That's what I thought, and you can't buy tickets with the AAA discount unless you buy them through your local AAA office I believe, which means you have to have a card. Looks like we'll be getting AAA then, but as an 'add on' to my mother's policy, see they charge $65 for the basic membership but if you 'add on' then it is only $35--big difference.
Thanks for the advice everyone!