The AAA Travel High School Challenge (sometimes shortened to AAA Travel Challenge) was an annual travel-themed scholarship competition run by the American Automobile Association, open to students in grades 9–12 in the fifty United States and the District of Columbia. First run in 2003 as part of AAA's centennial celebrations, the competition became an annual event and a premier high school scholarship program for a time. The competition was notable for its national coverage
The National Finals were held yearly in Orlando, Florida. In its five years of existence, the contest awarded over $600,000 worth of scholarships. The 2007 competition featured a $20,000 top prize (down from $25,000 in past years), won by Samuel Brandt of Oregon. In addition, the 2007 competition, for the first time, also included a separate essay contest for those interested in seeking majors in travel-, tourism-, or hospitality-related careers.
Often compared to the National Geographic Bee, a middle-school competition, the AAA Travel Challenge featured a similar format, with a local, state, and national level, each with progressively tougher questions and material. Unlike the National Geography Bee, however, the AAA Travel Challenge stressed team competition, rather than individual achievement.
The 2007 competition was the last Challenge to take place. Afterwards, administrators opted for a one-year hiatus from the program. Challenge administrators had hoped to use this hiatus to work out and analyze the event "to develop strategies and tactics for an improved program." AAA decided that it would be best to find a single co-sponsor for the event, rather than the multiple sponsors who had supported the competition in previous years. Unfortunately, the recession and other factors made this difficult. On September 26, 2008, it was announced that the Challenge would be discontinued.
Eligibility
Students were eligible to participate in the AAA Travel High School Challenge if they met the following requirements (from the Official Site):
Must be a legal US resident residing in a US state or the District of Columbia. If a student studies abroad but has their legal residence in the US, that student may participate, but must pay for their own travel expenses to US testing locations if they advance in the competition. Must be in grade 9, 10, 11, or 12. Must be at least 13 years old. Must be enrolled in an accredited public or private junior or senior high school, and/or a certified home school program (the school itself does not have to register). Must have parental consent, if under 18 years of age. Must not have (for the 2007 Competition) individually placed first, second, or third in previous National AAA Travel Challenges, nor placed first or second in team rounds of previous National AAA Travel Challenges
Procedure
Registration
The competition began in December, when registration on the AAA Travel Challenge Official Site opened. Eligible students could apply and create a unique username and password which they would later use for the Stage One Internet test. From 2007 onward, students could also indicate if they desired to participate in the travel career-related Essay Competition.
A student could, at any time, take a Practice Test offered on the Official Site, which gave a general sampling of questions that might have appeared.
Stage One: Internet Test
For a specified period of time in January (usually 8–10 days), the Official Site would run the Stage One qualifying test. After students entered their unique user name and password, they would then proceed to the test.
The test consisted of 40 multiple-choice travel-themed questions to be completed in 15 minutes time (20 minutes from 2003 to 2006), with a countdown clock visible throughout the test. No two tests were alike, as the questions were picked from a pool of several thousand questions, with each test being "weighted" with an equal number of easy, medium, and hard questions. Neither reference materials (printed or electronic) nor help from another person was allowed, and this was agreed to when a student checked the "Integrity Oath" box during registration.
Questions had to do with destinations popular with American tourists, with most questions centering on the United States and foreign destinations such as Europe and East Asia.