Great value

We value your membership, and every month the publications team creates content for AOPA Pilot magazine highlighting the ways we’re working to bring value to your membership.

For example, the “Action” section features AOPA’s federal and state advocacy on general aviation and airport issues. We spotlight both concerns and successes, so you know AOPA’s team in Washington, D.C., and across the country, are working every day on your behalf with one goal—to protect your freedom to fly.

“Tips from PIC” provides a brief insight from AOPA’s Pilot Information Center, a team of pilots, CFIs, A&Ps, and medical staff who can answer just about any GA question you can think of. They answer thousands of member calls each month and are right here in AOPA’s Frederick, Maryland, headquarters.

The “Fly with AOPA” section reviews the many member benefits, products, and services exclusively for AOPA members and provides safety tips from the AOPA Air Safety Institute whose sole mission is to continually improve the GA safety record through effective tools and education. ASI’s videos and online content are viewed more than 10 million times per year.

Advocacy, safety, information, the stories you are reading now, and so much more are all part of the value proposition of being an AOPA member. For many—particularly active pilots—that is a solid value for the annual dues they pay. But others, perhaps those who are not currently flying (and that included me for more than 10 years a while back), want a better return on their annual investment with AOPA—and we hear you.

In September we announced deals and offers from a new group of Benefit Sponsors (see “Exclusively for You,” November 2024 AOPA Pilot). These companies, along with AOPA Partners, have stepped up to offer discounts and benefits available only to AOPA members. And if you take advantage of just a few of them during the course of the year, you could easily recoup the cost of your annual AOPA membership. Here are a few examples.

Looking for high-quality, pilot-specific gear and apparel? Flight Outfitters, a pilot-owned gear company exclusively for aviators, is offering members free shipping on all orders. Let’s say shipping would have cost $10.

If you travel a lot, and many pilots do, Wyndham hotels, the world’s largest hotel franchiser with brands ranging from La Quinta to the Wyndham Grand, is offering members discounted rates at its 9,100 hotels worldwide. One hotel night might save you $10.

Like to watch cool airplane videos? I know I do. You can save $20 off an annual subscription to Aeroverse, an innovative aviation streaming media service, which not only features everything from warbirds and biplanes to helicopters and seaplanes, but offers the videos commercial-free.

Have some packages to ship around the holiday? FedEx is offering AOPA members a 45-percent discount on express shipments and a 25-percent discount on ground. Shipping is expensive these days, and this discount could easily save you $20 in the next few months.

Perhaps you’re moving something large. Members can save 20-percent on a Budget Truck Rental. Let’s call that $20 saved over a weekend move. Both FedEx and Budget are iconic brands that deliver quality services.

If you need to get current and get flying, Sporty’s Flight Review Course is available to members for 25-percent off—a $12.50 value. Sporty’s is another pilot-owned company we have always been proud to partner with, and you know you can count on their products and services.

I could continue to add up the savings because we have 22 Partners and Benefit Sponsors, and more Benefit Sponsors are joining each month, but I hope you get the point. My calculations add up to $92.50 in potential savings on purchases you could make in a month or year. I think you can see how easy it would be to take advantage of enough of these offers to “pay for” your annual AOPA membership.

We want you to feel that renewing your membership is an easy decision because—beyond the media, advocacy, safety, training, information, and members services—membership in AOPA can pay for itself and is a great value.

You can find AOPA member benefits, discounts, and offers at aopa.org/lifestyles.

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