AAA Roadside Assistance Review

Tuesday, October 8th

2024 Roadside Assistance Company Reviews

AAA Roadside Assistance

• Prices from $75 to $124.99 per year
• Towing, battery help, locksmith services, and fuel delivery
• Discounts offered
• Coverage in in 15 US states and territories
• Coverage in Canada
• "A+” rating from the BBB

You've likely come across an AAA (American Automobile Association) auto insurance commercial or two. Beyond offering insurance, though, AAA (most often referred to as "triple-A”) extends its services to include Roadside Assistance, home security, identity protection, notary services, and various auto-related situations. With a history dating back to 1902 and a whopping 61 million members relying on their Roadside Assistance plans, AAA offers 24/7 safeguarding, whether you're driving or riding along with others.

Covered across the US and Canada

Depending on where your vehicle breaks down, AAA is there to help. The company operates throughout the United States and Canada. But there are some limitations. For example, at the time of our review, AAA only offered coverage for drivers living in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Puerto Rico, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

3 day waiting period

After signing up, a 3-day waiting period applies before you can access and utilize your Roadside Assistance benefits, so you'll want to be a member before getting involved in a vehicle or roadside emergency. AAA can be contacted through their app, by phone, or online, but customer feedback suggests uncertainty regarding their timely response. Members are entitled to up to 4 emergency roadside services per membership year.

Hard to find detailed pricing

To explore coverage options on AAA's website, the initial step involves providing your state and zip code, as membership costs vary across the United States. To give an accurate price comparison each time, we checked out prices for the state of Florida where any roadside assistance company (like AAA) requires location to proceed. While there used to be prices for all three tiers at AAA, now it appears that AAA only offers pricing for their basic plan, which costs $75 per month for Florida residents. This one plan is now called the "Classic” and it includes all the main features of roadside assistance. The three plans that AAA offers are called Classic, Plus, and Premier.

Basic option: Classic

Classic costs $75 per month as listed on the main website. The service includes:

• Towing for 5 miles or to the nearest AAA repair shop
• Emergency starting
• Car battery service
• Flat tire service
• Emergency fuel delivery (but you pay for the fuel)
• Vehicle locksmith reimbursement (up to $50)
• Accident insurance up to $100,000

Mid-tier option: Plus

The Plus service expands on the features offered on their Classic option. These upgraded features include:

• Towing for 100 miles or to the nearest AAA repair shop
• Emergency fuel delivery (free fuel)
• Vehicle locksmith reimbursement (up to $100)
• Accident insurance up to $300,000
• 2 sets of passport photos per member

Full coverage option: AAA Premier

The Premier option includes everything in the Plus plan, with more upgraded features and a few new ones. These include:

• Towing for 200 miles
• Vehicle locksmith reimbursement (up to $150)
• Accident insurance up to $500,000
• Unlimited sets of passport photos per member
• Home lockout service up to $100
• 24 hour concierge
• 24 hour emergency and medical services

Tons of available discounts

While AAA stands out as one of the most recognized Roadside Assistance providers, its plans, regrettably, offer low mileage towing options. Despite this drawback, AAA compensates with some membership perks, including discounts on pet insurance, rental cars, home security, restaurants, electronics, glasses prescriptions, and more.

Refund within 7 days

Should you enroll in AAA's Roadside Assistance plan, only to reconsider, a full refund can be obtained within 7 business days from enrollment. Beyond this period, cancellation remains an option for a prorated refund. However, if you have used any of the emergency services from AAA, you can cancel, but you won't receive a refund.

Reputation is falling outside the BBB

Surprisingly, AAA receives an "A+" rating from the Better Business Bureau, despite the difficulty in obtaining clear pricing. However, from third-party review sites, the news isn't so hot. According to Trustpilot, customers have rated AAA just 1.5 stars on average. Customers complain regularly about the dependability of the service, citing delayed claims payments, extremely long tow truck waits, or even sudden cancellations. It's a veritable laundry list of complaints. Yikes! Evidently, the quality of AAA's services appears to be declining, so despite the stellar BBB score, you might want to consider looking elsewhere.

Declining reputation is a red flag

While some of the AAA perks are exciting, like a range of discounts on hotels, car rentals, and reimbursement for different services, that isn't enough to earn AAA a higher rating in our review. With the difficulties navigating the website just to find pricing as well as the extremely concerning reviews, AAA stands out as a service that used to be quite popular but is falling in its reliability. Our advice? You may want to choose a more reputable Roadside Assistance company especially if you're looking for options with better prices (or just better customer service overall).