In addition, with the touch of a single button the phone sends a member's GPS location to AAA and connects the user with AAA for quick and reliable roadside assistance.
AAA Mobile is powered by the Networks In Motion (NIM) location-based services platform, and is available for download directly from select GPS-enabled wireless phones.
"At a cost that is consumer friendly, AAA Mobile provides the convenience of obtaining information on demand using a device that most people already have and always carry with them," said Marshall L. Doney, vice president, AAA Automotive. "AAA serves the largest paid-membership group of consumers in North America and believes this technology represents a breakthrough in content, convenience and cost for millions of wireless phone users that want mobile access to AAA services. In addition, participating AAA members will now have the added capability to send their GPS location to AAA when they require roadside assistance."
AAA Mobile's main menu provides users with the option to:
* Search for AAA reviewed points of interest (POIs) from AAA's travel-tested TourBook guides, Show Your Card & Save merchants, AAA Approved Auto Repair facilities, and AAA branch offices, as well as ATMs, gas stations, theaters and other types of businesses;
* View maps of selected locations, and store destinations for quick recall.
Subscribers can search by category, such as hotel or restaurant, for the closest locations or those that match all or part of a business name. AAA Mobile users also can view a map of their current location, another address, an intersection, airport, or a bookmarked or recently used location. Pan and zoom functions allow users to scroll to a place on the map, search for a nearby business, or request a route to that location.
"With this service, AAA's more than 50 million members don't need to know where they are when their vehicle breaks down because the phone will send their GPS location to a AAA call center," said Doug Antone, president and CEO, Networks In Motion. "Travelers also have useful information at their fingertips such as a hotel's Diamond Rating or a restaurant where they can show their AAA card to save money."
AAA Mobile is available as a downloaded application to subscribers with select GPS-enabled phones for $9.99 per month. More information, including which phones are compatible with AAA Mobile, is available at www.AAA.com/AAAMobile.