AAA Online TripTik(R) Mapping Tool Offers No-Hassle Access to Exclusive Travel, Gas Price Data


LOS ANGELES, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- February 20, 2007 -- Online travel planning is easier than ever before for Southern California drivers at the Automobile Club of Southern California's Web site, AAA.com, with new home-page access to the enhanced online TripTik® Travel Planner. This state-of-the-art mapping application provides travelers with helpful, continuously updated information on gas prices, key attractions, car repair facilities, AAA offices and AAA-rated restaurants and lodgings along each route.

Members and non-members can now access the online TripTik® Travel Planner directly from AAA.com without logging in. Whether it's a day trip to an amusement park or zoo, or a drive vacation across several states, the online TripTik® is loaded with exclusive AAA information that will help travelers plan the most scenic or most direct route, avoid highway construction delays, schedule their gas station stops, view nearby AAA Diamond-rated lodgings, and eat at AAA Diamond-rated restaurants.

"Our members have been using TripTiks® to plan their vacations for decades, with AAA assembling these page-by-page detailed, custom routings," said Diana Meinhold, the Auto Club's vice president for travel products and services. "The Auto Club continues to offer travel expertise in our office and over the phone, but the online TripTik® Travel Planner is another tool enabling travelers to instantly access AAA travel information and expertise, as well as helpful features such as locations and pricing information for more than 100,000 gas stations across the U.S."

The online TripTik® also provides information to travelers about other attractions near their selected route to offer them choices of additional stops along the way, and it allows users to plot their trips using multiple destinations. For those who want travel ideas, the online TripTik® allows users to explore locations while reading built-in information about attractions in that area.

One click on the handy map icons opens the AAA listings, many with photos, from AAA's database of AAA Approved and Diamond rated hotels and restaurants, attractions, events, and destinations. Travelers can also display locations and information for Show Your Card & Save® member discount locations, AAA Approved Auto Repair facilities, and AAA/CAA club offices.

In addition to easy TripTik® access, both members and non-members will also be able to access the contents of AAA TourBooks® online at AAA.com. TourBook® information also is included within the TripTik® application.

"The Auto Club has been a leader in providing travel information to drivers since 1900, and this new easy access to TripTik® and TourBook® online transforms the organization into the most effective online travel resource for motorists," Meinhold said.

Auto Club members will continue to enjoy exclusive access to the printed versions of TripTik® and TourBooks® at all Auto Club district offices, as well as member-only discounts to thousands of attractions, lodgings, events and other retail locations listed in TripTiks® and TourBooks®.

The Automobile Club of Southern California, the largest member of the AAA federation of motor clubs, has been providing service since 1900. Today, the Auto Club's members benefit by roadside assistance, insurance products and services, travel agency, financial products, automotive pricing and buying programs, automotive testing and analysis, trip planning services and highway and transportation safety programs. Information about these products and services is available on the Auto Club's Web site at www.AAA.com.

Contact Information: CONTACT: Carol Thorp or Marie Montgomery (714) 885-2333