits include D’Angelos sub shops and Papa Gino’s Pizza.
Check out all AAA of Southern New England has to offer by visiting their website: www.aaa.com for all the details.
