At an event Tuesday, February 20, at the Mandarin Oriental New York, the American Automobile Association (AAA) will be unveiling what it is calling the first online travel agency for motorists. AAA is expanding its web site to provide more tools for travelers
Although Mike Pina, spokesperson for AAA, agrees that this web site might not be embraced by agents, he contends it is big enough travel industry news for agents to learn about.
Travel Agent was able to give agents a one-day head start to find out about the new feature in order to become familiar with yet more online competition.
The new and expanded online travel agency is designed to
meet the needs of drive travelers, who account for 88 percent of all leisure
travel in the
The site will include such features as maps and driving directions, planning tools and destination information for cross-country road trips and fly/drive vacations.
Just last month, AAA added location and fuel pricing
information for more than 100,000
That feature serves as a fuel locator for motorists. It also
includes AAA's Fuel Cost Calculator,
which helps travelers budget driving costs based on distance, fuel prices and
vehicle make and model.