Roadside Assistance programs

Look closely at the available plan levels and what they cover. These places are not apples to apples comparisons. I recently learned something about AAA that I didn't know. They cover a tow for my HTT, but no trailers that can't be lived in, AKA, a utility trailer. It cost me a small fortune to have my truck and a rented utility trailer towed 170 miles away my home. I knew I was on the hook for mileage above 100, but they did not tell me the trailer wasn't covered at all when I called, so I did not find out until we were home. To their credit they reimbursed me a good chunk of the cost, but I was still on the hook for over $200 that could have been avoided. I also found out that each state's AAA club can have different rules and coverage than others. So AAA WI is not the same as AAA FL, nor are they necessarily the same as AAA nationally (see more below).

Some things from my research that may or may not be important to you:

• AAA's best program will give a tow anywhere you want within 200 miles of your breakdown. So if you are within that range from home, you can get towed straight home. Anything over that is on your dime. Their RV coverage is 100 miles. Either way this is really important to us.
• Coachnet, while they offer "unlimited towing", will only tow you to the nearest authorized repair center. That means if you are 99 miles from home and the nearest repair center is 5 miles, you are going 5 miles. If you want a tow home, it's your dime.
• Good Sam has 100 mile towing on their best plan with a similar arrangement to AAA, that is they also allow for anywhere within 100 miles you want.
• AAA's towing services may or may not have the equipment needed to tow your RV or trailer.
• Both Good Sam and Coachnet have reputations for having alliances with services that can tow your RV/trailer.
• AAA does not have any kind of RV help line. Both Coachnet and Good Sam do.
• AAA RV will only pay to tow your travel trailer
• Good Sam and Coachnet cover any type of trailer.
• AAA US and AAA for each state are seperate clubs and they do not play nice together. I spoke to people from our state club and the national AAA and they not only pointed the finger at one another, they openly bashed how each one handles cases.
• Additionally each AAA state club can have different coverage levels and rules which the 800 number folks (national club) may not be aware of.
• Good Sam and Coachnet are each one club. I don't mean they are one club together, but that they aren't broken into smaller clubs like AAA with a central dispatch. That is when you talk to someone on one of their 800 numbers, the same rules apply no matter what state you live in.

All that said I'm seriously considering Good Sam instead of renewing AAA. They seem to have the best of AAA and Coachnet, without the petty infighting that AAA seems to have. And I don't read too many bad experiences on them. In fact most are pretty positive.

Keep in mind that we've been with AAA for many years and in town they have been very good. But my last experience on the road makes me wonder how things would be handled if I'm 500 miles away towing my travel trailer. Could they even tow my trailer, and would they understand what coverage I have?