Roadside assistance vs. AAA

What is roadside assistance?

Roadside assistance is a service that provides help when you find your vehicle inoperable. Whether the incident occurs while the vehicle is parked in a driveway, around town or even on a road trip, roadside assistance typically covers specified services such as:

• Vehicle refueling when your vehicle runs out of gas
• Locksmithing services
• Flat tire changing or spare tire mounting
• Extracting your vehicle from a collision
• Jump-starting a dead battery
• Towing

Roadside assistance plans are offered through almost all auto insurance carriers. The actual services offered through each carrier are quite varied, with some companies only offering towing up to a certain number of miles, or a limited number of lockout and fuel delivery services.

Membership organizations, such as AAA, are another option for roadside assistance. These organizations tend to offer additional perks on top of the roadside assistance, making it more enticing to enroll in an annual membership.

You may be able to purchase roadside assistance other ways, such as through your cell phone carrier or a credit card company. Some car manufacturers also include roadside assistance as an added perk for a certain number of months or miles after you purchase a new vehicle.

What is AAA?

AAA was founded in 1902 and is all-in-all a car, travel and insurance company. Many people recognize AAA as a company providing insurance products, travel discounts and roadside assistance. Over the years, AAA has grown to include a wide variety of financial products, including home mortgages, banking and credit cards.

AAA charges a yearly fee for the roadside assistance and bundles the program with other discounts and incentives besides vehicle services.

AAA membership packages

AAA is also well known for its roadside assistance program, and the coverage is sold as a membership package.

AAA offers three levels of membership options, with each level increasing in the number of benefits and perks. However, exact plan inclusions may vary based on your location or ZIP code. One example of the packages available in the Carolinas include.

• Basic: This is the most bare bones option. It provides up to five miles of towing, lockout service, tire change, fuel delivery (you pay for the fuel) and a battery jumpstart. Plus, the membership comes with various discounts for attractions and services across the country.
• Plus: This package level provides up to 100 miles in towing and increased locksmith benefits, plus free fuel if you need AAA to provide fuel delivery. There are numerous other increased benefits, including higher accidental travel coverage and other perks.
• Premier: This level provides up to 200 miles of towing, even greater locksmith and legal defense coverage, identity theft insurance, free passport photos and all of the benefits of the lower package options.

AAA vs. roadside assistance: Pros and cons

When looking at AAA vs. insurance roadside assistance, the choice typically hinges on some main factors: budget, potential benefits and customer service. For drivers with budget constraints, comparing quotes from AAA with the cost of adding a roadside assistance endorsement or purchasing the coverage elsewhere will help you narrow down the most cost-effective option.

Equally important is evaluating how much you’ll utilize the broader benefits of a membership service like AAA compared to a more basic roadside assistance program. Lastly, roadside assistance is most useful in emergencies, so you’ll likely want to look at customer service reviews to see how people rate each assistance program you’re considering. If a program has a reputation for slow response times or poor service quality, it may not be worth it, even if it’s the cheapest option.

Pros and cons of AAA

Some of the AAA-specific pros and cons are listed out below:

Pros and cons of roadside assistance

Below are some of the perks and drawbacks of a non-AAA roadside assistance plan:

Is roadside assistance cheaper than AAA?

When considering roadside assistance options, cost is often a primary factor for many drivers. AAA, known for its comprehensive service packages, starts its basic membership at around $65 annually. This fee covers a range of services, including towing, fuel delivery and jump starts, providing value for members who frequently travel or own older vehicles. Additionally, AAA offers benefits like travel discounts and more extensive towing options in its higher-tier memberships, which may appeal to drivers looking for broader coverage.

In contrast, roadside assistance through other companies, like insurance carriers, often presents a lower (or even no) upfront cost. However, these rates can vary significantly based on the provider, coverage level and additional service fees. For a precise comparison, it’s helpful to compare personalized quotes from AAA and other companies to see how rates vary for your location, vehicle type and selected services.

The table below compares some of the most popular roadside assistance programs available to a wide range of drivers, including both the costs and what makes the program one to consider.

How do I purchase roadside assistance?

If you choose to purchase AAA roadside assistance, you can sign up either online, by calling the customer service number or sending in your application through the mail. If you are interested in purchasing roadside assistance through a carrier, you could add it on by contacting your auto insurance company either online, via the app, through your agent or by calling customer service.

Frequently asked questions

Methodology

Bankrate utilizes Quadrant Information Services to analyze May 2024 rates for all ZIP codes and carriers in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Rates are weighted based on the population density in each geographic region. Quoted rates are based on a single, 40-year-old male and female driver with a clean driving record, good credit and the following full coverage limits:

• $100,000 bodily injury liability per person
• $300,000 bodily injury liability per accident
• $50,000 property damage liability per accident
• $100,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury per person
• $300,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury per accident
• $500 collision deductible
• $500 comprehensive deductible

To determine minimum coverage limits, Bankrate used minimum coverage that meets each state’s requirements. Our base profile drivers own a 2022 Toyota Camry, commute five days a week and drive 12,000 miles annually.

These are sample rates and should only be used for comparative purposes.

Credit-based insurance scores: Rates were calculated based on the following insurance credit tiers assigned to our drivers: “poor, average, good (base) and excellent.” Insurance credit tiers factor in your official credit scores but are not dependent on that variable alone. Four states prohibit or limit the use of credit as a rating factor in determining auto insurance rates: California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Michigan.

Incidents: Rates were calculated by evaluating our base profile with the following incidents applied: clean record (base), at-fault accident, single speeding ticket, single DUI conviction.

Age: Rates were calculated by evaluating our base profile with the ages 18-60 (base: 40 years) applied. Depending on age, drivers may be a renter or homeowner. Age is not a contributing rating factor in Hawaii and Massachusetts due to state regulations.

Bankrate Scores 

Our 2024 Bankrate Score considers variables our insurance editorial team determined impacts policyholders’ experiences with an insurance company. These rating factors include a robust assessment of each company’s product availability, financial strength ratings, online capabilities and customer and claims support accessibility. Each factor was added to a category, and these categories were weighted in a tiered approach to analyze how companies perform in key customer-impacting categories.

Each category was assigned a metric to determine performance, and the weighted sum adds up to a company’s total Bankrate Score — out of 5 points. Our scoring model provides a comprehensive view, indicating when companies excel across several key areas and highlighting where they fall short.

• Tier 1 (Cost & ratings): To determine how well auto and home insurance companies satisfy these priorities, average quoted premiums from Quadrant Information Services (if available), as well as any of the latest third-party agency ratings from J.D. Power, AM Best, Demotech and the NAIC, were analyzed.
• Tier 2 (Coverage & savings): We assessed companies’ coverage options and availability to help policyholders find a provider that balances cost with coverage. Additionally, we evaluated each company’s discount options listed on its website.
• Tier 3 (Support): To encompass the many ways an auto insurance company can support policyholders, we analyzed avenues of customer accessibility along with community support. This analysis incorporated additional financial strength ratings from S&P and Moody’s and factored a company’s corporate sustainability efforts.

Tier scores are unweighted to show the company's true score in each category out of a possible five points.