AAA EnCompass

November | December 2005
Volume 79 Issue 6

Know AAA

Automotive—AAA Colorado offers a wealth of automotive services, beginning with AAA's famous roadside assistance program that follows the member, not the vehicle. Other services include Approved Auto Repair facilities (pages 38–39), automotive products at AAA Colorado offices, and auto sales and leasing through AutoSource. All can be accessed through www.aaa.com, including AutoManager, which manages the maintenance of your vehicle.

Show Your Card & Save Program—This is the member savings program of AAA. Simply show your AAA membership card to save money at hundreds of retail and service shops, travel-related companies, lodging and automotive facilities

Savings at home and abroad
Whether you're traveling through Mexico , over to Japan , down under to Australia , or around Europe , as a AAA member you can now save as you go. AAA's Show Your Card & Save program has expanded to 34 countries all over the world, so members can take advantage of the savings that foreign automobile and touring clubs provide through their own discount programs.

In many countries, you'll find savings at hotels, museums, attractions, rental car companies, and retail locations. All you have to do is show your AAA membership card.

The program is expanding locally, too. Three new Show Your Card & Save partners are Sam Goody, Suncoast, and Media Play. AAA members can now save 10% on all purchases of music, movies, video games and more when buying online from these companies through www.aaa.com/Musicland.

From Dec. 1–25, FTD is offering AAA members a 30% discount on its Holiday Celebrations Bouquet, online only. Other holiday bouquets and gifts available from FTD have a 20% AAA discount, with same-day delivery for most of the USA and Canada . Go to www.ftd.com/aaa.

Hickory Farms gives a 15% discount to AAA members on all online purchases. A wide selection of gift baskets and gourmet foods can be found at www.aaa.com/hickoryfarms.

Think about home security this holiday season
It's that time of year again, when most of us are busy planning holiday celebrations with family and friends. Whether you plan to stay home or travel, make sure you take steps to keep your home safe and secure. The following precautions can discourage thieves from targeting your home during the holidays:

• When leaving home, securely lock all windows and doors, even if you'll be gone for only a few minutes.

• Make sure gifts and expensive items cannot be seen through the windows and doors of your home.

• If leaving for an extended time, have mail and newspaper delivery suspended, and ask a friend or family member to keep an eye on your house and clear any mail that arrives. If possible, leave a car parked in your driveway while you are gone.

• While you're away, use timers to turn lights on and off, and never leave an answering machine message which will give away that you're not home.

• Consider investing in a home security system to increase your level of protection. Some of today's security systems can even be remotely controlled.

ADT Security Services is a Show Your Card & Save partner offering AAA members a special discount of 10% off system installation and $1 off the monthly monitoring fee (for new customers only). Call 866-562-9097 for a free in-home security evaluation.

Insurance & Financial Services—AAA Colorado's independent insurance agency offers auto, home, life, umbrella and long-term care products from several highly rated national insurers, as well as our exclusive brand, “AAA Insurance.” For a competitive quote, call 866-399-9836, or click on “Insurance” at www.aaa.com. AAA Colorado also offers financial services like the AAA Visa card, certificates of deposit and money market deposits. Call 303-753-8800 or click on “Financial” at www.aaa.com for Visa card information. For deposit products, call 800-526-7120.

Planning for long-term care
For a healthy adult, it is had to imagine relying on others for help with basic tasks: eating, dressing, personal hygiene and more. But due to old age, injury or mental or physical illnesses, many people eventually find themselves in need of such assistance.

If you need long-term care later in life, what financial resources could you and your family call on? Do you have enough to pay for years in a nursing home, an assisted living facility, or home health care? The national average cost of a semi-

private room in a nursing home is now $70,000 per year, and by 2030 it is expected to exceed $190,000.

Those with very little money might qualify for Medicaid. Likewise, if you have a lot of money—one financial advisor puts this in the $1.5 million range—you can simply pay expenses as they arise. If, like most people, you fall in between these two categories, then long-term care insurance may be wise.

TRAVEL - Much more than free TourBooks, maps and TripTiks. AAA Auto Travel Counselors can help plan your road trip. AAA Travel Professionals understand national and international travel, from guided tours to independent adventure. AAA Colorado's travel store (in most offices and online) contains books, atlases, luggage and other travel items. Call 866-235-7070, visit a AAA office or www.aaa.com.

Winter Warm-ups for Drive Travelers
While heading out on the open road is a familiar scenario for summer travelers, the right destination and a well-planned driving itinerary can also provide a memorable winter escape.

The AAA Drive Trips program contains nearly 100 flexible itineraries for two- to five-day drive trips in the USA and Canada . Each includes a map, drive times, mileage, photos, things to see and do, plus rates of AAA approved lodgings.

Here's a glimpse of three great trips:

California 's Desert Country—Begin your adventure in Palm Springs , enjoying spas and upscale shopping, hiking in Coachella Valley , rock climbing, and desert jeep tours. Visit Joshua Tree National Park , then move on to Death Valley National Park to discover Telescope Peak , Dante's View and Badwater.

Southeastern Arizona —Experience Phoenix with its blend of cultures. Then it's on to golf mecca Tucson . In Benson, explore spectacular Kartchner Caverns. Tombstone and Bisbee teem with frontier history. Next, pass through one of the best bird-watching regions of North America, and visit bustling Nogales for a short walk across the border to Mexico .

Florida's Sun Coast—Enjoy Tampa's theme parks, or Ybor City (the Latin Quarter) for everything from crisp Cuban sandwiches to hand-rolled cigars. In downtown St. Petersburg , visit the Salvador Dali Museum or Florida Holocaust Museum , then follow the graceful Gulf Coast south for 35 miles of sugary white beaches and fresh seafood. Visit Sarasota and Fort Myers . Gather seashells on Sanibel Island, or cross the bridge to tranquil Captiva Island .

A Colorado GEM! Cave of the Winds

AAA TourBooks include a listing of special points of interest around the state that we feel offer a Great Experience for Members. GEMs are chosen solely on merit—an attraction or destination can't apply for GEM status. Instead, they simply represent the best of Colorado : exceptional places for your list of “things to do.”

Colorado has 28 GEMs, and we'll look at a different one in each issue.

For this issue, we've chosen the Cave of the Winds, six miles west of I-25 in Manitou Springs (take exit 141 onto U.S. Hwy 24). Open every day of the year except Christmas Day, the cave has many fascinating formations, including stalactites, stalagmites, helictites and “cave bacon.” The temperature is 54 degrees all year round.

Two guided tours are available. The 45-minute Discovery Tour is an easy, flat half-mile walk through lighted chambers; the Lantern Tour lets you experience the dark and eerie passages of the Earth, on a one and a half hour walk lit only by traditional hand-held lanterns.

Along the way, you'll learn about the cave's geology and history, hear its legends and tales of past explorers, and visit a range of very different chambers. Couples have even held their weddings in this beautiful subterranean world.

Car rentals without a credit card
If you're renting a car on your next trip, you may not need a credit card. Most Hertz locations in the United States , Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands now allow you to present certain debit or check cards instead of a credit card. To determine whether your card will be accepted, contact Hertz at 888-777-5885. For those who want to use their credit card, Hertz does accept all major ones, including the AAA Visa card.

EnCompass and www.aaa.com—Your membership brings you six issues of EnCompass magazine a year, and AAA Colorado's website. Online you'll find a 24/7 virtual office for member-only information, travel specials, TripTik maps, insurance and auto information, car sales and leasing, and our Show Your Card & Save member savings program.

Diamond ratings and EnCompass
Wondering how AAA's ratings work? New pages at www.aaa.com describe how hotels and restaurants become AAA Approved and Diamond-rated, what you can expect at each level, and resources for travel planning. Visit www.aaa.com/Diamonds for rating information.

Another recent change online is EnCompass magazine's improved website. The site redesign brings an improved Reader Service/Sweepstakes section, a different look and more information about the magazine. Archived stories by destination will go online in the coming months.

A Costly Habit That Gets You Nowhere Fast

SAFETY—Time is short and you have places to be. It won't hurt to drive just a little faster, will it?

A recent Mason-Dixon poll says 68% of drivers nationwide admit they speed.

However, speeding is a costly habit for you and for all of us, and it doesn't get you there much faster, either.

Speeding reduces your gas mileage. The faster you drive, the harder your car needs to work to overcome air resistance. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, your fuel economy can be as much as 25% worse at 70 mph than it is at 55 mph.

Speeding doesn't just hurt your wallet; speeding can hurt people. An extra 5 mph probably doesn't feel like a big difference, but the extra 10-15 feet you'll cover before you can react to a situation can be the difference between life and death—and the faster you're traveling, the harder you'll crash. Speeding contributes to more than 1,500 crashes, more than 600 trips to the hospital, and about 35 deaths in the United States every day, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.

What about the time you save?

Just do the math. A trip that takes 20 minutes at 60 mph would take less than two minutes longer at 55 mph. Accelerating aggressively in traffic doesn't save much time; it proves pointless when you have to slow down again for the next car or red light. A European study found that hard acceleration and braking only shave about 4% off your total travel time. On a 20-minute trip, that's less than 50 seconds.

Speeding costs more than most of us think, so slow down, save your car some wear and tear, save some money, save on stress— and maybe even save a life.