Q&A
Little Card, Big Value
Membership guru Ashley Pharand shows how
you can save with your AMA card
BY PAUL GALLANT
introduced monthly payment
plans, so a basic membership
costs less than $9 per month.
PEOPLE SOMETIMES TEASE
Ashley Pharand about her
passion for AMA. At dinner
parties, her boyfriend has
been known to nudge her
to try another subject. At a
wedding, friends caught her
smoothing out the bubbles
in the AMA decal on her
car. In spite of the friendly
ribbing, the manager of
membership marketing is
determined to make sure
Albertans know how to get
maximum value out of their
AMA membership.
COOPER & O’HARA PHOTOGRAPHY
I’ve heard you’re quite
the bargain hunter.
Around here they lovingly
call me the coupon lady
(though I’m not really).
But for the past few years,
I have created this master
spreadsheet for holiday
shopping. I put in the names
of the people I’m buying
for, what I want to get for
them and where I can buy
those things. Then I watch
for deals! If retailers are
part of AMA’s eStore, I keep
my eyes open for a two- or
three-times reward dollars
event—so I get more money
back in my AMA account.
A lot of people don’t realize
one reward dollar is equal
to one dollar.
Kids Go Free
It can take an entire village
just to shuffle kids from
school to hockey games
and other after-school
How has AMA membership evolved?
We’re definitely more than
roadside assistance. We still
protect drivers when their
cars break down, but we
help beyond the road too.
We’ve always had a good
range of automotive and
services partners in our
AMARewards portfolio,
but we’re always adding
more dining and shopping
partners, as well as eStore
and entertainment offers.
If you’re a shopaholic or
activities and back home
again. Last September,
AMA introduced Kids Go
Free, allowing Plus or
Premier members to add
children (15 and under) to
renovating your home—or
even getting married—your
AMA card can save you a
lot of money. We also have
a CAA Rewards MasterCard
credit card that allows you
to earn one percent back in
reward dollars on eligible
purchases. And since reward
dollars are just like cash—
and can be used to pay for
anything you buy from
AMA, including travel and
insurance—it’s like you earn
your way to a vacation just
by shopping. We’ve also
their membership—for free.
Kids get their own membership card, allowing them
to call for roadside assistance, regardless of whose
vehicle they’re in. Plus,
What is the most
underappreciated benefit
of AMA membership?
Trip Collision Reimbursement. Every member gets
some level of coverage if
they’re on a road trip more
than 125 kilometres away
from home. At the basic
level, we’ll reimburse you
up to $300 for things like
food and lodging; for Plus
it’s $600. With Premier
membership, there’s also
Trip Interruption Protection, which nets you up to
$2,000, including a portion
allotted to vehicle return in
the event you’re too sick to
continue on your road trip.
You recently upgraded
your own membership
to Premier. Why?
Premier used to be by invitation only, but we recently
added functionality in your
online account, so you
can now upgrade anytime
throughout your membership year. That—combined
with the fact that I get more
of the coverage I already
love—made it a no-brainer
for me to upgrade.
the primary member gets
a phone call letting them
know what’s going on.
ama.ab.ca/KidsGoFree
AMA INSIDER
SUMMER 2016
11