AAA's Show Your Card & Save Program Saves Consumers $315 Million On Shopping, Travel, Entertainment and Auto Care

    ORLANDO, Fla.--April 10, 2001--Regardless of economic status the desire to save money is nearly universal. Smart consumers know there are deals to be found in purchasing travel, entertainment and merchandise, and millions of AAA members have found the AAA Show Your Card & Save(R) program one of the best ways to do so.
    Last year, AAA members saved more than twelve million times at merchants affiliated with the nation's largest motoring and leisure travel organization. They received a total of $315 million in discounts on everything from hotel rooms, airplane and train tickets, restaurants, rental cars, theaters, theme parks, vision care, outlet shopping, online shopping, car washes, oil changes, auto parts and flowers.
    "The AAA Show Your Card & Save(R) program has become one of the most universally known and understood discount purchasing programs in existence," said Tom Wilt, managing director of AAA Partnership Programs.
    "The AAA membership card has become the most recognized and used `coupon' across North America," he said.
    Conceived as a way to offer special values to AAA members when traveling, transaction volume for the 44-million-member Association's discount program grew 14 percent last year. Reasons for the expanded use include heightened awareness among consumers, and a broadened program scope that now includes non-travel items and services.
    "AAA is always looking for partnerships that offer quality values to members that are not readily matched elsewhere in the market," Wilt explained. "Our new partnership with Tanger Outlet Malls is a good example because the offer combines a vacation activity popular with members with the universal appeal of saving money on consumer merchandise."
    For AAA members, the Show Your Card & Save(R) program is eminently easy to use. Members can locate the merchants near them using AAA.com or simply look for merchants displaying the AAA Show Your Card & Save(R) logo and then produce their AAA membership card when making a reservation, or paying for a purchase. In return, they receive a pre-determined discount, usually between 5 and 30 percent, or a special benefit not available on the same terms to other customers.
    AAA provides members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers.

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