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04-08-2010, 06:54 AM
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#1
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Confused about dryer sheets
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Aptos
Posts: 2
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AARP discounts
Recently I’ve been getting these mailers from the AARP to join. Does any of you benefit from the discounts offered? Which discounts are the best?
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04-08-2010, 08:59 AM
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#2
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 7,107
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Most of the discounts are also available to AAA members.
__________________
Duck bjorn.
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04-08-2010, 11:00 AM
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#3
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: W Wash
Posts: 1,643
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For the modest $$ AARP wants, we have found the discounts at the various hotel chains well worth their fee. Hilton change actually requires an AARP number to get their preferred senior rates(generally 10-15% off). We prefer Hamptons for our travels so it has worked well. We also have on occasion found a better car rental rate but usually other beat.
nwsteve
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04-08-2010, 05:29 PM
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#4
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Administrator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N. Yorkshire
Posts: 34,021
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WilliamDoran
Recently I’ve been getting these mailers from the AARP to join. Does any of you benefit from the discounts offered? Which discounts are the best?
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You might want to browse this thread on the same subject
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...not-32734.html
__________________
Retired in Jan, 2010 at 55, moved to England in May 2016
Enough private pension and SS income to cover all needs
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04-08-2010, 07:15 PM
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#5
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: mpls, mn
Posts: 761
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Walgreens has a deal if you buy $15 worth of merchandise you get a free one year membership.
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04-08-2010, 08:33 PM
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#6
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Smith
Posts: 743
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Join AAA. AARP has some extreme political positions and they use the money you send them to lobby on behalf of those positions whether or not you agree. While some are of benefit to seniors, many are more ideologically motivated. I would prefer to keep my hotel discounts separate from my politics.
That being said, AAA advocates some things that I don't agree with either. They just aren't nearly as offensive to me as some of the AARP positions. Suffice it to say, I won't be joining AARP when eligible.
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04-09-2010, 07:21 AM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 13,183
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AAA seems like an expensive alternative to AARP.
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04-09-2010, 07:40 AM
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#8
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Where the stars at night are big and bright
Posts: 2,847
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AARP's 2009 Hotel Discounts Underwhelm - SmarterTravel.com
Quote:
Slowly but surely, AARP's hotel discounts (once a prime feature) are becoming less useful. Unfortunate though it may be, AARP's decline as a discount source simply mirrors the decrease in big-organization discounts in general. More than ever, you should view a senior (or AAA) discount as a fallback position to be used only when you can't find a better deal.
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I've had AAA for years at DW's insistence. And I just turned 50 last year so AARP discounts have never been a factor for consideration. The AAA discounts I get, which I'm not always that dilligent about pursuing, have always more than paid for the cost of membership. Just a few weeks ago the ignition switch in DW's Tahoe left me stranded on a Sunday afternoon shopping trip at Fry's. What I saved in towing costs made up for two years worth of AAA dues.
I will say that I often find better deals at hotels than what the AAA discount would get me, and from what I've seen they are usually the same as AARP discounts.
__________________
There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it. - Andrew Jackson
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04-09-2010, 11:31 AM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RunningBum
AAA seems like an expensive alternative to AARP.
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Just don't call AARP when your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere or ask them for maps of where you'll be traveling next month.
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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04-09-2010, 11:59 AM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,148
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ziggy29
Just don't call AARP when your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere or ask them for maps of where you'll be traveling next month.
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I usually call a tow truck. State Farm sells me towing insurance for $6/yr. Claims are simple. The receipt and a hand written note mailed to my agent's office clerk gets me a check within a few days.
Edit: To OP....... Ref your original question, AARP discounts are no big deal but it's hard to imagine DW and I going through a year where one of us doesn't get back the $12 annual membership cost. We usually book hotel/motel room via Priceline, so no AARP discounts there, but the little town in Minnesota we stay at on the eve of a week at fishing camp has no Priceline participants. But, there is a Country Inn that gives a 10% AARP discount and we take advantage of that and save about what the annual dues are that one night.
I've also had a few experiences where I've asked for a senior discount and been told that I had to be 65 (I'm not). But when I countered with the AARP card, they laughed and marked down my ticket...... Clerks, cashiers, employees, etc., generally want to give you a discount. You just have to ask and give them a reason!
The above is particularly fun to embarass DW who wouldn't ask for a discount if it meant getting free $20's at the withdrawal window at the bank.
BTW, I'm not a huge fan of AARP. But I'd rather have them exist than not. And they don't cost anything to belong to.
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04-09-2010, 12:05 PM
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#11
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,148
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flyfishnevada
Join AAA. AARP has some extreme political positions and they use the money you send them to lobby on behalf of those positions whether or not you agree. .
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The other side of that coin is that AARP advocates for seniors on some issues where, left to their own, politicians would sell us to the devil for a nickle. It becomes an issue of whether your feelings about the so-called "extreme political positions" (your words) aggravate you more than your appreciation of their advocacy of issues where the politicians would send us to hell in a handbasket.
I'm sure you disagree, and that's fine, but I'd rather see AARP exist than not. The cost is nil. The puny annual fee is token and only there so they can officially claim you as a member during lobbying efforts.
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04-09-2010, 09:38 PM
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#12
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Smith
Posts: 743
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Quote:
Originally Posted by youbet
The other side of that coin is that AARP advocates for seniors on some issues where, left to their own, politicians would sell us to the devil for a nickle. It becomes an issue of whether your feelings about the so-called "extreme political positions" (your words) aggravate you more than your appreciation of their advocacy of issues where the politicians would send us to hell in a handbasket.
I'm sure you disagree, and that's fine, but I'd rather see AARP exist than not. The cost is nil. The puny annual fee is token and only there so they can officially claim you as a member during lobbying efforts.
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I'm not saying they do no good for retirees or seniors, but beyond that they promote political ideology that I don't agree with. I think they abuse their position as a representative of older Americans. They take positions that may or may not have direct impact on seniors and suggest they have the backing of their members, most of whom have no idea what they are lobbying for back in Washington. As a contrast, take the NRA. Their members join for the specific purpose of having them lobby for gun rights. If they get a discount or a perk, that is secondary. With AARP most folks join for the perks and get a political lobby they may not want or agree with or even know about. I think that someone should know that before they join and that the AARP should do a better job of telling members where they stand politically and that their fees may contribute to promoting that ideology. Additionally, there are alternative to the AARP, like ASA or AMAC. Then again, you can get discounts like AARP offers by joining Costco or by working for the government or any other number of ways.
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04-10-2010, 02:04 PM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,148
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I think you may be overstating that a bit. AARP discounts aren't a big deal and most everyone knows that. Just read the thread we're in right now.
Politicians know how much (or not) AARP can influence votes by putting word out in their magazine, etc. Politicians respond accordingly. As I said, I am not in 100% agreement with AARP but enough so that I prefer to have them exist as opposed to not exist. So, I belong.
I also belong to the NRA and have VERY STRONG disagreements with them on a number of issues concerning how they handle their lobbying. But, like AARP, I belong because I would rather have them exist than not exist.
Obviously your feelings about some issues AARP supports are strong enough that you wish AARP did not exist. Fine. Don't belong.
It's all a matter of personal beliefs, values, etc.
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04-11-2010, 09:45 AM
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#14
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Smith
Posts: 743
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Quote:
Originally Posted by youbet
It's all a matter of personal beliefs, values, etc.
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I totally agree.
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04-11-2010, 09:57 AM
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#15
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gone traveling
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 3,851
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AARP? IMHO, just say no (yes, I was a member for many years)...
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04-11-2010, 09:59 AM
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#16
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: At The Cafe
Posts: 6,873
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RunningBum
AAA seems like an expensive alternative to AARP.
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Especially for those of us who don't own cars.
I sometimes join AARP for the discount when I make hotel reservations; the discount is usually about $15/night but I never met a hotel clerk who asks for proof of membership. A cheap alternative would be to carry one of those temporary AARP membership cards that arrive in the mailings OP mentions.
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04-11-2010, 02:19 PM
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#17
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,323
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mn54
Walgreens has a deal if you buy $15 worth of merchandise you get a free one year membership.
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Please, do you know when this deal happens (what month?) on Walgreen's receipts? I have been looking for it this year--and have done it the past 2--but missed it when or if it happened in 2009. Did you catch it and when did that happen ?
AARP is the largest lobbying group in America, but I keep a membership for the hotel discounts--and, also, because every once in awhile I find some money-saving tidbit or other helpful bit of information in their magazine. Overall, it has been worth it for me...and, anyway, I believe there is strength in numbers for us geezers in Washington, so...just my contribution to the cause.
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04-11-2010, 09:43 PM
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#18
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,148
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CuppaJoe
Especially for those of us who don't own cars.
I sometimes join AARP for the discount when I make hotel reservations; the discount is usually about $15/night but I never met a hotel clerk who asks for proof of membership. A cheap alternative would be to carry one of those temporary AARP membership cards that arrive in the mailings OP mentions.
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Of course your personal financial situaion is none of my, or anyone's, bizness...... But you're really looking for ways to scam a $12/yr/couple AARP membership? I can only imagine what lengths you might go to in order to get the benefits of a $15/yr organization without paying!
PS. I know you were saying that tongue in cheek..... just kidin' !
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04-11-2010, 11:17 PM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flyfishnevada
I'm not saying they do no good for retirees or seniors, but beyond that they promote political ideology...
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What is their political ideology?
Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
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04-11-2010, 11:41 PM
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#20
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: At The Cafe
Posts: 6,873
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Quote:
Originally Posted by youbet
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I thought it was scam enough to book a hotel reservation claiming AARP membership and then go on over to the AARP site and join up. We have many levels of cheap basta frugality on this board.
Have we scared OP away? I'm not clear on his level of frugality. Youbet, I imagine a couple could get a $15 freebie by walking into a movie theater backwards, or so I've heard.
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