AAA, insurance towing or other?

[Little_Pig]

Besides towing I can do a number of things at the AAA office that I used to have to do at the DMV. What DMV services AAA can provide varies from state to state. I also bought my last car battery through AAA. Just called up, gave make and model of car. One hour later a new, fully charged battery had been installed and the old one taken away. I remember the price was competitive.

[RealityChuck]

@Rhythmdvl

II’ve also been relying on Priceline’s travel services since the 90s (speaking of cars, remember when they used to do gas?). I’m a veritable proselytizer for P’Line—they have consistently beat every other travel site out there. Almost every trip has had us in a 4-star or better hotel for the rack rate on the other services’ 3-star rooms.

Priceline doesn’t work for me because I need to know the location of the hotel. How far is it from mass transit? (I’ve found their maps far too vague for what I need) What services and amenities does it have? Three-star and four-star are meaningless.

In addition, hotels give better room to those who don’t use Priceline. My trip to Chicago got me a brand new room with a view of the lake; according to TripAdvisor, someone who went there using Priceline (paying about what I did) got a room that was yet to be remodeled and the view of a brick wall.

[Dewey_Finn]

@Rhythmdvl

We just dropped a habitual $140 for our two-member AAA family. They’ve come in super handy over the years, from long-distance towing to jumps to gas help.

$140 seems like a lot of money to spend annually. Cars are so much more reliable today that you’re going to need a tow only rarely. I have a “Visa Signature” card that includes a “roadside assistance” service. There’s a toll-free number to call and then I can get towing for up to five miles, fuel delivery, lockout service, jump starting or a tire change for a fixed cost of $59.95. So I put the toll-free number in my phone address book. Also, since I mostly stay in town, I added the phone number for one of the larger local tow companies to the phone address book. That way I can just call them directly.

I have a friend whose cars are usually older (at least twenty years or more) so for years his mother gave him a AAA gold membership as a Christmas present.

[TriPolar]

@Dewey_Finn

$140 seems like a lot of money to spend annually. Cars are so much more reliable today that you’re going to need a tow only rarely. I have a “Visa Signature” card that includes a “roadside assistance” service. There’s a toll-free number to call and then I can get towing for up to five miles, fuel delivery, lockout service, jump starting or a tire change for a fixed cost of $59.95. So I put the toll-free number in my phone address book. Also, since I mostly stay in town, I added the phone number for one of the larger local tow companies to the phone address book. That way I can just call them directly.

I have a friend whose cars are usually older (at least twenty years or more) so for years his mother gave him a AAA gold membership as a Christmas present.

I think our family membership covers 4 people for $140, and that’s AAA Gold. My kids have old cars so they end up using it more often. I think we used it at least 6 times in one year and probably average 4. It covers towing for 100 miles a year with no additional charge, so if I’m up in Boston they’ll tow it home for me. And I have extra cars and if they go out of inspection while I’m working on them they’ll tow it down to the station for me so I don’t have to worry about some jerk cop stopping me on the way there if I drove. I had a car I bought towed to my home before it was registered.

It’s well worth it to me, but if it’s just one person who doesn’t travel far the credit card plan you have may be a better deal.

[Helena330]

@nevadaexile

Long time AAA member.

Despite the availability of GPS (on my phone and a separate unit) I would rather have the maps and a Trip Tik on-hand in case things go wrong. Also, I’m a Gold member so I can get the longer tows and RV towing. I have also used it to tow friend’s vehicles in the past.

I have towing with my insurance but that’s only as a backup in case AAA was busy or not available. I would always AAA as my primary, though.

We traveled across the country a few years ago, and there are a LOT of areas that don’t have cell service. I’d want the Trip Tiks in those instances, as well.

I love AAA. They found us comparable house and vehicle insurance through a local company that was half the price of what we were paying with Farmer$. Saved my butt when my battery died last year, too. Just used the Jiffy lube discount this week.