Despite being primarily associated with seniors, an AARP membership offers a wide range of benefits and discounts that can be valuable for people of all ages. For just $11 per year, an AARP membership can provide access to various services and savings that can easily exceed the cost of the membership fee.
If you'd love to get good deals on travel, dining, entertainment, healthcare, and more, then it's definitely worth considering an AARP membership.
What Is AARP As an Organization?
AARP is the largest non-profit, non-partisan organization in the United States, supporting over 100 million people in all states with good deals, discounts, and special offers in various fields such as travel, dining, healthcare, and much more.
AARP was founded in 1958 by Ethel Percy Andrus and Leonard Davis to provide a voice for older Americans and empower them to live their best lives. Since then, AARP has grown into a large organization with numerous benefits for its members.
Here are some of the benefits of an AARP membership:
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Restaurants - up to 15% discount
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Hotels and resorts - up to 10% discount
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Round-trip flights with Airfare - up to $200 savings
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Car rentals - up to 30% discount, etc.
Get Your AARP MembershipWhat Is an AARP Membership?
AARP membership is a yearly subscription model that gives its subscribers 15 member benefit categories - from travel and restaurants to work, finances, and advocacy.
With $11 a year, an AARP member can access exclusive discounts, services, and resources + access to journals, magazines and other content sources.
You'll pay only $12 for your first membership year with an automatic renewal option. With this small amount, you get a lot in return. Even using one of the member benefits once will cover the cost of your membership, let alone using multiple benefits throughout the year.
Membership is acquired on the AARP's official website, where you pay for it via credit card and take no hassle.
Once you pay the subscription fee, all the benefits and discounts are open to you. To use them, log in to your AARP account and print a copy of your AARP membership plan, while your physical card will arrive within 3 weeks.
Main AARP Membership Benefits You Get for a Small Yearly Fee
Let us list some brands that cooperate with AARP, and you'll get an idea of the scope and depth of discounts available.
It's Hilton, AT&T, Denny's, TrueCar, and many of AARP's own brands, such as AARP The Magazine, AARP Games, AARP Job Board, and more!
Let's look at some of the most popular benefits among AARP members.
AARP Travel
Frequent travelers will just love AARP travel discounts - for booking your stays, renting cars in a foreign country, going on rails and tours, and anything else for adventurous souls.
If you want to book your stay, you can do so with the AARP Travel Center Powered by Expedia. With this, you save up to 10% off select hotels, which include Best Western, Wyndham, Choice, and other brands.
Besides hotels and resorts, the AARP Travel category includes the following member benefit categories.
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Car Rentals
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Cruises
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Flights & Vacation Packages
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Hotels & Resorts
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Rail & Tours
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Travel Planning
Restaurants and Shopping
Seylou Bakery & Mill, Watergate Pastry, The Great American Bistro, Empire Lounge, Las Placitas, and so much more! Whether you are in the mood for casual dining, fine dining, or lighter fast food and snacks, your AARP membership provides local coupons for eating for eating out and at-home shopping.
The same applies for shopping and groceries. Local coupons are available for clothing, accessories, flower, gifts, and more! Shop from places like Clarks, HP.com, Sherwin-Williams, PetMeds and other familiar names.
AARP Online Games
Do you want to spend quality leisure time? Enjoy your access to free online games and puzzles—from Atari games to puzzles and quizzes.
Besides the rich collection of free games, AARP members get around 40 member-only, exclusive games or games that have member-only features.
AARP Job Board
AARP Job Board is a wide network of employers that focus on job seekers. There are categories for each employee group, including Employer Pledge Companies that hire 50+ people and "Veterans Wanted" jobs for those who serve the country.
You can narrow your search down by profession, location, work type, salary range, and/or language. The AARP Job Board supports the highly skilled workforce in finding matching jobs.
Delta Dental
If you want a dental coverage for the most common dental procedures - applicable for you and your family, use the AARP Dental Insurance Plan administered by Delta Dental Insurance Company and insured by Dentegra Insurance Company, Delta Dental Insurance Company or affiliate companies.
This package gives you access to many dentists in the country and includes diagnostic and preventative services, basic restorative services, endodontic and periodontic procedures, oral surgery and more.
AARP Hearing Center
AARP provides its members with a scientifically validated phone-administered hearing test for free annually. The results are confidential and available for your review within 10 minutes after you take the test by phone.
If you have hearing loss or need hearing aids, AARP offers plenty of resources and advice on how to protect your ears, live a healthy life, and reduce your hearing loss.
BMI Calculator
If you want to check your body mass index online to understand your health status and potential health risks, you can do it with an AARP BMI calculator available online. Based on the personal data you submit on the BMI calculator, you will fall into one of the pre-selected, broad groups: underweight, healthy weight, overweight, or obesity.
You will also receive recommendations and suggestions on how to maintain or reach a healthy weight and reduce your risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
AARP® Vision Plans from VSP™
Similar to Delta Dental, AARP membership also allows you to have a vision insurance plan for you and your family members. Four vision plans are available based on the eye-related health services you need.
Regardless of the plan you choose, you'll have an annual eye exam, glasses, and lens enhancements, such as progressives and anti-glare coatings. AARP's visual insurance plans are powered by VSP.
Prescriptions for the Whole Family
Have peace of mind for you and your loved ones with AARP Prescription Discounts provided by Optum Rx, which gives you a free prescription discount card for all FDA-approved medications from big retail pharmacies like Walgreens, CVS, Walmart Pharmacy, and more.
If you're an AARP member, you get deeper medication discounts, also home delivery, and coverage.
Much More
Above, we've only discussed some of the many benefits that come with an AARP membership. In addition to these, you also get access to financial resources like retirement planning tools and advice from experts, travel discounts for hotels, rental cars, cruises and more, and insurance options for health, auto, home and life coverage at competitive rates, various educational programs and workshops covering topics like cybersecurity and tax preparation assistance.
You can take a look at the full list of benefits on the AARP website and see how much you can save with an AARP membership.
What Are the Requirements to Join AARP?
You must be at least 18 years old to get an AARP membership. However, some AARP benefits are age-specific and might not apply to younger members (for example, certain insurance plans).
But if you love active living, travel frequently, seek discounts, deals, and benefits, and enjoy being part of a community that works for you, AARP might be the perfect fit, even if you are under 50.
