Advantages: Bright, colourful, great pics, good text
Disadvantages: £12.99 less to spend on Rum!!

...I must admit, I wouldn't instinctively turn to the AA (Automobile Association) when it comes to guide books, especially not one for the Caribbean! However, the AA do produce a good range (300 or more) of guidebooks, and the Explorer series is really rather good. Softback, handy travel bag size (not pocket), around 300 pages of a mixture of text, full colour photographs and useful maps. This book covers all the major islands including: Anguilla, Antiga, Aruba, Barbados, Barbuda, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Grenadines, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinque, Montserrat, Nevis, Puerto Rico, Saba, St. Croix, St. John, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Thomas, St. Vincent, Tortola and Trinidad & Tobago. Whilst perhaps each island could command a book in itself, this is a great introduction... Read review

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Advantages: Beautifully illustrated and tough.
Disadvantages: A bit higgledy-piggledy

...section dividers with tabs to make finding each section easy. If like me you head for the travel guide section when you are in a bookshop, you will know what I mean, as these are a bit of a trademark for the AA Key Guide series. There are a great many maps (more about them later) and a high picture to text ratio. The durability of the book is in part due to its cover, a sort of reinforced paperback. But looks are not everything, what about substance? For this, I will take you through the book section by section and judge each one according to my experience of it. ~Introduction~ **************** The book starts with a 38 page introduction to the city comprising general, historical and background information about the city. This is the part I spent some time reading before leaving and it was an adequate introduction to the city... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Good breakdown service...
Disadvantages: ... but recently flawed

...I've been a member of the AA for a few years now and up till 2000 I didn’t have to use it much! But from 2000 till the beginning of 2001 was a bad year for me as I broke down about 4 times! Talk about bad luck! Anyway the breakdown cover I have is the Option 200 ROADSIDE + RELAY cover which is jointly used by my brother which means a joint cost of £106 for a year. This covers me for any roadside assistance and in the case of the AA man not being to able to fix my car, it means I can get towed to my final destination or a garage. I think most people have an idea what the AA Breakdown service is all about and what the service offers, so I wont bore you with the details but I would like to share an experience with you which might make you think carefully about joining the AA. I’ve never ever felt dissatisfied... Read review

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Advantages: Easy to use, good quality information
Disadvantages: Rapidly goes out of date, some areas under represented

...We bought this book after getting another, similar book from crufts free a few years ago. (The AA Guide) This book is just as good as the previous one and I have found it ideal for nights away and lunch on a summer sunday. We have tried several of the places and so far they have all served decent food. We tried one of the B&Bs but without the dog, so can not comment on how good their dog accomodation was! I did find that some parts of the country were less well represented than others. (Herefordshire in particluar doesn't have many listings). One of my relatives also uses this book and whilst on holiday she went to one of the recommended pubs, only to find it had changed ownership and now does not accept dogs. Not a major problem but a bit of a nuisance. Since then we have always phoned ahead just in case!... Read review

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Advantages: Large Network of Patrols
Disadvantages: In our experience, bureaucratic, officious, and unhelpful.

...The new motto of The Automobile Association Limited seems to be "You've Got AA Friend," and their website says, "Hello, how can we help you today?" Where were all those smiling faces when we actually needed their assistance? My wife has had coverage with the AA since 2003, when we moved over from the RAC after reading an article in Which? magazine. The article said: "Britannia Rescue and the AA had the best rating for the courtesy of their staff - over 80 per cent of their members said they were very satisfied with they way their calls were dealt with. Yet again, the RAC came out near the bottom of the pile. Just 48 per cent of callers were very satisfied with the service." Early on July 26 2005 two of our farm colleagues headed off from sunny Worcester in our Vauxhall Brava, towing a trailer with an Aberdeen Angus steer bound... Read review

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Advantages: Extremely efficient. Amazing Cover. Very Good Value
Disadvantages: In my case and circumstances - NONE!

...! The salesman said that no, he didn't have the number to hand, but that he would get back to me with it as soon as he could. Five minutes later, true to his word the phone rang and I had the AA European Breakdown Assistance number in Germany! Honda Chiswick earned themselves a LOT of loyalty bonus points that evening! As a compete aside here, a spot of "gallows humour" you could say, the salesman had originally called to enthusiastically offer me a test drive in the newly launched Honda Civic, he had just been issued with a new diesel demonstrator. It doesn't sound as funny now, as it did to me there and then in my hospital bed, but my reply was that: "I'd love to, only there is a small problem right now." "Oh, what's that?" "I am, as we speak lying in a Polish hospital bed, I will not be able to walk for three months, you see I broke... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: you decide
Disadvantages: again , draw your own conclusions ...

...Almost exactly a year ago we had occasion to use , for the first time in our five years of membership , the services of the AA . We had been on our way to Portsmouth Passenger Ferry Terminal for our pre booked trip across the Channel to Caen on one of our regular visits to our house in Western Brittany . We were trundling along the A34 in our Ford van , making good time , and looking forward to our trip , when there was a sudden loud bang . The passenger side of the vehicle dropped and my husband lost all control of the vehicle as it slewed sideways out of the centre lane , then across the inside lane and a joining slip road with upcoming traffic . How the lorry coming up to our left managed to miss us , or we him , I will never know , but eventually we came to rest suddenly and jarringly on the soft verge about two thirds... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: The organisation
Disadvantages: Certain policies of the organisation

...again confirming the remarkable cloning process that appears to homogenize the character of AA patrolmen. Just before moving on, my conversation with the remote AA representative proved to be of significance later. She asked me as to the nature of the problem, and on replying that it was 'a clutch problem', she also asked if the pedal had 'gone to the floor' to which I replied in the affirmative. After a brief investigation the patrolman announced that the problem was a broken clutch ratchet and that there was no conceivable roadside repair. Mentioning the antecedents, being unconvinced but also aware that that when this was renewed the clutch and plate were similarly replaced, the reply received was that it is a known problem. 'Please can you take me home'; there was no alternative offered at this point. Being towed on a bar is worse... Read review

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Advantages: NONE FOR ME
Disadvantages: WHERE DO I BEGIN?

...Hi, Just had to call the AA out for the first time in 8 years of membership, I was so disgusted with there service (or lack of in my case) that I wrote a letter to their cheif executive. Below is the letter, I'll let you all know his reply if he bothers to send one. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Mr Parker, Membership number: ************* I have been a loyal customer for 8 years now (I do not recollect ever calling the AA out in this time). I have trusted my families motoring peace of mind to the AA all this time thinking that you will be our saving grace in our hour of need on the road, after all the AA are the '4th Emergency Service'! How wrong could I be? On last Thursday evening I was involved in a 70mph accident on the A3 in Hampshire. I had... Read review

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