Good Sam Roadside Assistance vs AAA

Quality and availability of service is never a solid answer from any of them, after all they all contract with the same tow facilities. If it is a remote area or an extremely busy area their negotiating power is near zilch.

That said after 35 years with AAA moved to GS as it would cover cars, RV and my motorcycle at the time. AAA says it covers the MC for an extra premium however when you read the fine print they would bring me gas or jump me that is it, no flat help or towing! We had GS for less than a month when my car broke down. We were about 11 miles from home and the nearest BMW dealer is just a mile or two from the house and this was a sunday. Tow showed up about 15 minutes earlier than told to expect and GS called me back twice once to make sure that he got there and second time to make sure we were taken care of. Towed the car to the house with the only stipulation being they would not do a second tow to a repair shop. Sounded fair to me and cost nothing out of pocket. AAA would have only paid for the first 7 miles then it would have been out of my pocket.

I do miss the maps and DMV assistance when needed but that is it.

If AAA or GS tows your RV, do they allow you to be in the coach ? or do they provide transportation for you and your member to get home ?

thanks

I had an opportunity to experience both Good Sam and AAA this weekend with my RV. My experience can be found on the thread "Advertised Benefits of Good Sam RA vs. What Was Provided".

While Good Sam looks much better on paper, and AAA ended up costing me money (I had the RV towed to my home mechanic), after an hour on the phone (over 30 minutes on hold) with Good Sam, I was pretty much in limbo with no idea of how long before I saw a tow, or IF I would see a tow. After 15 minutes on the phone with AAA (none of it on hold), I had a confirmed tow within 1-1/2 hours.

So, while I might have to put out money on AAA towing, at least I'm going to get the tow. That to me is the most important service.

An 8 year AAA member with no claims, I was given a one-year GS RA for one year when I bought our RV in Dec of 2013. Now it's time to renew our AAA. No thanks, GS gives us all the same and more for the same price. Good bye AAA!

Pangaea Ron wrote:
You might also look at Coach-Net.

The OP lives in California. Coach-Net no longer accepts new customers who have a California mailing address. They will allow you to renew. Not sure if I would renew if I frequented or lived in Ca. knowing they will not be any growth in that State.

You might also look at Coach-Net.

Another issue with AAA that I discovered is that even though they state they will tow you up to 200 miles, they have a cost cap to that tow. So, if the contracted tow company charges more per mile than AAA's "cap", you will have to pay the difference even if it's less than 200 miles total. And most RVs require a larger tow truck which usually comes with a higher per mile cost, so the odds of not paying for the tow are extremely rare.

The MAJOR difference is the AAA definition of an RV and the fact that not all of the 50+ separate AAA regions will tow or even offer dispatch service for an RV. AAA is NOT the RVers friend, under any circumstances.

I dropped AAA because in high volume areas, (LA to Las Vegas as an example) they will tow you to a safe location, then re-tow you within 3 hours (as I remember) to a repair location. My son broke down on that road (new Chevy) and was towed to the rest area (yes it was open) the truck came back at 5pm (3 hours) and towed him to Victorville Chevy. Thus, he made it to the dealership on Sat evening, with service closed, and no one to look at his car till Monday. When we tried to complain we were told all actions were within policy.
We now have Good Sam.

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I have been an AAA auto member for almost 10 years and recently add AAA RV service (Regular AAA is for autos, AAA requires RV service for RVs which they charge an additional $45/year). AAA offers to tow our RV up to 100 miles.

What is your total cost for the AAA service? Ask the ERS reprentative to givd you a quote.

What happens if you need to be towed beyond 100 miles?
Will they tow you only to a service center that has the ability to fix your RV?

I see lots of Good Sam member here. How is Good Sam Roadside Assistance compared to AAA RV roadside assistance ? (I am more interested in comparing costs and benefits :))

Call Good Sam Emergency Road Side service and ask them to tell you what services will be provided. Also, ask them to send you the brochure on the GSER policy.