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Buckle Up for a Summer Road Trip
By Amity Moore Joyce
When school is out and warm winds blow, ’tis the season for a road trip. Summer brings long, sunshine-filled days, so there’s plenty of time for exploration. But where should you go? And do you really want to put miles on your own car? AAA is the trusted, go-to resource for all things road trip related. Your AAA Membership is the key to unlocking convenient road trip-planning tools and exclusive savings on Hertz rentals—so you don’t put extra miles on your personal vehicle.
4 TOP REASONS TO RENT WITH AAA
1 By renting a car, you limit the wear and tear to your personal vehicle, thus saving you money in the long run. Plus, there are no oil changes to schedule, no tires to check and no fluids to refill. It’s a vacation after all—and it’s OK to take one from your car and the maintenance that comes with it.
2 You can use the road trip as an opportunity to bring some fun and novelty to your ride by renting a model you might not consider for everyday use. Hertz presents several collections to choose from, including Dream Cars (sporty, high-performance models of Porsche, Mercedes, Maserati, BMW and Range Rover), the Green Traveler Collection (various hybrid and electric vehicles) and the Adrenaline Collection (high-performance Camaros, such as SS Convertibles, Challengers and Hertz-Hendricks, and Shelby GTs). Or, go with something from Hertz’s American Collection. The selection of vehicles in this group ranges from convertible Ford Mustangs to limited-edition Camaros to Jeep Wranglers to Cadillac Escalades to Dodge Ram trucks. With so many options, it’s easy to select a style that works best for your road trip.
Hertz
3Members can join the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards® loyalty program for free and earn points toward free days and upgrades. PRO TIP: You save time and get on the road faster by skipping the counter and going straight to the lot with a wide selection of cars to choose from. When you return, you simply drop off the keys and go.
4 AAA Members also receive points equivalent to a free rental day after the first Gold rental, and AAA Premier Members will be upgraded to Five Star status, allowing you to earn more points. Restrictions apply. For complete terms and conditions, visit AAA.com/CarRental.
BONUS BENEFIT
Many rental agencies charge fees for younger drivers (under 25), but for AAA Members who are young renters (ages 20-24), those fees are waived when you rent your Hertz vehicle through AAA and meet standard rental requirements. You can save up to $29 per day when renting select Hertz vehicles.
Mary's Rock Tunnel is an iconic feature of Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park.
ITINERARIES APLENTY
If you already know where you want to go, say from your home to Miami before hopping aboard a cruise bound for The Bahamas, the Caribbean or Mexico, then plan your epic road trip with a digital AAA TripTik. This helpful tool, available as an app for your mobile device or accessible from your computer, offers directions and allows you to curate stops along the way. By clicking different icons that represent accommodations, attractions, restaurants, fueling stations, digital travel planning, AAA savings opportunities, auto repair or AAA offices, you can tailor the road trip to your interests, budget and timeline.
Aerial view of I-40 near Asheville, North Carolina
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On the other hand, if you’re not sure where you want the open road to take you, AAA offers inspiration for spectacular domestic drive trips. Look to the road trip expert, AAA, to arrange a driving itinerary around a theme or a specific destination to be sure you don't miss a single highlight of your drive vacation. For example, if you've always dreamed of hiking the Appalachian Trail but know that such an undertaking isn’t likely to happen, you can drive it! The recommended drive time to cover the 1,332-mile getaway is 10 days. Fourteen stops, ranging from natural and historic sites to art and water park attractions, are suggested along the way, including Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest at the southern end of the trail in Georgia; Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which stretches through parts of Tennessee and North Carolina; Larkin Arts in Virginia; Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Pennsylvania; Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey; the Mark Twain House in Connecticut; Ogunquit Beach in Maine; and finally the Monson Visitor Center, near the trail’s northern terminus in Maine.
Swing into a golf-focused road trip that could also be paired with a cruise by following the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama. Start your 11- to 14-day driving vacation in the Shoals—where the Muscle Shoals sound originated and the Rolling Stones and other Billboard-topping musicians recorded hits in the 1960s and later—to play the Fighting Joe course, then make your way south, hitting several other courses before landing in the Birmingham area to play two of the golf trail’s gems: Oxmoor Valley and Ross Bridge. Opelika’s Grand National, which Robert Trent Jones Sr. called the single greatest natural site for golf he had ever seen, presents one of the best collections of one-shotters in the country on its Short Course. Eleven stops comprise this 800-plus-mile road trip, including the final one at Magnolia Grove near Mobile. After playing a round here and exploring the city where Mardi Gras originated, head to the Port of Mobile to board a Carnival cruise bound for the Western Caribbean, the Southern Caribbean or The Bahamas.
Beartooth Scenic Highway, Wyoming
In addition to drive itineraries along the East and Gulf coasts, AAA offers some inspiration for drives in the Southwest, Northern Rockies, Great Lakes, West Coast, Texas, and even Canada, Alaska and Hawaii. Drive Route 66 in New Mexico and Arizona or follow Montana’s and Wyoming’s Beartooth Scenic Highway. Check out the inlets, beaches and coastal towns of Lake Michigan, where the mighty lake laps the shores of northwest Michigan. It’s a great itinerary for tasting Michigan wines or plucking cherries when they’re in season. Wine lovers also are drawn to drive trips in California, where vineyards in Napa and Sonoma line the byways. To find seemingly untouched wilderness, head to Alaska, where the Taylor Highway is open April to mid-October. The twists and turns of this seasonal route present gorgeous scenic views of the mountains and excellent opportunities for wildlife watching between the towns of Eagle and Chicken.
The road is calling. Time to buckle up for an all-American road trip!
Ready to plan your drive vacation? Discover more reasons to rent a vehicle and unlock exclusive AAA Member savings at AAA.com/CarRental.