# AARP Membership- worth it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 28, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756 "2014-08-28T15:43:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/1 "2014-08-28T15:43:58Z")
So, with my 50th birthday right around the corner, the dreaded AARP invite arrived in the mail the other day. My first impulse was to burn it and then curl into a fetal position muttering “I’m NOT old yet. I’m not OLD yet…” Then I opened it and took a look. $16 for one-year membership. Free travel bag if I act now!! So is it worth it? Will it make my golden years more tolerable? Any advantage besides restaurant discounts and such? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/2 "2014-08-28T16:24:54Z")
I get the AARP invites all the time now that I’m 56 but the discounts are pretty small (IMO) and none of the deals are all that compelling or any better than what I could get on my own just shopping around. [This link say pretty much the same thing](http://money.msn.com/retirement/article.aspx?post=878f94d5-59be-4677-8a74-092c008d743e) ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/3 "2014-08-28T16:27:43Z")
I joined for the discounts, but did not find it to be worth the price so I dropped it after a year. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/4 "2014-08-28T16:33:28Z")
I kind of get the general impression they are more of a front end engine for selling various kinds of insurance than being an actual service oriented organization. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/5 "2014-08-28T16:41:16Z")
**Moderator Action** This is more of an opinion question than a factual question. Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/6 "2014-08-28T16:42:19Z")
The discounts at hotels are available without actually being a member. I have never been asked to show a card, which I don’t carry. Ask for the AARP discount and you will get it. The hotel discounts are no better than the AAA discount, and most hotels will only apply one discount, so you can’t get the AARP and the AAA as well. Membership is not worth it, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/7 "2014-08-28T16:42:48Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I kind of get the general impression they are more of a front end engine for selling various kinds of insurance than being an actual service oriented organization. I get the same impression about AAA. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/8 "2014-08-28T16:44:47Z")
AARP’s main claim to fame is legislative lobbying for the elderly - and they are damn good at it. When you can say you represent 50 million (or whatever) people, most of whom VOTE, people who run for office tend to listen. That it the reason to join - add your voice to the lobbying done for old folks. And With Boomers now at the age, (damn, I hate thinking of my own mortality), their numbers should swell. We boomers have demanded everything from new grade schools to regional University campuses. Were the elephant going though the python - we get noticed, and we get what we want. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/9 "2014-08-28T16:46:23Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I kind of get the general impression they are more of a front end engine for selling various kinds of insurance than being an actual service oriented organization. You might think that, but YOU DON’T KNOW AARP! (I kind of hate those commercials.) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/10 "2014-08-28T16:46:31Z")
My husband signed up at 50- and it turned out that nearly all the discounts require you to be 55 (or 62 or 65) and few of them are restricted to AARP members ( you can get the same discount with proof of age). Seemed that he paid the membership fee just to get more junk mai.l ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/11 "2014-08-28T16:49:51Z")
I’m anal retentive enough to keep track of what various memberships save me over the course of a year(s) in terms of motels, eye glasses, whatever. AARP usually comes in around $70-$90 a year; I don’t need their insurance or other bigger ticket items they offer. The AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) usually does better by a fair bit and AAA less unless I have a flat or something like that and need road service. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/12 "2014-08-28T16:55:20Z")
I joined because they’re a very powerful lobby with politics I generally agree with. The discounts are about comparable to AAA’s. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/13 "2014-08-28T17:00:40Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > The discounts at hotels are available without actually being a member. I have never been asked to show a card, which I don’t carry. Ask for the AARP discount and you will get it. I used to think that, until I was asked to produce the card at two different hotels. I did end up getting the discount in both cases, but it was because the hotel clerks took pity on me after making me squirm a bit. (I am a member, but I avoid carrying rarely-used cards and usually forget to grab the card before leaving on a trip.) However, I have _never_ been asked to show a card after making reservations online and checking the “AARP Discount” box on the web form. Those two exceptions involved times that I walked into hotels without a reservation. I don’t avail myself of any AARP services beyond the discounts, but it’s worth it just on that basis. What amazes me is that I have over-55 friends who proudly report throwing away AARP mail solicitations because they “aren’t old.” So it’s worth paying an extra ten or fifteen bucks at a hotel just so you can continue telling yourself that you’re Not Old? ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/14 "2014-08-28T17:03:41Z")
I refuse to join because they are an extremely powerful lobby and I don’t agree with their politics. They are not just a clearing house for discounts for old people, they are first and foremost a lobby. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/15 "2014-08-28T17:04:09Z")
> [@Kiros](#): > > You might think that, but YOU DON’T KNOW AARP! > > (I kind of hate those commercials.) In the old commercials, they’d actually say A.A.R.P., but in the ones I see now, they call it “arp”, as if it’s a word. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/16 "2014-08-28T17:08:12Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I get the same impression about AAA. Possibly but with 2 adult kids and myself on a $ 230 a year plan with 3 cars it has been worth it’s weight in gold (for me) in tows, battery jumps and locksmith discounts. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/17 "2014-08-28T17:25:19Z")
Yeah, the discounts are pretty weak a lot of the time. But waving an AARP card when you are well under 60 gets a lot of senior discounts from places. My most recent example: discount code for a car rental. The AARP code on their web site didn’t come anywhere close to getting the discount I got from a code at [retailmenot](http://www.retailmenot.com/). AARP has their own AAA-type thing via Hartford. It’s a better deal, IMO. We got really mad at them several years ago when they supported the MediCare reform stuff. Terrible law, in our opinion. AARP supported it since it meant $ for their Rx services. Never mind what was good for their members. Dropped them for a while but eventually signed up again to get some discounts. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/18 "2014-08-28T17:31:47Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > What amazes me is that I have over-55 friends who proudly report throwing away AARP mail solicitations because they “aren’t old.” So it’s worth paying an extra ten or fifteen bucks at a hotel just so you can continue telling yourself that you’re Not Old? Hey! You talkin bout me?😉 The first mailing I received from AARP pissed me off. How did they know how old I was? I’m 56 now and throw out everything coming from them over that initial irritation. Yes, I realize it’s not rational. Love AAA though. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/19 "2014-08-28T17:33:49Z")
Sixteen bucks these days is pretty cheap for anything, and you get a magazine and a newsletter. Magazines that cost 5 times as much have no more content and packed full of ads. If you want the travel discounts, just subscribe once, and keep the card forever – motels never check it for current validity, Ive been traveling for a decade on the temporary card that comes with the offer, to use until your membership kit arrives. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756/20 "2014-08-28T19:05:16Z")
Free membership years are easy to come by – keep your eye out for Walgreen’s promotions; their freebie health screening tests events usually include that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aarp-membership-worth-it/696756.md?page=2)