AAA vs. other roadside assistance programs

[golden eagle]

About ten years ago, I used to be a member of AAA. I loved the service but for whatever reason, I allowed my membership to expire. My insurance company and my credit card company offer roadside assistance, but I've never signed up. Have any of you had roadside assistance from either AAA or through other agencies and how were your experiences with them?

[corco]

I've been a basic AAA member for 5 years and I've used them twice. I also use the card very often for discounts which pays for the service.
I used them once on I-80 outside of Coalville, Utah in early 2009 when my wheel dropped four of five lugnuts and I had to be towed in to Salt Lake City. It wasn't my fault (it was the fault of the people who had just installed my new tires), so I didn't pay for it, but the overall cost was quite reasonable and AAA was prompt and friendly.

I used them again last week- I was on I-8 driving from Tucson back to my parents house in Buckeye. I was using my sister's car and had a blowout and was unable to locate her jack (turns out she didn't have a jack in the car) to put the spare on, so I had to call AAA to get them to come out and do it. I was about halfway between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, but it took about an hour for AAA to get there, which isn't too bad. I was upset by how long the phone call took, however, as I was on the phone for a solid 40 minutes before they finally dispatched a truck for me (so I sat on the side of I-8 in 100 degree heat for almost two hours, which was fun), which seemed unnecessary, but the tire change was free which was great.

Since I look for AAA discounts whenever possible, the membership basically pays for itself, so it has been totally worthwhile for me

[Scott5114]

I think AAA is pretty awesome, though maybe that's partly because my mom pays for the cost of the membership–it makes her feel better having it available as an option should I run into trouble and nobody's available or in range to help me. Plus it's nice being able to get free maps–they may not be the best in the world but they do in a pinch when you can't get a DOT map, and are at least comparable in quality to Rand McNally, which you have to pay for.

[Chris]

Almost all European countries have roadside assistance as well.

I think I pay about $ 90 per year for

* roadside assistance (both domestic and international)
* free rental in case of beyond-repair breakdown / accident
* free alternate transportation back home (train, airplane).

So far I used it two times, I had a collision one time in Southern France, and the roadside assistance paid for the towing, $ 700 train tickets back home and they transported my car back to the Netherlands. All in all, that probably paid off being a member for at least the next 25 years.
The second time my power window failed and the window fell back into the door, so I couldn't close it. I could've driven to the garage, but then again, why do that if the roadside assistance comes for free? I was at home anyway.

[J N Winkler]

I was an AAA member for a number of years and generally got my value out through the TourBooks.  I have never felt I could count on them, or any other roadside assistance service, for help simply because I have difficulty using telephones.  I have never had to pay for a tow or a wheel change, but there have been three occasions when my car ran off the road and I needed to have it pulled back onto the road, and one of those times (during a freak spring snowstorm on I-70) I had to pay for this.

It is my understanding that, unlike European automobile clubs with their own dedicated roadside assistance services, AAA contracts out towing, so provision and quality is somewhat variable.

[SP Cook]

AAA is an anti-motorists lobbying organization, controled by insurance companies.  It advocates for:

- Underposted speed limits.
- lower blood alcohol limits (the vast majority of DUI related deaths are caused by those abot .18).
- SL enforcement to the exclusion of serious useful law enforcement.
- elimination of pro-motorist regulations on insurance companies.
- seperate raises for traffic cops, over, above, and seperate from general state employees.

NEVER will be a member.

[agentsteel53]

oh and they no longer put up cool highway signs.

[US71]

I have AAA and have used them a couple times, but they are nowhere as good as their press purports them to be.

A friend of mine was camping at the lake and lost his keys. He called AAA to get someone to come to make him a new key and was told "about an hour".  AAA calls back 45 minutes later to say told the locksmith is "too busy". So my friend asks when he can expect them and got the run around.... basically told to keep waiting until someone could be bothered to help. He proceeded to gave the AAA operator all kinds of grief until he agreed to call back the locksmith and get a definite ETA. Another 45 minutes passes before AAA calls back and says a different locksmith is on the way.

It was found out later the first locksmith didn't want to come to the lake, but got out of it with the phony "too busy" reply.

AAA should have called someone else right away, but pretty much allowed themselves to be played.

[realjd]

Roadside assistance is included as one of the benefits of my American Express card. I've never had to use it yet.