I am not a member of AOPA, but people who are, claim they can get discounts from hotel chains etc. Do any members have this card? Does it work? Would a useful project be a EuroGA Crew card with a view to getting some concessions? What do we think?
I have an AOPA card and have got 5% discount on fuel on Guernsey as a result
Aside from the mentioned CI fuel discounts, having an AOPA card gives you the famous Greece handling discounts. Also, allegedly, there are now similar discounts in Bulgaria.
Other than that, discounts when booking hotels and rental cars often depend on agreements between the single AOPA country branches. In other words, it depends which AOPA membership you have.
The German AOPA for example used to have discounts for rental companies such as Hertz. These have apparently not been renewed in 2015 which is a big disappointment. They still have some hotel discounts (through a dedicated login to HRS.com), but even there, discounts seem to be almost zero nowadays.
Just renewed my AOPA UK but at £90 plus I am starting to experience some sticker shock – I think the rate has been going up at 5% p.a., perhaps for too long. I know they do some lobby good but with these rates I imagine their membership is not growing.
Did once get a fuel discount at Jersey, on a piston twin, which was quite useful, but less relevant these days at 4 1/2 USGPH.
Honestly, I think than an AOPA crew card (or any other crew card by the way) gives you exactly the same discount that you would get by politely asking “Is that your final price?”. Especially at hotels where 5 percent discount on the official price will still be 200 percent above the HRS or booking.com price.
But recently I was pleasantly surprised when I stopped at a car parts dealer on my way home to get some “plumbing” for my exhaust. The guy saw my airport ID card (not a crew card!) and said “oh, you work at the airport, that entitles you to 30 percent discount!”. I wouldn’t even have thought about asking for any discount at all…
In anticipation of going to Greece in September, I started checking the info about AOPA membership. Guess what? Czech Republic does not even have an active national AOPA. I wonder if I should go for the UK one as I fly under G-reg, or possibly look for some other national AOPA with better perks and/or lower fees… Any advice?
I am a member of US AOPA (only) and have successfully used that a number of times; Sep 2014 most recently at LGSM. They even checked the membership expiry date 
I would be astonished if, with all the GA going in Czech, there were no AOPA.
I would contact the people here and inquire (yesv, the website aopa.cz does not seem to exist).
If there really is none, then I would indeed consider AOPA USA. It is thr least expensive one and gives you a (mostly useless) magazine with lots of adverts and advertorials. (BTW, in all other cases, i.e. where there is a “real” AOPA in the country of residence, I really don’t like people being “only” AOPA USA member, but to each his own).
Mixed results with AOPA card in the US. Usually can get better discounts with other membership cards. If you are in a hotel by the airport or a hotel that sees a lot of aircrew you might be able to get a crew discount up to 30% off. But that depends on the front desk. Sometimes they ask for Airline ID. then you sunk. Other times just having the crew tag on your luggage is enough. It also helps if you look the part. For 30% off Im not putting on the epaulettes.
The AOPA membership card did pay for itself 2x over in Corfu.
I only have it to support AOPA …and i am sure it’s helpful in Greece.
Other than that i always find a way to negotiate a good discount, and today rnatl cars are really so cheap … like € 200 for 7 days in Nice this winter, unlimited mileage and a car big enough for 4
