Save money on AA membership renewal

takenotrash

I have been a continuous AA member for 12 years and have only called out the AA twice during that time for a breakdown.
I recently received my membership renewal notice in the post from AA only to find that the "roadside" part of the membership was £50 and the "relay" was now £47, making a total of £97.
I noticed on the telly that AA were advertising discounts of up to 33% for new AA members up and so feeling a bit discriminated against as a loyal customer I gave AA a call on their freefone number. After listening to the pre recorded massages I opted for Option 4 (... If you are thinking of cancelling your AA membership!) and eventually spoke to an AA telephone call adviser and explained my gripe. It was explained to me that this was a "one off" offer for new members joining AA and was not open to existing members. Naturally I pointed out that if this was official AA policy then the organisation was hardly encouraging long established members to stay with the organisation, especially since there are other breakdown services at competitive or even cheaper annual premiums. What happened then was that to retain my custom , I was offered 25% discount from my new premium, provided I paid for it there and then. Being satisfied with this offer, I agreed and so by kicking up a fuss I gave myself some beer money and I got the next years premium for £72.75 instead of the orginal renewal quote of £97.
So there it is if you dont ask, then you wont get.
:beer:

sarah_elton

I recently took out breakdown cover having never had it before. Both AA and RAC were about £130 for the cover I wanted (the bells and whistles one with both homestart and recovery to home from anywhere in the UK).

Greenflag on the other hand was £85. This was because they actually quote like an insurer, taking into account where you live and the car you drive. As opposed to AA/RAC who have fixed prices for all, even if you're driving an ancient pile of doodoo. My car is only a 52 reg so odds of breakdown are relatively low and I pay accordingly. Most impressed. They also say their average response time is 40 mins and you can claim a tenner off them if they take more than an hour.

Plus in future years I'll get a no callout discount of a fixed percentage, similar to no claims discount.

Evidently do a good online discount too. I called Direct Line (my insurer) whose breakdown cover partner is Green Flag. They quoted me more than Green Flag direct. Not sure if they had an online special (no big adverts to suggest as such) - this was about a month ago.

vwcampervan72

Same as us, we've been with the AA for about 12 years, need it for my car as its old lol, been going up steadily the past 8 years, they take the money out of bank acc on dd, this yr they wanted £176 i phoned and told them no way, i was going to wait till middle of May cancel and renew 2nd June they said i can do that

Got exactly the same cover for £140.00 saving of £36.00

RESULT!!

LandyAndy

sarah_elton wrote: »

I recently took out breakdown cover having never had it before. Both AA and RAC were about £130 for the cover I wanted (the bells and whistles one with both homestart and recovery to home from anywhere in the UK).

Greenflag on the other hand was £85. This was because they actually quote like an insurer, taking into account where you live and the car you drive. As opposed to AA/RAC who have fixed prices for all, even if you're driving an ancient pile of doodoo. My car is only a 52 reg so odds of breakdown are relatively low and I pay accordingly. Most impressed. They also say their average response time is 40 mins and you can claim a tenner off them if they take more than an hour.
.

Its a totally different type of cover.

I have three vehicles. Their ages are 18 mths, 13 yrs and 27 yrs. One payment to the RAC covers me (and Mrs LA) for all of them and for any other vehicle we are driving (or even just passengers in) and for any driver of one of the vehicles.

This green flag arrangement would be useless for me.

sarah_elton

LandyAndy wrote: »

Its a totally different type of cover.

I have three vehicles. Their ages are 18 mths, 13 yrs and 27 yrs. One payment to the RAC covers me (and Mrs LA) for all of them and for any other vehicle we are driving (or even just passengers in) and for any driver of one of the vehicles.

This green flag arrangement would be useless for me.

True. The default is vehicle cover, which covers the vehicle regardless of who's driving.

They do do a 'personal cover' option which covers you in whatever car you're driving but that whacks up the cost.

Cost effective for people with one relatively new car and a low annual mileage (they ask mileage as well like an insurer and take that into account).