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I received an AARP membership offer today and have a few questions for current/past AARP members. What do you like/dislike about AARP? Which benefits do you value the most and why are these benefits important to you? Thanks in advance!
Been member 25 years. 3-year memberships cost little.
I don’t use any of the “benefits” except that on very rare occasions it has gotten me decent discounts at hotels (5-10% off) that offered no “senior rate.” However, 90% of the time there’s no difference between the AARP rate and what hotels call their “senior” rate - extremely common. Once it got me a few extra hours on a late checkout. Have tried using it on rental cars a few times and mostly have found could do as well just shopping around. An AARP membership / card is worth having even if it only saves you 10 or 15% somewhere every few years. However, if you don’t travel much, whatever other benefits it offers elude me.
ISTM they offer car insurance. Too satisfied here with present insurance company and local agent to bother with whatever AARP offers.
Their periodic magazine goes directly into my “circular file cabinet.”
We have the car & home insurance at rates The Hartford offers to AARP members, have had for years. The one time I checked around to see how competitive the rates were, what we had was significantly cheaper so we stayed put. That's the only reason we've stuck with them.
You can stop delivery on the magazine; agreed, it's a waste of paper.
I was a member a long time ago. The monthly magazine is an item I found interesting. Interviews. Lovely surprises, sometimes. Great cover photography. My beef with them goes back to the GWB era and the sell-out Medicare drug plan. It's a sell-out to Big Pharma, and AARP did next to nothing to fight for a better plan. They actually endorsed the plan which was passed through Congress. Translation: they did not represent their constituency well at all. It's supposed to be a nonprofit representing the interests of seniors.....
It sounds like some AARP discounts may be worthwhile. I'll probably join and test them out for a year.
Not a bad idea. You get a real solid plastic card with your information & expiration date imprinted on it - not some flimsy paper piece of garbage. So it’s easy to find / get ahold of if you ever need it. I probably should use mine more to search for deals on rental cars - seeing how expensive they’ve become. Glad you reminded me.
BTW, if one still has AOL, one can get AARP membership free as a benefit.
I also have AARP/Hartford/Trumbull auto insurance and being AARP member is a condition. I hear that after the initial signup, Hartford doesn't really care but I don't want to test that.
Comments
I don’t use any of the “benefits” except that on very rare occasions it has gotten me decent discounts at hotels (5-10% off) that offered no “senior rate.” However, 90% of the time there’s no difference between the AARP rate and what hotels call their “senior” rate - extremely common. Once it got me a few extra hours on a late checkout. Have tried using it on rental cars a few times and mostly have found could do as well just shopping around. An AARP membership / card is worth having even if it only saves you 10 or 15% somewhere every few years. However, if you don’t travel much, whatever other benefits it offers elude me.
ISTM they offer car insurance. Too satisfied here with present insurance company and local agent to bother with whatever AARP offers.
Their periodic magazine goes directly into my “circular file cabinet.”
You can stop delivery on the magazine; agreed, it's a waste of paper.
It sounds like some AARP discounts may be worthwhile.
I'll probably join and test them out for a year.
AAA has a lot of the same discounts and will tow you home
BTW, if one still has AOL, one can get AARP membership free as a benefit.
I also have AARP/Hartford/Trumbull auto insurance and being AARP member is a condition. I hear that after the initial signup, Hartford doesn't really care but I don't want to test that.
There are many other discounts, at Walgreens, etc.
https://www.aarp.org/membership/benefits/all-offers-a-z/?intcmp=GLOBAL-HDR-LNK-CLK-BENEFITS-UXDIA
Thanks for the info!