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


HOUSTON, TX -- (MARKET WIRE) -- February 20, 2007 -- Online travel planning is easier than ever before for Texas drivers at the AAA Texas 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, AAA Texas vice president for travel products and services. "AAA Texas continues to offer travel expertise in our office and over the phone, and 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.

"AAA Texas has been a leader in providing travel information to drivers for more than 100 years, and this new easy access to TripTik® and TourBook® online transforms the organization into the most effective online travel resource for motorists," Meinhold said.

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

AAA Texas, an affiliate of the American Automobile Association, has been serving Texans since 1902. Today, more than a million AAA Texas members benefit by the organization's roadside assistance service, travel agency, financial products, automotive pricing, buying and financing, trip planning services, and traffic safety programs. Information about these products and services is available on the AAA Texas web site at www.aaa.com.

Contact Information: Contact: Rose Rougeau (713) 284-6552