Is AAA membership worth the cost?

[btctony]

As long as you have a spare tire in your trunk...theres no need to wait for AAA to show up to change it. (for those who do not know how to change a spare tire, you should be ashamed. That should be required to pass the driving exam imo!) And for those who say they're not strong enough...there are devices now that are really cheap and give you a lot of leverage so it requires very little effort to get the bolts off. That excuse doesnt work anymore.

I seriously doubt that my 75 year old grandmother is strong enough to get her spare out of the trunk. Is yours?

[KTP]

I cancelled AAA about 8 years ago after having not used any of the services for the previous 5 years and paying the dues.

Probably have saved about $1000, which will go a long way toward a tow.

[MonkeyMama]

From a financial standpoint, purely? Probably not worth it. But, we do enjoy the convenience. (But I have been wrestling with if it is worth it a bit, per KTP's perspective).

As a side note, have used far more for newer cars than older cars. But we keep our vehicles in good repair. More blown tires and dead car batteries than anything else. (Which will happen easily to a brand new car). Seriously, the only two times I recall needing AAA and being absolutely stranded, were with fairly new vehicles. A blown tire and a dead alternator. (The alternator was my bad - the breakdown was very preventable. I just thought the battery was dying and we drove out of town. Lesson learned!) Otherwise, we've had AAA replace a lot of dead batteries for us - usually in our garage. Sometimes in random parking lots. That is nice and convenient. (I feel like I have maybe had a 100 flats, but have never called AAA for a simple flat tire. Can usually limp along to the tire shop or just change the tire ourselves).

[Like2Plan]

I was wondering how much folks are paying for their AAA membership. (I guess it varies.)

We only have the Basic, but for 2 drivers it is $114.00

We could get the upgraded service, but so far the basic service is about all we've needed.

Plus (2 drivers) is $191.00
Premier (2 drivers) is 233.00

[EarlyRetirementJoy]

We have RV/Motorcycle Plus, and paid $159 for two adults + RV at last renewal.

[freedomv]

AAA Feedback

Thanks for all that shared their experiences to help the rest of us make an informed decision.

[WISEWOMAN]

Absolutely. I agree, it's like insurance. There when you need it.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Just saw tv a commercial for http://www.autovantage.com, for $69.99 which covers among other things, 150 miles of towing.

[jppcasey]

It's up to you

I enrolled in AAA in Ohio, just before moving to North Dakota. After a month of getting settled in North Dakota, I was going through the process of officially updating my new address with every company I do business with. Ninety nine percent of the time you can do this online, usually by going to the "my account" or "profile" links on whatever site you have an account with. Not so easy with AAA, I soon found out.
AAA is not the "Nationwide" service I was led to believe in. It's really a bunch of independent companies or clubs that use the AAA name. I found this out when I tried to login several times on several different looking AAA websites, and none of them recognized my AAA acct number, last name or my e-mail address. I was scratching my head. How can this be? I get e-mails from them all the time, pitching some this or that, trying to get more money out of me. I even went out to the car to get my card, just to make sure I was inputting the correct information (and I was) I had to surf around and finally Googled: AAA plus my “old zip code” (the one I originally signed up with back in Ohio) and only then was I directed to yet another AAA site where I was able to login successfully. Once logged in, it would not let me change my address to North Dakota. It only gave me options for states that were adjoined to, or near Ohio.
At this point I was ready to quit AAA, because I was starting to get real concerned about how well they would respond during a real emergency. What if I broke down and called there number, and they didn’t recognize my account or name? Just like the AAA web sites, from different regions, affiliates or clubs didn’t recognize my account number…(and, one would think, that their AAA account number would be unique and on some national data base they must have). Yet, none but the original “club” I signed up with recognized it. I tried to contact them through the website, but I never got a response back. I guess I’ll have to wait till Monday and give them a call.
This, by the way made me wonder; what if I went to a hotel and used some made up, fake, AAA number just to get the room discount. How would the hotel even verify it…? If AAA can’t either?

[QuarterMillionMan]

Bumping this thread so as not to create a new thread and creating more clutter so to speak. Anyway a few years back I enrolled in AutoVantage but they raised their rates so I cancelled a few years back. I just came across Good Sam $59 per year and they tow up to 500 miles (AAA would tow less than 100 miles for their lowest tier plan unless upgrading to a higher tier which takes years to build up since AAA won't allow going to the highest tier upon enrollment) so I just signed up for Good Sam.

[rennigade]

Bumping this thread so as not to create a new thread and creating more clutter so to speak. Anyway a few years back I enrolled in AutoVantage but they raised their rates so I cancelled a few years back. I just came across Good Sam $59 per year and they tow up to 500 miles (AAA would tow less than 100 miles for their lowest tier plan unless upgrading to a higher tier which takes years to build up since AAA won't allow going to the highest tier upon enrollment) so I just signed up for Good Sam.

You better re read what they cover..."We pay 100% of towing fees to the nearest service center - no matter if it's 5 or 500 miles away."

They'll fully cover you if you take your vehicle to the nearest service center. They wont just tow you to the most convenient service center that could be hundreds of miles away. (I was excited for a minute until I read this.) Wouldnt surprise me if this is how AAA works too.

[msomnipotent]

You can probably get a rider on your auto insurance much cheaper than paying AAA. I canceled AAA when I found out I could add emergency services (towing) and a car rental if ours was in the shop for under $20 a year through State Farm.

[snafu]

We had AAA last century, pre GPS sharing cost with DB when their Travel Tics outlined holiday points of interest and booked discounted accommodation. We too have a very inexpensive rider on auto insurance and easily book with discounters, on-line. We also use regular insurance coverage when we use a rental car in other cities since those rates are ridiculous.

It's important to look at the services offered and consider what you would likely use in a 12 month span, based on incidents in the past 12 months. Exactly what service would you get that you would likely use via a 'rider' on your existing vehicle insurance?

[greenskeeper]

You better re read what they cover..."We pay 100% of towing fees to the nearest service center - no matter if it's 5 or 500 miles away."

They'll fully cover you if you take your vehicle to the nearest service center. They wont just tow you to the most convenient service center that could be hundreds of miles away. (I was excited for a minute until I read this.) Wouldnt surprise me if this is how AAA works too.

My AAA membership will tow anywhere you want up to 200 miles (dealer, service station, residence).

[Nutria]

My AAA membership will tow anywhere you want up to 200 miles (dealer, service station, residence).

Our's is Premium membership but only 100 miles.