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. The top five scorers in each state would advance to Stage Two (state of residence, not school, determined in which state one is competing for). In the event of a tie, the student(s) who used the least amount of time to answer questions would advance (from 2003 to 2006, random drawings initially served as tiebreakers). If a tie still existed, then, like in previous years, a random drawing determined who advances. These Top Five were usually notified 1–2 weeks after the testing period ended via e-mail. If one of the five was unable to continue, or if nothing was heard from after 72 hours of the notification e-mail being sent, then the