AAA Roadside Assistance Reviews

In our AAA roadside assistance review, we rate the provider 9.0 out of 10.0 overall and rank it in 8th place compared to other options on the market. AAA offers good coverage and perks through its three plans and has pricing options that work for many drivers. However, service experiences are mixed and depend on the area you are in.

The costs of AAA roadside assistance plans vary depending on your plan, the number of people covered, and your location. Below, we’ve summarized the costs you can generally expect based on rates we got from AAA in the Carolinas for a single driver:

• AAA Roadside Assistance Basic: $64 per year
• AAA Roadside Assistance Plus: $94 per year
• AAA Roadside Assistance Premier: $124 per year

You can also choose to add a motorcycle to your plan for an additional $30-$35 per year and an additional driver for around $35-$45 per year. Roadside assistance from AAA costs more than roadside assistance from some insurance companies like Progressive and State Farm. However, AAA roadside assistance comes with more services than add-on plans from insurance companies.

Read More: How Much Does Roadside Assistance Cost?

AAA RV Roadside Assistance Cost

To have an RV included your AAA roadside assistance plan, expect to pay around $99 to $209 per year for coverage for a single person. Adding a motorhome or trailer costs an additional $35-$85 depending on your roadside assistance membership selected and additional coverages.

AAA covers all the main roadside assistance services like lockout assistance, towing, battery service, flat tire service, and fuel delivery. It also covers winching plus a variety of other perks. However, your coverage limits and items covered will vary greatly by the AAA roadside assistance plan that you choose.

Read More: What Does Roadside Assistance Cover?

AAA Roadside Assistance Plans

Below you can see what the different AAA roadside assistance plans offer for coverage:

AAA Roadside Assistance Services

Here are the coverage details on AAA roadside assistance services:

• Towing: The Basic plan covers free towing to the responding tow truck’s station, to a AAA-owned Car Care facility within 10 miles or to another facility within three miles. The Plus plan covers 100-mile tows and Premier adds one 200-mile tow. You’ll be charged $7 per mile for tows beyond the mileage limit for each plan.
• Battery boost: A technician can jump-start your car with a battery booster. Some AAA trucks also stock new batteries you can purchase.
• Flat tire change: AAA can replace your flat tire with the spare from your vehicle.
• Fuel delivery: You can get fuel delivered if you run out of gas. Plus and Premier members get enough gas to reach a fueling station for free.
• Lockout service: AAA covers up to $50 (or $100 for Plus/Premier) for locksmith services to unlock your car and make it drivable.
• Winching: If you get stuck in a ditch or in mud, AAA can extract your car. Basic members get one extraction truck and driver while Plus/Premier members get two trucks per service call if needed.

AAA Emergency Roadside Assistance Add-ons

And here are the details on extra AAA services that fall outside the traditional roadside assistance offerings: 

• Trip interruption: This reimburses you for food and lodging within 25 miles or for commercial transportation to your destination up to a limit. Trip interruption applies if your car is disabled after an accident or stolen. Premier members can also use it after a mechanical breakdown. 
• Auto theft reward: If someone steals your car or stereo, AAA will reward anyone who supplies information that leads to a conviction. The reward is for third parties — you and your family are ineligible. 
• Legal defense: AAA can reimburse you for attorney fees (up to a limit) if you plead not guilty to certain traffic violations or manslaughter charges in connection with an accident. The limits increase if you appeal your case to the State Supreme Court.
• Travel accident insurance: This covers accidental loss of life, limb or sight if you book travel through your region’s AAA Travel agency.
• Car rental reimbursement: Premier members get one day of rental car reimbursement each year after a tow.
• Travel concierge: Premier members can access concierge services to book experiences at least 100 miles away from home.
• Home lockout service: You can get up to $100 for locksmith services to open your house door and make a new key if the lock has to be drilled. This applies to Premier members and is available once per year.

AAA RV Roadside Assistance

AAA offers RV roadside assistance through Plus RV and Premier RV memberships (depending on club location). These memberships are required for full roadside assistance on any of the following:

• Motorhomes
• Travel trailers
• Fifth-wheels
• Pickups with campers
• Trailers for boats, motorcycles, ATVs and more
• Motorcycles

Without an RV membership, you won’t get towing, winching or tire service while driving an RV.

AAA Motorcycle Roadside Assistance

Similar to RVs, AAA motorcycle roadside assistance coverage can be added to a Plus and Premier membership. However, this coverage is only available to AAA members in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Puerto Rico. If you are in these areas you can cover motorcycles (2 and 3 wheeled), mopeds, scooters, motorized bicycles, and electric bicycles.

If you get stuck on the side of the road, you can reach AAA for 24/7 roadside assistance by calling 1-800-222-4357 (1-800-AAA-HELP). You can also request assistance in the AAA app. The system will direct you to the right dispatch center depending on your location, either by your mobile data or internet connection. Although you purchase a AAA membership from a specific regional club, you can use it anywhere in the U.S. and Canada.

AAA Roadside Assistance Mobile App

With AAA Mobile, you can do much more than request roadside assistance. The app provides AAA’s TripTik^® map and trip-planning service so you can find AAA-approved hotels and restaurants wherever you go. You can also book hotels and rental cars through the app and find cheap gas and AAA-approved repair shops.

AAA roadside assistance reviews vary by auto club. For example, AAA Carolinas has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with accreditation and a 1.3-star customer review score. On the other hand, the Automobile Club of Southern California is not rated by the BBB and has a 1.2-star rating from customers. It’s worth checking the ratings for your local AAA club to learn more about its customer experience.

Positive AAA Roadside Assistance Reviews

In positive AAA roadside assistance reviews, customers mention receiving timely service after calling for assistance. That’s one of the most important qualities of a roadside assistance company. One customer received service less than 10 minutes after the call. Another said the AAA tow truck rescued them from a desert highway and drove them 100 miles to their destination city.

Negative AAA Roadside Assistance Reviews

Unfortunately, not everyone has the best experience with AAA. It’s important to know the company uses its own fleet of drivers along with independent contractors. Depending on who’s available in your area at the time of the call, wait times can vary drastically.

One negative AAA roadside assistance review on the AAA Carolinas BBB page says the customer waited four hours to get locksmith service. Another customer called for a tow around 8:30 in the evening and had to get a friend to pick them up at midnight since the tow truck driver hadn’t shown up.

Our team reached out to AAA Carolinas and the Automobile Club of Southern California about their BBB ratings but did not receive a response.

AAA offers some of the most comprehensive roadside assistance plans on the market if you get the higher tiers like Plus or Premier. Its prices are also reasonable compared to similar options. That said, you’ll find cheaper roadside plans from auto insurance companies on average. Compare AAA with auto insurance plans to see which roadside assistance program is best for you.

AAA 24 Hour Roadside Assistance: Top Alternatives

When you’re comparing roadside assistance services, we recommend looking into Better World Club, Allstate and Travelers.

• Better World Club: As the name suggests, Better World Club seeks to create a better world by being 100% carbon neutral. The company offers two road service plans that come with trip interruption, free physical maps and discounts.
• Allstate: Allstate offers a comprehensive roadside assistance plan that you can purchase even if you don’t have Allstate auto insurance. It also offers a convenient pay-per-use plan that starts at $154 per towing service with no membership fee.
• Travelers: Travelers offers two plan levels: the basic plan covers towing up to 15 miles while Premier Roadside Assistance^® covers towing up to 100 miles. The Premier plan also includes trip interruption and personal property coverage.

Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best car insurance companies. We collected data on dozens of auto insurance providers to grade the companies on a wide range of ranking factors. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the insurers that scored the most points topping the list.

Here are the factors our ratings take into account:

• Cost: Auto insurance rate estimates generated by Quadrant Information Services and discount opportunities were both taken into consideration.
• Coverage: Companies that offer a variety of choices for insurance coverage are more likely to meet consumer needs.
• Reputation and experience: Our research team considered market share, ratings from industry experts and years in business when giving this score.
• Availability: Auto insurance companies with greater state availability and few eligibility requirements scored highest in this category.
• Customer experience: This score is based on volume of complaints reported by the NAIC and customer satisfaction ratings reported by J.D. Power. We also considered the responsiveness, friendliness and helpfulness of each insurance company’s customer service team based on our own shopper analysis.

Our credentials:

• 800 hours researched
• 45 companies reviewed
• 8,500+ consumers surveyed

*Data accurate at time of publication.