Also, before Wi-Fi became as ubiquitous as it is today, the only reliable way to get an Internet connection in a motel room was to dial into an AOL POP, so anybody who would expect to take a road trip would keep their AOL accounts active.
I think by 2006, almost every motel had free Wi-Fi though... and that wasn't the case in 2003 (at least, that's what I remember from road trips in those years).
Edit: Actually, I remember now that Earthlink POPs were as reliable as AOL POPs, but AOL had better name recognition.
Ah right! Yes, that's definitely true, I remember using AOL dial-up a few times in the early/mid-2000s. My parents had kept their account because of the @aol.com email issue (AOL webmail only became free in 2005), so I used their account to connect from motels.
I think by 2006, almost every motel had free Wi-Fi though... and that wasn't the case in 2003 (at least, that's what I remember from road trips in those years).
Edit: Actually, I remember now that Earthlink POPs were as reliable as AOL POPs, but AOL had better name recognition.