The Automobile Club of Southern California is hosting a job candidate information session in Los Angeles as part of an effort to hire 70 insurance sales agents.

The event will be held Wednesday, March 10 at the Auto Club’s Los Angeles headquarters, 2601 S. Figueroa St., at 6 p.m. Candidates will have a chance to receive more information about the job opportunities and will meet Auto Club sales managers. Candidates should bring their professional resume and dress in business attire.

Qualified candidates will possess at least two years of proven sales experience, excellent communication skills, computer proficiency, a good driving record and commitment to providing superior member service.

“The Auto Club is fortunate to be able to grow its insurance sales force at a time when new jobs are needed in the economy,” said Jim Philipp, the Auto Club’s vice president for human resources.

The positions offer paid training and insurance licensing, and after training the compensation is 100 percent commission-based. Benefits include medical, dental and vision insurance, 401k and pension plans, and continuous training and career development.

Candidates are encouraged to submit a resume online prior to the event. For other employment opportunities, visit http://aaa.com/jobs.

(LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18, 2010) –Southern California gas prices dropped to their lowest levels since just before Christmas as the 2010 downward streak at the pump continued for a fifth straight week, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.950 per gallon, which is 2.5 cents less than last week, ten cents less than last month, and 68 cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the price is $2.938, which is 2.7 cents less than last week’s price, 12 cents below last month, and 63 cents higher than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.002, down two cents from last week, 11 cents lower than a month ago, and 64 cents above last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $2.941, which is 1.8 cents less than last week, 10 cents less than last month, and 67 cents more than last year.

“Gas price declines are continuing at CONTINUED »

Public television personality Huell Howser will be on hand to meet fellow travel enthusiasts at the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Travel Show on Saturday, Feb. 27 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The show will take place in Building 5 of the Fairplex in Pomona, 1101 W. McKinley Ave. Attendees should enter at Gate 3 on McKinley Avenue. Admission is $3 for those without reservations and free for those who RSVP by calling (888) 345-9961 and pressing option 4. The show is open to both Auto Club members and non-members.

The AAA Travel Show will feature nearly two dozen tour, cruise and other travel providers, as well as experienced and knowledgeable AAA Travel agents. Consumers who book their trips at the show will receive special showtime offers providing discounts, upgrades or credits on their travel. Auto Club members qualify for additional member benefits on select travel packages.

Travelers can prepare for their journeys by visiting the show to obtain passport photos and applications, browse through the AAA BookStore’s travel publications, watch luggage packing demonstrations, and enjoy live presentations from travel providers.

Howser, who hosts the Auto Club-sponsored “Road Trip With Huell Howser” and “California’s Gold” series featured on PBS television stations, will meet and greet fans. Westways Magazine Travel Editor and AAA Travelviews blogger Elizabeth Harryman will host the show and offer travel tips and experiences with her husband and travel partner, Paul Lasley.

While attending the Auto Club show, travelers can enter a drawing (no purchase necessary) to win travel-related prizes.

“Travelers are seeking value now, and travel providers are coming out with some exciting new offerings,” said Alice Holguin, the Auto Club’s La Verne/Pomona branch manager. “The travel show will provide a rare opportunity for vacation-seekers to get detailed information about a wide variety of travel companies and take advantage of special deals.”

More information about the show is available at local Auto Club offices and on the Auto Club’s Web site, www.AAA.com

Southland gas prices are dipping slightly after six weeks of increases, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.042 per gallon, which is 2.4 cents less than last week, 12 cents more than last month, and 99 cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the price is $3.049, which is 1.5 cents less than last week’s price, 14 cents above last month, and 97 cents higher than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.098, down 1.1 cents from last week, up 11 cents from a month ago, and 96 cents above last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $3.029, which is two cents less than last week, 12 cents more than last month, and 97 cents more than last year.

“As volatile as gas prices are, it’s hard to point out a pattern, but usually in January there is somewhat of a downturn,” said Auto Club spokesperson Jeffrey Spring. “It’s typically a low point of the year for gas prices because of lower demand and refineries managing their product to ensure they don’t have a surplus of the ‘winter blend’ of fuel they must stop selling each spring. California air quality regulations require that each April, gas stations must begin selling the ‘summer blend’ of fuel that burns more cleanly in warmer temperatures.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price CONTINUED »

New laws taking effect on or after Jan. 1 will require DUI offenders in selected counties to use an ignition interlock device, increase vehicle and driver license fees to trim the budget shortfall and require vehicle storage lots to accept bank credit or debit cards and cash to pay for storage fees, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. During 2009, the California state legislature approved a number of new laws of interest to Auto Club members and motorists.

AB 91 authorizes the DMV to create a pilot project requiring all convicted DUI offenders in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Tulare counties to install an ignition interlock device (IID) on every vehicle they own or operate as a condition of getting their driver’s licenses back. The amount of time the IID needs to remain installed is based upon the number of DUI convictions. An evaluation will be conducted to determine if the IID pilots are effective at reducing DUIs. The Auto Club supported this measure. It will become effective on July 1, 2010.

“The Auto Club supported this law because we believe use of ignition interlock devices have the potential to help reduce DUI offenses and the data from this pilot program should provide sufficient data to either prove or disprove that potential,” said Alice Bisno, senior vice president for public affairs.

Assembly Bill (AB) 62 permits a person to drive a motor vehicle with a video CONTINUED »

More Southern Californians are expected to travel over this Christmas-New Year’s holiday than last year, but the number of travelers will still be 27 percent fewer than the last December holiday period before the recession, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The Auto Club is projecting that seven million Southern Californians will take overnight trips of 50 miles or more over the upcoming holidays – an increase of 11 percent over last year. That follows a lackluster two years of holiday travel and is about 2.7 million fewer travelers than the 9.7 million Southern Californians who traveled over Christmas and New Year’s holidays during 2006.

About 87 percent of Southern California travelers, or 6.16 million people, will travel by car to their holiday destinations, while almost six percent, or 400,000 local travelers, will go by air.

Statewide, 11.3 million people are expected to take trips during this holiday – also an 11 percent increase over last year. Of those, 9.9 million are expected to drive and 640,000 are expected to fly. Nationally, 87.7 million travelers are expected, which is a 3.8 percent increase over last year.

“This is the healthiest holiday travel increase we’ve seen in CONTINUED »

LOS ANGELES, CA – If the 2008 shopping season is an indicator, December will bring the highest volume of requests for help by people who have locked themselves out of their vehicle, according to Auto Club member roadside assistance statistics compiled by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

In December 2008, the Auto Club answered 73,790 calls for help from members at shopping malls, retail centers, grocery stores and other locations, or about 9 percent of all 814,454 lockout calls. When comparing different months, the December 2008 lockout call volume is nearly 20 percent higher than September 2008. Overall, lockout calls made up about 17 percent of all roadside assistance calls for last year.

The top four busiest days for lockout services all fell in December during 2008:

Dec. 19 (the last Friday before Christmas)…..3,010 calls
Dec. 23……………………………………….2,859 calls
Dec. 12……………………………………….2,852 calls
Dec. 18……………………………………… 2,790 calls

"More than 50 percent of Southern California households have an CONTINUED »

LOS ANGELES, CA. - Thanksgiving motorists will probably experience few surprises this weekend at the gas pump as prices continue to hover within 10 to 20 cents of $3 a gallon throughout the Southland, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.953 per gallon, which is 1.5 cents less than last week, 6.7 cents less than last month, and 81 cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the price is $2.942, which is one cent lower than last week’s price, five cents below last month, and 85 cents higher than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $2.981, down 3.7 cents from last week, 11 cents lower than a month ago, and 80 cents above last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $2.938, which is 1.6 cents less than last week, 6.3 cents less than last month, and 84 cents more than last year.

“Gas prices have become very predictable this year, unlike any other year in this decade,” said Auto Club spokesperson Jeffrey Spring. “Motorists are paying about 80 cents more per gallon than at this time last year, 45 cents less than during the Thanksgiving weekend of 2007 and 45 cents more than during the Thanksgiving holiday of 2006.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 3 p.m. on Nov. 25, averages are:

Area Regular One-week
change
Record Price

Los Angeles – Long Beach $2.953 -1.5 cents $4.626 (6/21/08)

Orange County $2.938 -1.7 cents $4.598 (6/19/08)

San Diego $2.942 -1.0 cent $4.630 (6/19/08)

Santa Barbara – Santa Maria – Lompoc $2.981 -3.7 cents $4.709 (6/21/08)

Riverside – San Bernardino $2.938 -1.6 cents $4.614 (6/22/08)

Bakersfield $3.004 -0.1 cent $4.591 (6/24/08)

Ventura $2.949 -1.3 cents $4.625 (6/18/08)

Los Angeles/Long Beach and Ventura gas price averages dropped below $3 a gallon this week for the first time since August as prices continued to drop slowly throughout the Southland, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.99 per gallon, which is 2.3 cents less than last week, 3.5 cents less than last month, and 44 cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the price is $2.972, which is two cents lower than last week’s price, also two cents below last month, and 46 cents higher than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.057, down 4.3 cents from last week, a nickel lower than a month ago, and 45 cents above last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $2.974, which is 2.2 cents less than last week, 3.1 cents less than last month, and 47 cents more than last year.

“This is the first time since August that the state’s average price for gasoline has dipped below $3, along with that of Los Angeles/Long Beach and Ventura,” said Auto Club spokesperson Jeffrey Spring. “This is also the second week in a row that gas prices we’re paying now are more expensive than those we were paying this time last year, and the gap keeps growing larger each week. Last week, it was 25 cents and this week it’s 40 to 45 cents.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 11 a.m. on Nov. 12, averages are:

Area Regular One-week
change
Record Price

Los Angeles – Long Beach $2.990 -2.3 cents $4.626 (6/21/08)

Orange County $2.975 -2.4 cents $4.598 (6/19/08)

San Diego $2.972 -2.0 cents $4.630 (6/19/08)

Santa Barbara – Santa Maria – Lompoc $3.057 -4.3 cents $4.709 (6/21/08)

Riverside – San Bernardino $2.974 -2.2 cents $4.614 (6/22/08)

Bakersfield $3.035 -1.6 cents $4.591 (6/24/08)

Ventura $2.987 -2.8 cents $4.625 (6/18/08)