AA Traveller

"Visited here whilst competing in the waitomo trail run 2020."

"Great simple bistro type food. Our fish n chips was excellent. The view as always is just magic. Staff friendly."

"DON'T BUY THEIR TRAVEL INSURANCE. I bought a comprehensive policy online, and one week before departure I went into a branch to try and itemise a high value item. The branch immediately tried to dismiss me saying that if you purchased the policy online, you needed to do everything via internet or phoning the customer service team. After some convincing they agreed to hear me out. I intended to purchase one high value item (approx. $2000 NZD) whilst on my trip, and due to the higher value was hoping it could be itemised on the policy. Of course I was more than happy to pay extra for this. I was told that their policies DO NOT provide any coverage for any items acquired whilst on your trip. In other words, if you don't already possess an item when you depart NZ, it's not covered. No flexibility, no exceptions, no amount of money would insure my item. I also called their customer hot-line to verify this information and was told the same thing. What a joke. One of the best things about travelling are the treasures you acquire on your trip - how ridiculous for them to refuse to insure any of them? Even when you purchased their most comprehensive policy? I wonder how many people buy their travel insurance and are completely unaware that all of their purchases and duty-free shopping are UNINSURED. I went around the corner to their competitor. Explained the situation, they thought AA's stance was pretty hilarious, and informed me all of their policies cover items acquired during the trip. They also told me a $2000 item was fine, no need to itemise it. Bought their policy and travelled with peace of mind. No refund or sympathy from the AA. That's another long-time customer they've lost."

"Very dissatisfied with this organisation and the way they run their business. I booked accommodation from them, paid by credit card, was sent a booking confirmation and then nearly 2 months later, less than a week before my booking I accidentally discover that they had cancelled my booking right back when I booked it but no notification of this reached me. I have since found out that after they take your booking and money they then check with the accommodation provider to see if the accommodation is still available. If it isn’t then they refund your card and send you an email. So in other words they are selling something that they do not necessarily have the rights to sell. That has to be in breach of some consumer legislation. Anyway in my case I made a typo with my email address entered into their site so I never got the email cancellation. My email would have bounced, but they are obviously too lazy to do anything about it. The Motel in question, when the muck hit the fan, tried to email me, but that bounced to so they then called my cell phone number that I entered in when booking. The motel bent over backwards to help me out. They went the extra step. I wish I could say the same for the turkeys at AA Travel, but it appears that picking up the phone was beyond their capabilities. Do not book through AA Travel as they are selling rooms that are sometimes not available and have caused me lots of grief."