Originally Posted by Jon Maiman

In the last few months, I have seen prepaid AAA rates now being offered in addition to the traditional AAA rates. They aren't well marked. You have to read the fine print and see that a deposit is required and nonrefundable nor changeable after 24 hours of booking. Furthermore, it has a final advance cutoff date which might be retroactive (e.g. no changes immediately after making the reservation).

I got caught off guard and booked one by accident. Specifically, I modified an existing AAA rate reservation because it looked like the rate went down when it actually was converting from a traditional, refundable AAA rate to a non-refundable prepaid rate. I caught my mistake when the charge hit my credit card that evening. I cancelled the reservation the next morning and the property graciously agreed to refund the charge when I contacted them. Kudos to Townplace Suites Republic Airport Long Island/Farmingdale! They are always very responsive and easy to work with.

To add insult to injury, the AAA prepay rate is almost always higher than the standard prepay rate. So even if you want to book a prepay rate, why would you ever choose the higher AAA prepay rate? I guess there must be boundary cases where it is lower.

TL;DR New AAA prepay rates are deceptive since they aren't well marked and typically more expensive than the standard prepay rate. Buyer beware!

--Jon