Auto Club Issues Statement On Pleasant Holidays

    LOS ANGELES--June 25, 2001--Recent news stories have questioned the Auto Club's investment in the tour company, Pleasant Holidays. This statement is offered in reply.
    The Automobile Club of Southern California has had a majority interest in Pleasant Holidays, a highly rated tour company best known for its Hawaiian vacations, for more than two years. Management and control of the company has remained with its founder, Ed Hogan. ¶ The Auto Club's investment has not changed the way Pleasant Holidays does business and has not changed Pleasant Holidays' business relationship with other travel companies. Auto Club members continue to have access to a trusted company that they were already using.
    Pleasant Holidays has been a widely used preferred travel provider for the Auto Club for many years. The Auto Club made its investment in Pleasant Holidays at a time when the travel industry was experiencing many mergers and consolidations. The Auto Club was concerned that if Pleasant Holidays changed ownership, it could result in the Club not being able to offer its products and services to members.
    The Auto Club wanted to ensure that members could continue to use Pleasant Holidays and that the Club could compete effectively in the travel industry. The investment in Pleasant Holidays is another of the many examples of the opportunities identified by the Auto Club to bring value to its membership.
    The state Attorney General's office has reportedly announced that it will review the Auto Club's Pleasant Holidays investment to determine if it should have been disclosed to members. The Auto Club does not routinely publicize its investments and did not do so in this case.
    The Auto Club believes that members have benefited from the arrangement and that the Auto Club is in full compliance with all legal requirements. The Club will cooperate fully with the Attorney General.