A couple of point..The AARP has become the spokeperson for the Democratic party. I don't care if you are Republican or Democrat since it is suppose to be a voice for Senior Citizens over 55 and it cannot serve two masters. That group and a political party. Another observation. I don't know how many travel but we do quite a bit and when you register for a discount at a hotel the AAA is almost if not always less than AARP and in some cases AARP is about list price. Try setting up a reservation at a Marriott and marking AAA as a discoount and then change to AARP. You will see the difference.
Years ago I took out an Insurance Policy with AARP and within a couple of years it was significantly raised with some T's & C's which were terrible. I ended up cancelling and taking a loss on the investment.
It is a shame since the Senior's need and independent voice and unfortunately the AARP is not one of them.