AAA RV auto club

[Dennis_Smith]

We have had AAA auto club for years for the cars, truck. Just signed up for the RV service. Anyone out there have it and are they happy with it? We have always been happy with AAA and I hope the RV service will be the same. We have the PLUS so we are covered for up to 100 miles, which out west 100 miles is nothing between service. Please let me know if your happy or sad about AAA RV Plus.

[Community Alumni]

X2 intheburbs. This is my understanding of how my membership works as well. I've even used my coverage in Canada with the CAA side without any hassle or additional charge.

[intheburbs]

djgarcia wrote:

Dennis Smith wrote:
ChooChooMan74 wrote:

Not available in our area. I would check to make sure you can use it nationwide.

Just check I can't find anywhere where it doesn't work. Choochooman 74 better try again

Better yet, If you call AAA will they give you a list of all areas,cities, counties, States they will provide ERSS and areas they don't provide ERSS service?

AAA provides coverage over the entire nation. Period.

Now granted, there may be some regions/states where the RV coverage might not be available as a membership option, but actual road service to anyone who has a AAA RV or Premier card is available across the entire nation.

For example - Plus RV membership might not be available to RI members. However, if I break down in RI, as a card-carrying Plus RV member from Michigan, I would fully expect road service no different in RI than any part of the country.

Disclosure: I worked for the AAA several decades ago, both at the Smithtown, NY branch, and at the Garden City, NY call center for the road service. I was one of the operators who handled incoming calls for road service for members. That center handles all road service calls for Long Island, the 5 boroughs, and the five downstate counties - Orange, Ulster, Putnam, Westchester and Duchess. I remember members calling with membership levels that were not available to NY members, such as the plus membership. Back then, the 100-mile free towing was not available to NY members, but it was honored in NY for out of state members.

Separately, certain toll roads and limited-access highways have restrictions about what companies can do road service. The parkways of the NYC metro area are a perfect example. Only 1 or two companies were licensed by the state to perform road service on those roads. They were contracted with the AAA, but the member might have to pay an additional cost. That policy has likely changed from 20 years ago.

But again, to reiterate, there is nowhere in the country where you could break down and the AAA would say, "Sorry, we don't offer road service at that location." Ok, with the possible exception of some remote areas of Alaska. 😉

[MarkTwain]

Dennis Smith wrote:
ChooChooMan74 wrote:

Not available in our area. I would check to make sure you can use it nationwide.

Just check I can't find anywhere where it doesn't work. Choochooman 74 better try again

Better yet, If you call AAA will they give you a list of all areas,cities, counties, States they will provide ERSS and areas they don't provide ERSS service?

[jc1843]

I have Good Sam RV, and coming back from Alaska many years ago, the transmission died in BFE. Called Good Sam and they sent TWO tow trucks- one for the truck, and one for the trailer. Towed both over 100 miles- took the trailer to a campground and helped set it up, and the truck to a repair shop. No Charge-!

[tsetsaf]

We used it once and experience was good. Our auto insurance offers it for waaayyyy cheaper with similar coverage so we dropped aaa.

[Dennis_Smith]

ChooChooMan74 wrote:

Not available in our area. I would check to make sure you can use it nationwide.

Just check I can't find anywhere where it doesn't work. Choochooman 74 better try again

[lgarcia]

Works in West Virginia

[Dennis_Smith]

It sure looks like I made the right choice. I know I am cover out west everywhere I go and I am going to do some home work about New Jersey and post back.

[intheburbs]

Unfortunately for me, I can speak from experience, and have nothing but good things to say about them. Have had two major breakdowns, and an out of gas, and everything went smoothly.

My "episodes:"

1) Spun the pinion bearing of my Suburban as we were approaching the toll plaza at the PA/OH state line on I-76. Limped onto the side of the road, called AAA. Road service arrived 45 minutes later with a flatbed and a pickup for the trailer. Towed back to a local shop in Youngstown, and they dropped us and the trailer at a hotel. Didn't spend a dime out of pocket on the tow, and submitted a trip interruption claim for rental car and hotel. Received a check about three weeks later for the full amount.

2) Overheated/seized the rear end near in SD. Was able to limp into a small town (Betts, IIRC) to a grocery store parking lot. Road service showed up in about an hour; keep in mind this is very rural SD. Again, two vehicles showed up - flatbed and a pickup. Flatbedded the truck to a local shop in Mitchell, and dropped us and the trailer off at an RV park right near the shop. Again, submitted at trip interruption claim for the rental car and RV park, and was fully reimbursed. These two incidents are why we upgraded to a 2500.

3) Tried to stretch my tank of gas to get to Lincoln, NE. Underestimated the reduced mileage due to headwinds, and ran out of gas just west of the city. Called AAA. Took the family into the trailer to have lunch while we waited, but the truck showed up 15 minutes after I made the call. We'd barely started eating. He even had 5 gallons of gas, instead of the usual 2. I paid for the gas and we were back on the road.

I've also needed several tows when I wasn't RVing, back when I used to drive less-reliable vehicles. Never had a problem.

I'm 100% satisfied, and happily renew my AAA Plus RV membership every year. It's paid for itself plenty, and it's good peace of mind.

[FLGup]

AAA will tow you to where you want. GoodSam tows you to the nearest authorized service center that they are affiliated with.

How do I know? I have both AAA for the car and GSRA for the RV, which also covers the tow vehicle. Anyway, The truck broke down when backing up the driveway. I thought this would be a good time to check out my new GSRA account. I called them and they said the nearest service center to my home was a Midas muffler. I told them my service guy was 5 miles further up the road and could I pay the difference to have it towed there. She said no, they only tow to there authorized locations (read kickback). So I called AAA and they said no problem, we will tow it wherever you want and if it is beyond your miles you pay the difference.

As soon as my GSRA runs out I will look at AAA RV and compare it to Coachnet.

[D_E_Bishop]

djgarcia wrote:

Dennis Smith wrote:
We have had AAA auto club for years for the cars, truck. Just signed up for the RV service. Anyone out there have it and are they happy with it? We have always been happy with AAA and I hope the RV service will be the same. We have the PLUS so we are covered for up to 100 miles, which out west 100 miles is nothing between service. Please let me know if your happy or sad about AAA RV Plus.

The best way to answer your question is to do a side by side comparison of 2 or 3 EMRS service policies: Good Sam, coach net, and AAA. Based on what I have read from various posts from RV.net this are my concerns and observations:
1. AAA primary business or focus is not providing RV Emergency Road Side Service.
2. AAA EMRS service is not universally consistent from area to area and state to state.
3. check and compare the various limitations of each policy.

I'll go with what djgarcia said about comparisons. However, there isn't any way to conduct a blind study. After saying what you should do, he posts his negative opinion about AAA. He didn't provide an analysis of AAA, GS and CoachNet, or any other service policies. Just as he does say, it's just his concerns and limitations.

I have AAA RV Plus and have been an SCAC member for over 50 years. My PERSONAL experience has been very good, djgarcias opinion is from reading about someone else's experience. The other two carriers mentioned may be fantastic, but honestly, I have no first hand experience with them and cannot form any concerns from other folks complaints.

Maybe dj ought to do a spread sheet and compare the complaints and kudos.

[MarkTwain]

ChooChooMan74 wrote:
Not available in our area. I would check to make sure you can use it nationwide.

X2. When I RV around the country, the last thing I want to be worried about is rather or not the area I am in at any given time in will be able to provide Emergency Road Side Service in the event of a break down!!!!! How would an RVer obtain the information of where or what areas provide AAA ERSS? Does AAA have one 800 phone number that will tell me what cities, counties or states provide ERSS?? IMHO, it would be absurd to have ERSS policy which is so random and fluky:)

[Tiger4x4RV]

I've had it for many years in Southern California. Had the RV prior to my current one towed a couple of times. No charge. Great service. Had to use their battery service recently for the Tiger. The guy met me at the storage lot, put in the new battery which I bought from him, and followed me several miles to my mechanic's place to be sure that I got there safely. That is service beyond the call of duty.

[DougE]

I've had AAA from California, Florida and Texas. I always got exemplary service from all. Flat on Class A. Blown engine in truck pulling trailer. Bent Axle on Trailer. Cut tire down a dirt road in Big Bend National Park. (And more, so I've had lots of experience with them.) The local, contracted, service provider may not always be the best, but AAA doesn't bail on you when getting a solution becomes problematic. Just know that they don't understand mile markers and will send service from the last city you passed unless you tell them you are closer to the next town on your itinerary. Their default mode is to send a provider to a street intersection if possible so you have to be a little more careful about giving your location if you're in the middle of nowhere.