Also, keep in mind that AAA cards get printed for 2-years validity (for example a card issued in April 2007, is valid through April 2009 according to the card - even though you're only paid up through April 2008 - and, though I'm not 100% sure, I think if you were to lose your card in say, February 2008 and ask them to send you a new one, it'd show a validity date of February 2010 - of course, I'm not 100% sure of that) - based on this, you can get away with paying for it only once every 2 years if you think that you're only going to use for hotels - if you're going to use it for other things (like maps, travel agency services, etc), you would have to pay the annual fee...