AA patrols are coming up with raising funds for Help for Heroes, and they will be taking part in a rally across Europe that hopes to raise around £100,000 for the cause. This would be an eleven day event and The Help for Heroes 4X4 European Rally 2010 (19-29 June) and it would cover 1800 miles across six countries. At the starting point, it will be waived by BBC Radio 2’s Lynn Bowles near Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, before they would be crossing Normandy from Portsmouth. After that the routes take to other significant places like Arnhem, Holland, and Bastogne in Belgium, where from they would be heading towards Alsace, France. Finally, they finish in Bavaria in Germany.
For the purpose of raising funds for charity, there are great peoples like Tony Knott of Sandhurst, Berkshire, Kevin Jones of Wittersham, Kent and John Foster from Shrewsburry, will be giving their hands for any kind of technical issues. Further, carrying on with the cause, they will move to two Land Rovers- one is the Defender 100 and the second one is Discovery that they bought and had done painting in AA colours. After the event of the charity these would be sold. Tony Knott, one who would be helping with any of the issues technically, said “Help for Heroes is a great charity for those special heroes who are serving in the reserves. There are many other people at AA breakdown family and there are much more friends there. The total number of vehicles would be 49 and to keep everyone on road, we all have our own portion of work cut out. We are totally focussed on doing our job with determination and this will help us in raising good fund for the cause.”
There are two more organizations that are supporting AA with the real cause of raising Funds for Heroes, and these are AA’s partners: Land Rover that is supplying vehicles for the organisers and O2, which is helping in providing mobile communication. Tony, Kevin and John have done a step forward action by creating a web page and they are accepting any kind of donations that would be given for the cause. The Help for Heroes 4×4 European rally 2010 website would be soon updated with all the blogs, pictures and events included in it. There are four of the vehicles in the event that would be fitted with tracking function so that they could be easily followed in their progress. One of those vehicles is Tony Knott’s Land Rover, team 45. If you are also eager to follow the event then you can also follow them on Twitter.
England fans may feel down at the prospect of coming home this early in the tournament however at least they can look forward to safer roads: According to the AA, there are up to 8 times more road deaths in South Africa than the UK.
Despite the South Africa Government investing well over £300 million in their road network, they still couldn’t substantially improve their safety rating. The South African also have different driving rules and regulations. Although they do drive on the left hand side of road like ourselves.
The AA also commented upon the effects of sporting England flags on your car. They state that a flag can increase fuel consumption by up to 6 miles per gallon. That is an extra 1 litre when travelling at 70mph for an hour. We presume the aa breakdown cover is still valid if you have any issues with your car and flags.
Drivers should always be extra careful when driving abroad and keep in the mind the different rules, customs and regulations of each country they travel through. If you need advice on travelling abroad, consult the foreign and commonwealth office:
The AA not only offer breakdown cover and insurance services, but also members benefits which could mean saving money on other services and products.
Here are some benefits starting with 20% off airport parking with Holiday Extras, then you can get up to 60% off car windscreens that are not claimed through car insurance and 5% off certain hotels throughout the UK, you can even get savings on your next bottle of wine supplied by Virgin wine.
The AA have also started a loyalty scheme for those who have have had AA breakdown cover or insurance for over a year, unfortunately you have to login to see what benefits you can get. So unless you have already got AA membership, you will not know what benefits you would get by joining, not sure if this is good marketing.
In a world where breakdown cover is so so competitive, extra member benefits may help covert some more sales.
At first we got the news that the AA were going to strike over the Bank Holiday weekend, then there was a message that not all members would be supporting the strike, so it would be “business as usual”. Earlier this week, messages are delivered stating that the AA would be still delivering a reduced service over the weekend, but today we heard the good news; the strike by AA Patrolmen is off.
The Independent Democratic Union who represent the AA patrolmen have agreed to call off the strike whilst they re-ballot their members on new proposals. This is good news for the motorists who have decided to get away this Bank Holiday weekend, now knowing that their AA policies for breakdown cover can be fully enforced.
The May Bank holiday is traditionally a busy time for motorists, although the weather doe not look as good as most would like. It is also a busy time for retail parks and DIY stores, so the roads are still likely to be busy this weekend.
According to twitter and other sources there appears to be a 2 days strike planed for the 2nd and 3rd of May by a small amount of AA patrolmen. The information available suggests the main reason for the strike is regarding the pension scheme and in recent ballots run by the independent democratic union, most AA patrolmen opted not to strike.
Andrew Strong, CEO of the AA has raised a statement suggesting that the strike will not affect its members and a contingency plan is in place, with normal AA breakdown cover options in place. Andrew goes on to say, he does not believe there is a dispute between AA patrolmen and the company and have agreed to out in 40% more funds than before.
One of the main mistakes consumers make when choosing breakdown cover is to always go for the cheapest option, without thinking about their real requirements and the risks involved. In short, if you breakdown the AA will attend as normal, but if the fault cannot be fixed at the roadside, they will assist you and you car to the nearest garage.
There are other options, by upgrading to a breakdown recovery policy, of which the AA calls “Relay”, so if your vehicle can not be fixed, they will transport the vehicle and a certain amount of passengers back home, or anywhere you want the car to go within the UK mainland. So you could for example asked to be taken to where you were driving to, where you can get your vehicle fixed in your time at a place you choose.
The Relay option is sold with “Roadside” and at the time of writing the price quoted is around £69 for both which includes an online 44% off and together this package is called “Rescue”. It is true that most cars are fixed by the roadside, but if you drive away form home a lot, or have inherent issues with your car that may not be fixed, or you just want piece of mind, then you may find the Rescue package matches your requirements.
What a show of respect to the soldiers fighting in Afghanistan as 10,000 bike riders rode through Wootton Bassett to show respect and appreciation of the work they are doing out there. The AA was there to give support to the riders should there have been any mechanical problems with bikes. This all happened on Mothers Day and was fully subscribed, just showing how much support our troops have from us all.
The campaign was arranged by afghanheros.org and got national press coverage, it certainly was a sight to see, even if it was just on TV.
It is shocking how quick time goes by, so when this AA TV advert appeared lately I found it hard to believe it was from the eighties, it really only seemed a few years ago. It is “I know a man that can” campaign and mixes humour with real like emergencies that the AA breakdown cover service could help you with then and now, although the Giraffe thing is a bit of a tall order. Watch the eighties way of selling AA breakdown cover and you may seen the “very nice man at the end”.
It is hard to imaging that the AA has been around for 105 years, although back then it was called the Automobile Association. When you look back through British history there are not many companies that have stood the test of time as well as this. Of course it is not the same organisation as back them (arguably) with finance and travel (not just motoring travel) also part of the business services offered by the AA.
It has had to adapt to the changing motoring trends, at the same time offering the AA breakdown cover service many have come to trust generation to generation. Its latest adventure is moving into home breakdown cover. No this is not a home car breakdown cover service, but a service for domestic emergencies, such as burst pipes or broken boilers.
The cover is less than £10 a month for existing AA members and a bit more for no members, and will cover you up to a certain value should things go wrong in the home. The AA have the infrastructure to take calls and get the right people to your home asap, but will people take this service out, or wait until things go wrong in the home?
Probably the same as car breakdown cover, get burnt once and that is it, a policy every year for a lifetime.
The AA have put together a new item claiming that winter motoring adds around 3p per litre to already high fuel prices. Using more electrics, having to warm up the oil before it becomes efficient and using the heater are key reasons why it will use 3% more fuel than normal. The initial start up period is the worst with the AA claiming that your car could be using 40% more fuel initially when leaving your drive as it deals with your car being cold.
Other fuel consuming actions are demisting the windows, especially bad on small cars and of course getting stuck in the winter traffic jams that disappear in the summer months as people find alternative transport. As your car gets further from home and warms up consumption figures improve, depending on how long heated windows and heaters stay on.
Although not mentioned in this report, good car care can cut down on initial fuel costs, by ensure you car is tuned correctly and has the right anti freeze in. After all the AA is the largest breakdown cover organisation in the UK. And if you want to use the AA breakdown cover service, rather than ensuring your car is prepared for the winter months, then some consideration and planning should be made.
