San Francisco will be the setting for the first episode of ‘America’s Worst Driver’, premiering this Sunday, March 14, at 10 p.m. ET on the Travel Channel.

AAA is collaborating with Travel Channel as the official safety partner on the network’s new reality travel competition. In the series, bad drivers from eight major American cities, nominated by friends and family, compete in various driving challenges to identify the worst local driver. Each challenge tests a driver’s ability to focus while dealing with distraction and stress. The participant earning the distinction of the worst driver from each city will watch as their car is destroyed before moving onto the finale when ‘America’s Worst Driver’ will be named.... Read More

For a fun Disney World planning experience, check out the Disney World Celebration Planner at AAA.com/Disney. You put in your information and travel dates and select parks and hotels by dragging a Mickey balloon from the map into the Planner to calculate costs. You can also get help from a AAA Disney Celebration specialist.

Join us online for the AAA Summer Sales Event Virtual Travel Show Tuesday, March 9, from 6-11 p.m. Eastern time (3-8 p.m. Pacific time). Register at AAA.com/VirtualShows if you haven't already.

AAA Travel has teamed up with the world’s top cruise lines, hotels and travel providers to offer you the HOTTEST deals on the COOLEST vacations! You’ll find extra special deals on cruises, tours, hotels and Hertz rental cars during the show. AAA members will receive additional benefits on top of the exceptional savings. During the live event you can... Read More

There’s nothing like the Olympics for sheer excitement. If the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat and the sheer spectacle and pageantry are gripping on your TV screen, imagine yourself in the middle of it all. Instant adrenaline rush! Here are some... Read More

The results are in for the latest annual AAA PetBook® Photo Contest sponsored by Best Western. Five top dogs from Massachusetts, California and Colorado will enjoy a year of fame as “cover dogs” on the 12th edition Traveling With Your Pet: The AAA PetBook.

First-place winners Rosie, Belle and Ortiz, a family of mixed-breed dogs from Fairhaven, Mass., are pictured on the book’s back cover visiting the Cape Cod Canal. “We travel with our pets because they are our family and we enjoy traveling with them,” said the winners’ human companion, Wendy... Read More

 
From the Q&A mailbox:

Question: Lynn asks, My daughter and I are looking at colleges in northern California and Oregon next month. We would like to combine sightseeing and looking at four schools in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Corvallis and Eugene. Is there help we could get in arranging this? Thanks.

Answer:  College planning is an exciting time and we’re happy to help you combine sightseeing with your trip. The route pictured, from Santa Barbara north to Eugene, was created... Read More

AAA is now selling vacation packages to Universal Orlando® for travel beginning May 28 to include the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter area in the Islands of Adventure theme park scheduled to open this spring. The 4-night AAA Universal Vacations package starts from $285 per adult for off-site accommodations and $645 for the on-site Four Diamond hotels.

The package includes hotel, a 3-day base ticket to both Universal Orlando theme parks – one theme park/per day, early park admission to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, one breakfast at the Three... Read More

Travel news and observations from around the web . . .

Why a Six-Hour Flight Now Takes Seven
Across the airline industry, carriers have been adding minutes to "block times"—the scheduled durations—baking delays into trips so that late flights officially arrive "on-time" and operations run better because flights pull into gates more often on schedule.  Full story from the Wall Street Journal 
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‘10 Dirtiest U.S. Hotels’ is an intriguing (or disgusting) list from Trip Advisor, but our AAA inspectors have already been there. Literally.

All 10 hotels failed their AAA inspections and, therefore, can’t be found with a Diamond rating in AAA TourBook® guides and on AAA.com.  Visits like these are the part of an inspector’s... Read More

Need Magic? If so, join us the evening of January 19 from the comfort of your home for AAA’s Virtual Travel Show. January is Disney Month at AAA Travel and if you’ve never attended an online travel show, you’ll find it interesting, especially the chance to chat with AAA Disney experts about the latest info and specials on all Disney vacations - Disney Cruise Line®, Walt Disney World® Resort, Adventures by Disney and the Disneyland® Resort. Go to AAA.com/virtualshows to find out more and read... Read More