bob m

When I first started driving - way back in the late 60's, I remember being a member of the Automobile Association of America (AAA). They were pretty popular and had physical offices where you can go in and discuss trip plans and they would give you these hard copy maps with an outline for your destination and suggested stop overs and hotel discounts,etc besides the very important roadside assistance. I know they offer roadside assistance today, but really in this age in internet reservations, NAV systems in your car and on your phone as well as roadside assistance being a given under the car's warranty and/or by your insurance company, has AAA become an anachronism or is it still useful today?

minmet

Used to be a member for decades. The Map, Route and Travel advice were really helpful at the time. Not anymore as you stated above in this digital era. With all my new cars come with free roadside assistance for the warranty period, I stopped renewing the membership. Definitely don't need it for people leasing cars.

A4Driver

Even though my car is covered by Audi for roadside service, I still continue to maintain my AAA membership, which has a lot of benefits associated with it. I can get discounts on many things, including movie tickets, dining out, hotel rooms, airfare, car rentals, etc. The money I've saved over the years has far exceeded the cost of membership.

Also, some day my car warranty will expire, which will make having my AAA card extra valuable.
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bvariant

I can second the hotel discounts and out of warranty part of the value.

While it's usually possible to dig up good lodging prices elsewhere online, the AAA discount is an easy default that I use a couple of times a year on average.

AidanHadley

Last summer on a road trip with my four month-old car I rediscovered the appeal of AAA. I was 300 miles from home when a deep rut and a bad bounce slammed the front undercarriage of my A4 on the ground, badly damaging my steering system and causing what I would later learn was $6K in damages. I was deep in the country in Eastern Oregon. Audi Roadside assistance told me they would only tow my car to the nearest Audi dealership, which was in Bend, Oregon and nowhere near my home in Seattle. I ended up having to pay $600 out of pocket to have my car trucked back to Seattle, a service that AAA would have covered. So there definitely might be some areas (beyond discounts mentioned above) in which AAA is value-added over Audi Roadside assistance, especially if you are traveling farther afield with your Audi.

volsfan0911

There are better services out there now. Like others above, I used AAA for years but they're overpriced relative to other providers now. If you're an old fart like me, AARP is excellent. GM motor club offers one for $50 a year and some of the major credit card carriers offer car services. Hell, you can also sign up via Verizon now as well. Between services offered via GEICO and Visa signature? That covers all I need at this point in my driving career.

LarryJa

I've been driving 10-15yr old cars for 45ys. So, I maintain AAA Premium membership. I use their towing service whenever my 185k miles C6 let's me down. The up to 100mile free limit usually covers all I need.

SFV A4

No longer have them. My insurance offers the same towing and help services.