Use Your AAA Card for Discounts on Your Orlando Florida Vacation - Disney World & Tickets

Part of the secret to saving money and touring Orlando, Florida, is advance planning. Whether your trip to Orlando will involve a visit to Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Seaworld, or other attractions, be advised that your Florida vacation could be discounted!

Using your AAA (American Automobile Association) membership can save you some bucks. You can see many of the discounts at AAA.com and entering your zip code. The offers are tailored to your hometown. You will still be able to search for deals in Orlando. The discounts in this article are available from the Minneapolis, Minnesota AAA office.

A lot of people become members of AAA for the roadside assistance program, but AAA also is a full-service travel agency. Using just the roadside assistance, my membership has paid for itself. Adding in the benefits of the discounted gate admission prices, and other member perks, and it really pays to have a membership.

AAA offers tons of discounts! Travel related discounts range from rental car savings, hotel/vacation packages, attraction tickets, and dining. There are also a wide range of discounts at retail stores such as Best Buy, Target, Pearle Vision, Tires Plus, USA Today, Mall of America coupons, PayLess Shoes, and lots more. You can also get a prescription drug card, cell phone plan discounts, DirectTV discount and gas discounts. There are over 150,000 participating merchants world-wide! Show your card or ask if they offer an AAA discount.

Here are some tips to using your AAA card for your Florida vacation:

Airport Parking Savings
Use your AAA card to book your airport parking fee at Park N' Fly. Book your reservation more than a week in advance at www.aaa.com. You will save 13% off posted rates. I tried this online at AAA and my reservation went smoothly. I printed my confirmation number and the directions to the parking ramp. The operators of the ramp were friendly and I made it to and from the airport with no glitches. They offer shuttle service in Minneapolis to both major airports, MSP International Airport and the Humphrey Terminal.

Tour Guide, Maps
Get the AAA tour book for Orlando. Lots of tips and maps.

Travel Packages
Call your AAA office and talk to a travel agent about your plans. Many times the agents can offer significant savings on hotel or vacation packages to Orlando. They will have additional information that is not on the website. When planning a vacation to Orlando, you need to do some thinking about how you want to spend your time. If your time is limited, you want to know about the best options for where your hotel is located, if you will be needing to rent a car, and even what airport you want to fly into.

You can get more for your money by planning your trip. There are better days or times of the season to visit Orlando. If you must travel during peak seasons, then planning makes even more sense. Even if you don't usually plan your vacation minute by minute, you will find that more detailed itinerary planning will enable you to spend more quality time doing the things that are important to you. Since so much time can be wasted in traveling from place to place, a plan is invaluable to have when visiting Orlando.

Renting a Car
AAA offers Hertz and more. Tip: Book the economy car. When you get to Orlando, they typically have no economy cars there and you will get an upgrade at the economy price. That has been my experience. Of course, now that gas has gone up so much, they may be stockpiling economy models, and you may get what you booked. There are discount cards available in the AAA Home & Away magazine.

Current Savings Offers
Here are some of the current Orlando offers available from my hometown AAA office:

Disney World Packages Savings
3-day Base Ticket, Adult $216.20 at the gate, AAA price: $212.00.
3-day Park Hopper Pass, Adult $264.12 at the gate, AAA price: $259.00.

Universal Studios
1-day Park Ticket Adult: $74.54 at the gate, AAA price: $68.00.
7-day, 2-Park Unlimited Adult: $86.25 at the gate, AAA price: $80.00.
Save $4 on 2-day/2-park-purchased at front gate; greatest savings at AAA.com/universal or your participating AAA office; save 10% off select merchandise and restaurant locations.
10% at select dining and merchandise locations in the two Universal theme parks (savings not available at food or merchandise carts and does not apply to tobacco, candy, film, collectibles and sundry items).

Seaworld
$69.00 at the gate, AAA price: $58.00

Up to 10% off tickets at Seaworld; $5 off multi-park and pass products and $3 off general one-day admission at the gate. 10% on select up-close dining. Reservations are required; visit Guest Relations for details.

AAA Travel Packages
AAA Members save up to $75 on an air and hotel package from MLT Worry-Free Vacations or WorldVacations

Orlando Science Center
10% off regular admission rates

Wet 'n Wild Orlando
Save $3 per person off the gate price. Save 10% in the gift shop and in the Main Snack Bar. (Certain Restrictions Apply)
AAA members also save 10% at CityWalk (discount on food, non-alcoholic drinks and merchandise at all Universal Studios CityWalk Orlando restaurants with the exception of Emeril's Restaurant). Applies to member and immediate family (up to 6 people). Show your membership card to get the discount.