Not a fan of AAA. Had it years ago. When I needed assstance, their "computers were down" and I received no assistance. I am happy with my insurance and my vehicle roadside assistance.

My husband has been an insurance agent for 37 years (working for the competition, not AAA). We all still carry AAA cars for towing and other roadside and travel services. That tells me that it is indeed worth the cost.

Jodi-

I wonder how many 'rescues' are required today. AAA got its start in the early days. Cars -- and tires -- were pretty unreliable. Today's cars seem much less prone to failure.

Unlike my DH's college VW, most even have gas gauges!

We've had AAA for 30+ years. I pay nearly $300 a year for whatever their premium policy is called - that's for 6 drivers and will tow up to 100 miles plus one tow up to 200 miles for each member. My car is new and DH's is only 1 year old - both cars came with roadside assistance provided by the manufacturer for 4 years. The manufacturer's assistance is only for their vehicles - not a car from another manufacturer.

My adult kids have older cars without any roadside assistance, nor is it offered by their insurance carriers. I pay for their AAA membership as a gift to them and it's well worth it. Especially since it covers any car they are driving whether it's their car or not.

Since our vacation home is 130 miles from our primary residence I opted for the greater towing distance. That way if a car breaks down it can be towed home if I want rather than towed to the nearest car repair place.

I've used them for flat tires and dead batteries, passport photos, maps and to get a 50% discount on eyeglasses at Lenscrafters. The kids have also used them to unlock their apt. when they forgot a key and to purchase reduced price theater tickets.

I just got AAA recently as we have more and older cars than we used to. DH was out in one of them when it died. Fortunately he was with his brother who had AAA and he quickly got a no charge tow. DH was sold on it from that moment. The following winter we slid into the ditch right across the road from our house. Happy to have AAA at that time. In the midst of a snowstorm they got us out in less than an hour. It paid for itself that day. I wonder what sort of network insurance companies use and if it is as widespread and readily available as AAA. I was always skeptical and never signed up for the insurance roadside assistance.

We have also saved a bit on hotels and car rentals with AAA discount.

This post was edited by gibby3000 on Sun, May 26, 13 at 9:44

AAA has come to my rescue more times than I care to remember, twice on I95 in Connecticut which is an awful highway. One of those cars was practically new and was under warranty but broke down anyway. I wouldn't be without it.

I love the fact that we can get free maps from AAA with our roadside assistance membership. And, we can take care of many DMV transactions at an AAA office (avoiding the long waits at the DMV, even with an appointment).

And, there are a lot of discounts available to AAA members, e.g., 10% off any purchase of $75 or more from Vera Bradley, $10 off a $40 purchase at Bath & Body Works, and discounts at restaurants and hotels.

This post got me thinking. We have vehicles that are '02 and '05 and don't have roadside assistance and are about to take a 2000 mile trip in the '05. I've owned a car for 44 yrs., DH has owned one for 43 yrs. And in all those years, between the 2 of us (and we drove some JUNKERS years ago) we've had 2 breakdowns. One was a tow; the other was patched up with duct tape to get it to a shop. The last breakdown was about 20 years ago. We have 4 kids, all married with 2 car families. They're in their 30s and 40s. None has ever had a breakdown (DD's car is 11 yrs. old.) Maybe we've all been lucky? Or blessed?

Hmmmm, I had a long story/message but it seems to have disappeared. Anyhow, we added Road Side Assistance to our motorycycle insurance 2 years ago. DH made a cross country trip, alone, from PA to CO to elk hunt for a month.

Made it across country, and back, no problem. But while in CO hunting, in the wilderness, he got a flat tire. Called Road Side Assist. They asked permission to ping his cell phone, and 1 hour later a tow truck was there to get the cycle and him. The RSA we have also has Trip Interrupt, if you are over 100 mi. from home and breakdown and it takes overnight or longer to fix the vehicle, it also pays for your meals and lodging.

We have sinced added it to our vehicles and our RV policy. We have Progressive by the way.

As a single elderly female I wouldn't be without AAA. I've used mine a lot over the years: several dead batteries, punctured tire, etc. I have a fairly "elderly" car now, too, so I think it's important to have it.

Funny; I just bought a AAA membership for my son yesterday! For $55/yr it bought me peace of mind! Last week while we were out of town he had a break down on the freeway. Cost him over $150 to tow it a few miles.
AAA is limited to 4 incidents a year, but HOPEFULLY he won't need more than that!

We have AAA. I had to used them twice They were great both times.

I've driven older cars for years and seldom had problems, and sometimes someone on theroad or a friend helped when I did.

Daughter blessed me with CAA membership about 5 years ago, and I renewed since, she renewed for me alast year. I've used their roadside assistance, with great service, several times, once a tow back from Toronto when lost rad coolant, the driver said that it'd have cost me $800.00 on my own ... which would pretty well pay for CAA Plus (which gives the longer tow) for about 8 years.

ole joyful

We use AAA - have for years...and yes, there are some really good discounts.
Two years ago we took the family to Disney World. Before leaving, I went over the the AAA offices, and bought 4 Six-day Park Hopper passes - at a huge saving.

Once, I locked the keys in my car - AAA roadside came right away.

I've had a couple of breakdowns, and they were always there ASAP - even when my battery died in a cemetery !

The store where I but my glasses gives a 30$ to AAA members, and many hotels also have a discounted AAA rates.

It's well worth the money.

I won't be without AAA--we've used their services many times--both locally and when a thousand miles away on vacation. Would NEVER take a long trip without the appropriate coverage--you never know what can happen (for example, a flat after unavoidably driving through road construction)

Add to that the benefit of the free maps, travel assistance, triptik, etc. AND their travel service--I booked a trip through them this year, and got a better price than I could find on ANY of the discount airfare sites--it's more than worth the price for the premium membership.

We have State Farm, and consider it great coverage. But DH also has AAA for roadside assistance because it offers more than his "regular" insurance. SF will pay to tow to the nearest repair shop, while AAA will pay to tow to the nearest shop authorized to repair while still maintaining his warranty, which is important to us.

The only reason I do not have AAA is because my Hyundai warranty is great - and lengthy. But if I still have the car after the warranty runs out, I will certainly pick up AAA.

Note this is an old thread that got bumped by a spammer - the conversation ended in June.

But to add to your comment, Donna, I have State Farm. Other than for very expensive towing bills, my agent seems to have discretion as to what is reimbursed and what is questioned. His office issues the reimbursement check and basically he reimburses everything.

I had an incident a few months ago, a car stalled and because of my own schedule I didn't want it towed to a repair shop. I had it towed to my house, and then a week later, it was towed (past many available repair shops, I should add) to the place of my choice. Both tow bills were reimbursed without question.

I think AAA takes advantage of their otherwise loyal clientele by overcharging. With SF, I can call any towing service, even a AAA one that takes credit cards. Or, you can call their dispatch service and pay nothing and skip the reimbursement. I think it costs me something like $7 per year per car.

I dropped my AAA towing insurance earlier this year. I had been a member since 1971. My car is 4 years old and has 21k miles. AAA prices kept increasing. $55/year were for basic towing. I don't know how much they charge for premium towing. Last time I needed AAA was in 2008 on a very hot humid summer day when I had locked my keys in my vehicle. When I called AAA, the call went to a call center in MO. The street I was on did not show up in their computers even though it had been 3 years since the street name was changed. I was on the phone for 10 or 15 minutes with the dispatcher trying to tell him where I was. I told him the tow company was just down the street and would know exactly where I was. Then I waited 45 minutes for the truck to show up. The driver said they weren't busy. I wrote a letter of complaint to AAA but they did not respond. There used to be a AAA office here but they closed it 6 years ago. So much for picking up maps and travel books.

Linda, I had sort of the opposite experience with AAA recently. My car suddenly slowed down, not getting any gas when I accelerated, and fortunately I was able to pull into a restaurant parking lot before the engine died. Without power brakes or steering, I narrowly avoided hitting a parked motorcycle before stopping.

I called AAA and gave the person the name of the restaurant. She said, "I know exactly where you are." That gave me an idea. I said, "Before you arrange for a tow, could you please tell me if there's a service station around here?" After asking which direction I was facing, she said, "There's one right in back of you."

She was right. I didn't see it because a bank was in the way, but I walked over there. The guys came and looked at my engine--and found a mouse had nested in the air filter. Less than an hour later, I was back on the road.

My husband and both had dead batteries at different times in the past year. Locally, AAA runs a battery van, loaded with replacements, not sure if they do this in other locations. The operator came out, tested all the systems to make sure it was really the battery. Replaced the old battery right then, mine was $110 for the Honda van, and his was more like $90 for the Accord. No need to go anywhere else, and for the same price or less than we'd get it elsewhere.

I love AAA.

Alisande, you're giving them praise for talking you out of using their service that you had already paid to use? They were real happy with you too, believe me. You could have gotten the same info about the nearby service station from a map on a gps device or a smart phone. (When I called the State Farm dispatcher as described above, they said "Do we have permission for one time use of the locator system for your phone, so that we know where you are?" I said yes, and they came back and said "OK, we see your position". I didn't have to tell them.)

Sushipup, so a truck that stocks and sells replacement batteries drives up, "checks your battery", and tells you what you need is a new battery? I'm not sure I would have fallen for that. Maybe they were on the level, but hmm...

I would have limited the service to a jump start and then gone to a garage to have it checked.

Snidely ~ you can sure come across as a jerk on this board.
As I said on the other post, I love AAA. I've, fortunately, never had to use the roadside assistance, but the travel assistance, airline, motel, rental car and other discounts have saved me far more than my annual 55.00 fee.

Yes, I knew the mechanic from long ago (old home week to see him again) and trusted him. It was not the alternator or anything like that. And my husband, who really knows cars, watched the guy service his car, too. We both had 5 yr old ++ batteries.

Sushipup, don't you love reminders of how small a world it can be sometimes.

Andelaid, please read my comment in the stain removal thread as a reply to your comment. Or don't, your choice.

I think AAA member clubs take advantage of their customers and perhaps I'm just suggesting people take an objective look. If I overdid it, sorry.

I have AAA because I can add my wife for a nominal amount. She does a lot of gadding about at nights attending things like genealogy societies, etc. Its really nice in winter. I used it for the first time last winter when I ruined a tire and the temperature was 5 F with wind.

Snidely's mission here is to make us all feel stupid (it never works) and/or to stir up conflict. The name "Snidely" says a lot.

My daughter and a friend are on their way to Charlotte from Atlanta on I-85. She called me a little while ago and said she hit something in the road and it blew a tire. (While she was talking to me another car hit it and they are also on the side of the highway). They called AAA who got there quickly, put the spare on and they are already on their way again. This is one time I can't complain about AAA. I also called the highway patrol and reported the hazard. They called my daughter and found just where it was located. Hopefully, it's been removed and noone else will hit it.

I recently bought a membership to AAA. I got all 4 of us on the plan for $52.00 and I am sure it will go up next year. My son drives back and forth to college and my daughter will be going off to college next year. This just gives me some security that if they ever get into a situation they have someone to call.