What are some of the alternatives to AAA? Something that would be comparable in service and other things like travel, insurance, etc…
Also, if you use AAA, how would you rate them? A recent breakdown has me looking for some backup insurance for the road.
One of the sponsors for the NPR radio program “Car Talk” is a company called Better World Club, which bills itself as “the nation’s only environmentally friendly auto club.” You might look at their website to see if it meets your needs.
I use CAA, the Canadian equivalent. Every winter I seem to phone them once or twice because of a non-starting car on a bitterly cold day. And last year, I also phoned when I locked my keys in my car on a bitterly cold day. On that day, my car would’ve started if the keys were in the ignition and not in my purse.
I’ve found their service to be really good, and have had my membership since I started driving.
AAA is great. There may be better alternatives for roadside help but I doubt it. I’ve saved thousands of dollars by using the AAA discount at hotels which makes it well worth it even if you never have a breakdown.
Haj
Good to know Haj, I plan to travel at least couple times this year.
We’ve had the base level AAA for the last 12 years. We also take a couple of 3-10 day US vacations a year. Here is what we’ve found.
Restaurants - AAA lists and rates lots of restaurants, but I’ve never seen an actual discount given because of AAA membership.
Hotels - There are lots of hotels that give AAA discounts. While the discounts are nice, they aren’t anything special. I could usually get the same rate with an of a number of professional memberships, credit cards, or AARP membership. While the rates aren’t exclusive to AAA, it makes it easier to prove membership when getting the rates.
Travel insurance - never used it.
Travel planning - AAA offers guild books and maps for all of the US and most of North America. Again, you aren’t going to learn any deep hidden secrets, but they will give you info on what’s located in areas you are visiting, and the maps can be very handy.
Automobile services - Here is where AAA justifies itself for me. We pay for just the most basic AAA membership. We also spend the $3/6months on our auto insurance for towing insurance. The towing insurance is actually the cheaper way to go, but AAA has a couple of very nice features.
- 1 phone number to call - If I have car trouble far from home, I don’t have to try and find the number of a local towing company.
- I’m covered, not my car - so if a friend has trouble while I’m with him, I can get a tow for his car. I’ve actually used this when a person packing my belongings for moving locked his keys in his car, in my driveway.
- Towing, lockouts, out of gas, dead batteries… All are covered by AAA, not just towing charges.
By joining at the base level, I get all of the above benefits. I end up paying some for any long tows, but my auto insurance will reimburse me for the overages.
One thing to keep in mind. AAA has contracts with towing companies that pay less then the towing companies standard rates. But hey, it’s business for them. This does mean that during very busy days (ie cold snaps) AAA calls may be given low priority, since others are paying more for the same service. On days like that, I just call the towing company on my own, and then send the bill to my auto insurance for reimbusement.
I dropped AAA when they were going to charge an arm and a leg to cover my old motorcycle (same rate as a Winnebago, I seem to recall), and I wasn’t all that thrilled with their forays into legislation lobbying. I used the Shell service, which was maddening when I DID break down on the interstate. They needed the friggin ZIP CODE! I was driving eight hours, not mailing a letter! I gave them my direction, interstate, nearest exit, and nearest city. I said some things that may have put me on their black list. It WAS Thanksgiving Day, I think, so I may have had a particularly bad flunky.
I’ve been quite happy with AAA - the hotel discounts don’t hurt, and the relatively few times I’ve had to call them the people they’ve sent have been prompt, courteous, and extremely helpful. I was by myself when my battery died (due, I found out later, to a seriously ill alternator, but that was later) at 11:00 at night somewhere in Atlanta. They were there in ten minutes to jump it and you couldn’t ask for better service (although I guess it varies, as it’s local people who come and pick you up.) Some years I’ve used it not at all, year before last I needed three tows. I think it pays for itself in the end, certainly pays for itself in peace of mind. I’m sure there are other services that do the same thing, but I’ve been very happy with AAA (and now it’s much better as we all have cel phones and don’t have to walk to the next exit or anything.)
My family and I buy AAA Gold every year. I have always thought that we have gotten more than our money’s worth. We have used it about 20 times in 11 hours for various sorts of problems. However, a trip this summer cinched the value of it for me. I was on a cross-country trip en-route to Gainesville, Florida and it was about 1:00 am. I was near one of the smallest towns in Florida (Lee, Florida) when I had a blowout on my front tire. I absolutely could not get my jack to work. I called AAA and they sent a truck right over and changed the tire for me. I headed out again and less than 5 miles down the road my other front tire blew (they were down to the wires and I guess it was a coincidence). I called AAA again and told them my spare tire was already being used. They called out a different truck, a flatbed, that could hold an SUV. I knew that my AAA Gold provided free towing for up to 100 miles. I crossed my fingers and decided to test this service. I ask the driver how far it was to Gainesville and he replied “About 95 miles”. I told him that was where we were going starting right then. I hopped in the tow truck and slept while he took me and my SUV all the way to Gainesville. When we arrived, it was 4:00 am and the driver even knew a good tire shop. He dropped my SUV off and even left them a message about what to do first thing in the morning.
All of that was completely free of course. The driver even took me to my cousin’s house when we were done with my truck.
BTW, I have seen someone get tons of restaurant discounts with AAA. My wife’s uncle has an obsession with his AAA card and tries to get a discount wherever he can (being pushy if necessary). He suceeds a lot of the time. The average discount in restaurants is about 10%.
For what it’s worth, you can also get a discount on Amtrak with a AAA membership.
That makes sense because if the train breaks down, they have someone on board who can call for free assistance.
You can get every AAA service through the Association Motor Plan with the National Association for the Self Employeed. Membership in the NASE is a bit more than AAA, but it’s tax deductable and you get about 120 other benefits that will serve you far better than AAA’s limited packages, and save you a whole hell of a lot more money.
ParentalAdvisory, is there a particular reason that you don’t want to belong to AAA?
I have always had a AAA membership, and most likely always will. It’s like any other kind of insurance; you hope you don’t need it, but it sure is handy when you do. In 20 years of driving, I’ve probably needed their services 8 or 9 times.
I’ve never used the travel services, other than picking up about twelve tousand free maps and hotel & campground guides.
That would be once every 33 minutes. I must have been a very interesting day.
I’ve used Allstate motor club for years. IMHO their coverage is a bit cheaper (esp. for couples) and covers a bit more then AAA.
The only thing that I don’t like is there are not as many discounts associated w/ Allstate M.C., which is a reason I may eventually switch (esp the train discount). The reason I don’t switch right now is you have to go through a probationary period where you can only get the most basic plan, which includes only 3 miles of towing, which is nothing for where I drive - in some places that won’t even get me off the highway.
I’ve always been very happy with AAA discounts. Only rarely use their roadside assistance but save quite a bit of money using their discounts. In fact, I used to get the Entertainment book but found that I can usually get an equivalent discount using AAA. Just booked a hotel in Niagara Falls for Girls’ Weekend Away and the AAA discount saved us $50 a night x 2 rooms = $100 night savings.
I’d suggest checking the AAA website to see what discounts are avail in your area. They don’t broadly advertise them. For instance, did you know that you can get a 20% discount on Sherwin Williams paints? Up to 40% off Barnes & Noble.com? 30% off Lenscrafter glasses? 20% off Ofoto? They also offer discounts on local attractions, such as zoos, theme parks and museums. I pay $6 for movie passes vs. the $9 that the cinema charges.
And, no, I am not a paid endorser. 
If you’re an RV user, you might check into Good Sam.
I once saw a road map published by the National Automobile Club…and the scale on the map was 1 inch:5000 feet.
Whisky tango foxtrot?!!???
Why on earth would it be in units of 5000 feet, and not, oh, I don’t know,
miles???
No wonder you never hear of the National Automobile Club!
I just wanted to know what other options there were, kinda light alternatives to Microsoft… I decided to go with AAA. Thanks for everybody’s insight!