How do AAA discounts work?

[BriarRose]

I am not a current member with AAA, but am starting to wonder if i should join. We're splurging on the Poly portion of our trip and would love any discount I can get.

Do you have to reserve the room through AAA or do you get a code to give to Disney?

[KylesMom]

If you are booking a room only, you can book through Disney (we use MJ). However, if you're looking for packages, you need to go through a AAA office directly.

We've utilized the room-only discount at WL for the past two years, and would have for the third year except they finally released some A/P rates we could utilize.

AAA membership is something around $54 and is a great value. I joined for Disney room discounts, but have been fortunate to have them for roadside assistance! :mickey:

[BriarRose]

We do have a room only reservation. Do you get a code or do you just tell them you are a AAA member?

[WonderlandsMostWanted]

As I understand it, you just tell them you're a AAA member, but you must show your card to the front desk when you check in.

[WonderlandsMostWanted]

Ooh, also, you can get a AAA discount at other stuff out there, including some of the shops, and, we got a discount on booking our Keys to the Kingdom tour too. :cloud9: So far, our membership has saved us about $100 more than it cost us. :thumbsup:

[ibrowse17]

As we already have AP's, I use AAA for room only discounts. We book through MJ and they apply either the AP or AAA discount, which ever is best. I would strongly suggest using MJ rather than booking through AAA. AAA is a great service on it's own, but has really paid for it's self with Disney discounts.

[jennsky]

Just remember that if you're calling Disney to book a room-only reservation, tell them at the start of the conversation that you're a AAA member. I believe they have specific rooms set aside for members. I called once and wanted to stay at POFQ and forgot to mention that I was a AAA member. They said they didn't have any rooms like what I wanted available. They were gonna start looking at POR when I mentioned I was a AAA member, and then suddenly she had the perfect room for me at POFQ. Just something to consider...

[BriarRose]

Since we already have a reservation, is it too late to tell them we are members of AAA? I would rather keep my reservations at the rack rate and wait to see if the AP discount comes in than lose my reservation altogether.

[Sparky0569]

I actually booked our trip thru Disney directly. One day I was in the AAA office and happened to ask if they coul have gotten me a discount. They could. The agent then xfered the reservation to AAA got me a 350 discount and we then upgraded the room to a woods view w/bunkbeds for only $110 more for the week. Disney resent all the vouchers and had my refund in about 3 days. We stayed 7 nights at WL.

[MarkC]

We also had a reservation and just joined AAA. We were able to re-book and save about $170 for only two nights stay at the AKL. The passholder rooms were already sold out, so this was a good deal. I do need to be honest and admit that my company paid for my membership fee since I travel every other week on business, but I was amazed how much you can save if you travel much at all, i.e. one trip a year to Disney. I would recommend it. Mark

[EditReject]

I am staying at ASMO this August 3-10. I had booked the room thru Disney last August and asked about the AAA discount and it wound up being $74 a night including tax! I just need to show my AAA card when I arrive. The reservation agent did say that each resort has a certain # of AAA rooms at a time and they tend to go pretty quickly so book well in advance if you can to take advantage of the discount. Plus I have a bunch of Disney Reward Dream Dollars to redeem so this will be the cheapest I have ever paid to be on-site! :D

[r4kids]

Is a AAA discount or an AP discount better? We are trying to decide where to stay for the 2nd half of our trip. POFQ is not available. :(

[#1donaldfan]

AAA is room only, however they'll book your entire "everything" for you....our agent actually gets up very, very early on the 180 day date and makes our dinner ressies.....hows that for service?? Plus, you get a diamond card for discounts on food n shopping at DtD.....and that's just the perks for Disney.....I'm not even mentioning the auto perks....:thumbsup::mickey:

[CleveRocks]

AAA is room only
This is not accurate. You CAN book an entire package with the entire package having the AAA discount ... but in order to do this you MUST book through AAA, with AAA as your travel agent.

An AAA discount is also available for room-only reservations. You can get this discount no matter who you book through. You can do it through AAA, through another travel agent, or directly through Disney.

[CleveRocks]

Understanding how the AAA discount works can be kind of difficult.

The AAA discount is not automatic ... it's not like having a coupon.

For each type of room at each resort, Disney has a super-secret target occupancy rate. If, on your travel dates, the occupancy rate is HIGHER than that target occupancy rate, then the AAA discount will not be available for that type of room at that resort for those dates.

In other words, if a certain type of room is already selling well enough, Disney decides that they no longer need to offer a discount.

It's like if you owned a fruit stand and you sold red apples and green apples ... if the red apples were almost selling out but you had way too many green apples on-hand, you'd offer a discount on the green ones but you would keep the red apples at full price because they are selling great already.

[TIGGER17179]

This is not accurate. You CAN book an entire package with the entire package having the AAA discount ... but in order to do this you MUST book through AAA, with AAA as your travel agent.

An AAA discount is also available for room-only reservations. You can get this discount no matter who you book through. You can do it through AAA, through another travel agent, or directly through Disney.

This is true!! I was going to go through AAA but got an email from Disney with a better deal on the hotel. AAA has some good deals and if you are going to drive to the parks the AAA parking pass will be a life saver!!! It lets you park up front in a special AAA parking area.. very close to the gates. Sign up on the disney website to get the emails.. I got on with a discount code for the Value Resort in August for 69.00 a night and when I called they gave me a few more options and we are going to stay at POR for 99.00 instead of 150.00! AAA quoted me 145.00 a night...

[Young@Heart]

We've booked our last 2 WDW vacations w/ AAA and have been more than satisfied w/ them. :thumbsup: We've saved tons of money (over $300/trip-about 10%). We purchase a AAA membership every year, even if we don't plan on going to WDW. It's a great value, and the WDW vacation discount is just another advantage.
We also love the AAA diamond parking pass, since we drive to WDW. The AAA lots tend to be closer than most parking spots, and it's nice to cut down on that walk to the park entrances. :mickey:

[KylesMom]

Is a AAA discount or an AP discount better? We are trying to decide where to stay for the 2nd half of our trip. POFQ is not available. MJ originally booked us with a AAA room-only rate for a savings of roughly 15% off rack rate. We were fortunate that A/P rates were recently released for July/August . . . our rate dropped an additional $13.89 per night and we were upgraded from standard to courtyard view.

Be advised, however, that for the past couple of years, AAA was the only discount that we were able to snag since A/P rates were not released for our travel dates or resort choices. In addition, we booked the room only AAA discount 10 months out to assure we'd get some type of discount. You could always start with the AAA discount, and then if A/P rates are offered, switch your ressie over.

MJ does a fantastic job with this! :mickey:


As I understand it, you just tell them you're a AAA member, but you must show your card to the front desk when you check in. This is correct - you don't need a AAA membership when booking the room, but they should ask for it at check-in. It's kind of like the A/P rules, though. Some CMs will ask for the card at check-in, and some won't.