>>>1) Should I join AARP or not?
I joined because my own COBRA was about to expire and my "theory" was they would be a pretty good start on consolidating my senior needs. I am now with their United Health Care program, but I only had one minor claim. Dollar-wise, it's about $100/mo, with no Rx provisions.
>>>2) Isn't there another Olde Phart group that's a bit more right of center I could join?
There are alternatives to them, but my "theory" was, like the NRA, they were the biggest and strongest gorilla in Washington WRT senior issues.
The $16 annual membership fee is purely nominal. They provide (sell?) your information to their preferred providers, who then deluge you with mail solicitations. I've got a POB, which discourages general junk mail, but after joining them I would find my little POB crammed with rather bulky solicitations. I asked them in writing to only send me stuff directly related to my account to no avail. So be prepared for that.
I did get a lot of stuff from the Hartford and ignored it until my State Farm (SF) car insurance was about to expire. SF was very stubborn about reducing my premiums because of my excellent driving record (knock wood), my age, and my minimal driving habits (<5k mileses/year). I warned SF that I was looking around, that they weren't competitive, and they insisted on telling me they had reduced my premium as much as they could.
So, I called Hartford and gave them my data and I found I got substantially the same coverage for somewhat over half what I was paying SF --call it 60-ish%. In addition, I found that they also (like Progressive) offer that little recording dealie which you plug in to your car's diagnostic plug for possibly more of a discount, so I opted for that, too.* SF did not have such a device. (I note also that SF has been selling off a lot of their buildings... I wonder why.)
I have no idea how good or bad their claim service is, and hopefully will not need to find out. :) I am simply tired of supporting shitty drivers' bad habits with my SF premiums.
>>>3) Should I join AARP for just one year, get the card and use the hell out of it, even long after it expires. (Do they expire?)
They do expire. (ETA: See point 5, below.) I have no idea what the legal implications of "borderline fraudulent" flashing of their card for discounts might be, but when I got my AARP cell phone from Sears, they actually called AARP to confirm my membership number and status. In general, I find that I can get senior discounts just by asking for them anyhow. But then again, I don't look any 50 years old anymore. Like by about 26 of 'em.
>>>4) Does the Rightwing Olde Phart group have the similar or better deals?
I imagine that cherry-picking for what you want might yield better money deals, but I have not done a rigorous analysis of them, again, on the "gorilla" theory.
I agree with Ben as to the bad taste in my mouth on dealing with leftie groups. I'm pretty right-wing, and I even carry that out to avoiding movies and other entertainment outlets which involve rabid left wingers, but nowdays it's virtually impossible to maintain one's political stance in ordinary commerce. E.g., I broke my Uhmurrikun-made coffepot recently and quickly bought a Chinese coffeemaker for about $8.00 from Wal-mart. So I am also loyal to my wallet and hope my other efforts to stem the tide of hyperleftism will make up for my practical outlook on commercial matters.
>>>5) Other ideas/options?
Incorporated in the above summary. One thing I got a rush of brains to the head about yesterday, is that with the different expiration dates of those other benefits I mentioned, I am kind of "locked in" to AARP, unless I quit all of them at once, which would be impractical, because I'd have to find substitute providers in a grand panicky effort. Hm.
Terry
* Heh. They told me that among other things, the device senses braking habits. That bothered me a little, since avoiding aholes made frequent braking necessary, and besides, I flash my brakes a lot to signal other drivers --like when backing, etc. She (the representative) laughed and said not to worry about things like that.
