> so this is my question its time to renew the membership, they
> want $45 to renew for a year.  the thing is that i have heard
> people speak of this mythical "AAA gold card" that lets you
> have towing for a 100 miles. people have said that you get
> offered this option after a year of being a member.  i have
> received no such offer and if i were to renew this might be
> the only reason that i did.  how do i get the 100 mile towing benefit?

I'd call your local AAA office and ask them about it. It's called AAA
Plus.  In my opinion it's worth the investment. There have been a couple
of occasions where I was really glad I had it, given that if you break
down out of town a Vanagon specialist may not be close by. I do agree
that AAA affiliate service quality can vary. The towing companies
typically make more on non-AAA, calls so they're not crazy about taking
AAA calls when they're busy. But typically a rollback has shown up
within an hour, which is what most road service plans promise. The
exception was during a severe snowstorm, and under those conditions I
think I'd have been hard pressed to find faster service myself anyway.
The driver who finally showed up had been working 14 hours straight
already!  (I must admit relief when he got my Vanagon to its destination
without falling asleep at the wheel. :-)

Incidentally, some list members might also be interested in the AAA
Platinum Plus Visa, offered by MBNA Bank. There's no annual fee, and you
get 5% off all gasoline purchases where you pay at the pump, regardless
of brand. This is an unusually high cash-back amount. What's more, it
isn't in the form of a rebate paid annually, but is actually deducted
"real-time" from each month's bill.  As long as you don't keep an
outstanding balance or use it for non-gas purchases (which get no
rebate), it's a great bargain. I don't think it's mentioned on MBNA's
website, but it's linked from most regional AAA sites. Google "AAA
Platinum Plus Visa."  It is for AAA members only, as I recall (I think
you have to provide your AAA membership number when you apply). But the
savings on this card alone have already paid for my AAA membership
several times over.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

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