How Can You Get Free Roadside Assistance?

Last Updated on October 7, 2026

By James Shaffer Reviewed by Thomas Rockford, insurance industry executive and financial analyst, on October 4, 2026 How we fact-check

Roadside assistance pays for help when your car can’t (or shouldn’t) keep going—think towing, fuel delivery, jump-starts, flat tire changes, lockouts, and winching.

Cost depends on where you buy it, and the gap is bigger than most people expect. An insurer add-on is the cheapest: GEICO advertises its Emergency Road Service from $14 a year per car, and State Farm says its version averages $10 to $20 a year. A AAA membership starts at $64.99 a year at AAA Mountain West and $75 plus a $20 enrollment fee at AAA Washington. Verizon charges $4.99 a month per line, which is $59.88 a year. Paying out of pocket is the most expensive route of all: GEICO publishes a Houston example of $75 for a tow with five miles included and $1.50 a mile after that.

The good news is that you may already have roadside help, and in one case genuinely free: new-car warranties often include it at no charge. The other routes on this page are cheap rather than free, and we have put the published price on each one so you can tell which is which.

How can you get free roadside assistance? Below are the best free (or cheap) ways to get roadside assistance—and what to watch for before you rely on it.

  • Before you pay for a roadside plan, check for “free” coverage through your car’s warranty, dealership/CPO program, employer benefits, wireless plan, or credit card guide.
  • Auto insurance add-ons are the cheapest route, from about $10 to $20 a year, but frequent use may be recorded on your policy. No insurer we read says it surcharges for roadside calls, and none says it doesn’t, so ask yours.
  • Not all credit card “roadside assistance” is free. Visa’s Roadside Dispatch charges $79.95 a service call. American Express runs a free hotline but says all the service costs are yours. Chase Sapphire Reserve actually pays, up to $50 an event and four events a year.
  • Always confirm the limits. Published towing allowances run from 5 miles (Visa, AAA Classic) to 200 miles (AAA Premier’s one long tow a year), dollar caps cluster around $50 to $75 an event, and almost every plan stops at four service calls a year.
Table Of Contents
  1. Best Free Roadside Assistance Options
  2. What Does Roadside Assistance Cover?
  3. What’s the Catch with Free Roadside Assistance?
  4. FAQs on Free Roadside Assistance
  5. Final Word – Free Roadside Assistance
  6. Sources

Best Free Roadside Assistance Options

You may already have roadside assistance. Some of the best ways to get free roadside assistance include:

  • Car manufacturers
  • Car dealerships
  • Banks and credit cards
  • Auto insurance provider
  • Cell phone companies
  • Employer

We’ll cover each option below, plus the most common limitations (like towing miles, service caps, and dollar limits per event).

Car Manufacturers

This is the one genuinely free option, and it usually runs on its own clock rather than the basic warranty’s. Hyundai gives “5 years of Roadside Assistance absolutely free, with every new vehicle” and calls it “5-Year Unlimited Miles Coverage,” so the mileage on the odometer doesn’t end it. Its list covers towing, a lockout, a flat tire, a dead battery and running out of gas, and the roadside line is 1-800-243-7766. Terms differ by make, so check yours.

The catch is usually where they tow you. Hyundai’s is typical: it tows “to the nearest Hyundai dealership or authorized service facility,” which may not be the shop you wanted. Hyundai publishes no mileage figure and no dollar cap. Its separate trip interruption benefit only kicks in when the breakdown happens “more than 150 miles away from home.”

Check your owner’s manual, your manufacturer’s app/connected-services account, or your warranty booklet for details on your make and model.

Car Dealerships

Some dealerships include roadside assistance with a new-car purchase, a certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicle, or a service/maintenance package. Sometimes it’s provided through the manufacturer; other times it’s a third-party plan.

If you bought your car from a dealership, check your purchase documents or call the dealership and ask whether roadside assistance is included—and if it applies only while you’re under warranty, only while you service there, or for a specific number of years.

Banks and Credit Cards

Read the fine print here, because most card roadside benefits are a phone number rather than money. Many cards offer roadside dispatch, where they send help and you pay the bill. A smaller number offer limited reimbursement up to a set amount per event. The benefit usually comes from the card network rather than your bank, which is why two cards from the same issuer can work completely differently.

Here is what the three big networks publish. Visa’s Roadside Dispatch is pay-per-use: “Current fee for a standard service call is $79.95,” which includes up to 5 miles of towing, and you pay the provider for mileage beyond that. It covers light vehicles only, 10,000 lbs or less. Mastercard’s Master RoadAssist works the same way: “Road service fees will be automatically billed to your World MasterCard account.” American Express runs a 24-hour hotline at no extra charge, but its terms are explicit that “all costs associated with these emergency roadside services are the responsibility of the Card Member.”

A few cards do pay. These are the ones we could verify, and the ones to check:

Chase Sapphire Reserve: Chase publishes the numbers — “up to $50 for each event and up to four events every year.” The service line is 1-800-350-1697.

Other Chase cards, including Chase Freedom Unlimited: it depends entirely on your card’s own guide, and Chase’s own lineup proves the point. The guide for the United Explorer and United Quest cards carries an allowance: “24 hour road assistance events are covered up to a maximum of $50 for each service event, up to four (4) events each year.” The guide for the no-fee United MileagePlus card has no allowance at all; it is pay-per-use, with the fee quoted when you call. Same issuer, same phone number, different answer.

Capital One Venture Rewards: we could not confirm a roadside benefit on Capital One’s own guide. It is a Visa product, so Visa’s $79.95 Roadside Dispatch is the term most likely to apply. Check your guide.

Bank of America Premium Rewards: same situation. We could not confirm a roadside benefit, and it is a Visa product, so Visa’s Roadside Dispatch terms are the ones to read. It does offer rental car coverage and other perks.

If you’re not sure what you have, look up your card’s “Guide to Benefits” (or call the number on the back of your card) and ask: Is this free coverage, reimbursement coverage, or paid dispatch?

Auto Insurance Provider

Most insurers sell roadside assistance as a cheap add-on, and it is the cheapest route of all if what you want is local towing, jump-starts, lockouts and tire changes. GEICO advertises from $14 a year per car with towing up to 15 miles to the nearest qualified repair facility in most states. State Farm says its Emergency Road Service averages $10 to $20 a year and tows to the nearest repair location. Progressive tows within a 15-mile radius, or to the nearest qualified shop if there isn’t one inside 15 miles.

There is a tradeoff: because it’s tied to your policy, roadside calls can be recorded on your account. We could not find an insurer that publishes its rule either way, so ask yours directly whether roadside calls are tracked as claims activity. If you expect to use it often, compare the add-on with an auto club plan, which keeps the calls off your insurance record.

Some carriers include roadside assistance in a package instead of selling it separately, often through a membership or employer program. American Family’s Costco program is a clear example: Costco Executive Members get roadside assistance “up to $75 per occurrence ($100 in MA, MT and SC, $80 in TX, no limit in NC),” with battery and fluid replacement excluded. Farm Bureau and other regional insurers may include it too, depending on the plan and state.

These providers offer roadside plans (details vary by state and policy):

Two of those names have changed hands, so check which company your policy is actually with. MetLife sold its personal auto and home book to Farmers in April 2021 and it is serviced as Farmers GroupSelect. Esurance still sells car insurance as an Allstate company, but esurance.com now sends you to Allstate’s pages for the details.

Review your declarations page or call your insurer to confirm whether you already have roadside assistance, and what the towing miles and dollar limits are.

Cell Phone Company

Worth saying plainly: the carrier plans aren’t free. Both of the ones we could check are paid monthly add-ons, and on a yearly basis they cost more than an insurer add-on. What you get for the money is that the benefit follows your phone line rather than a specific car, which helps if you drive several vehicles or ride with other drivers. Verizon says it “follows the enrolled device, so you must have the device with you to receive Roadside Assistance,” and AT&T’s is “linked to the subscriber’s enrolled wireless phone.”

Major providers that offer (or have offered) roadside add-ons include:

AT&T: AT&T’s program terms say it “costs $2.99/month per enrolled phone,” with a “maximum program benefit” of “$75 per service event” and a maximum of four events a year. It’s run by Dominion Motor Club. Those terms carry a 2019 version stamp, so confirm the price on your bill.

Verizon: $4.99 a month for each enrolled line. Towing is covered “up to 10 miles in a wireless coverage area,” and anything past 10 miles is “the responsibility of the customer” and “not reimbursable.” You also get winching up to $100, up to 3 gallons of fuel, a jump start, a tire change with your own inflated spare and lockout help, with a “limit of 4 service calls and/or reimbursements per enrolled line during a 1-year period.” Coverage starts two days after you enroll, which is worth knowing before you sign up on the shoulder.

Sprint: gone. T-Mobile retired the Sprint CDMA network on March 31, 2022 after extending the shutdown by three months, so a legacy Sprint add-on is unlikely to still be running. If you were a Sprint customer, look at T-Mobile’s current add-ons instead.

Before you rely on a wireless plan, do the yearly math. Verizon at $4.99 a month is $59.88 a year with a 10-mile tow; AT&T at $2.99 a month is $35.88 a year with a $75 cap. GEICO’s add-on is $14 a year with a 15-mile tow. The wireless plans earn their price only if you need coverage that follows you rather than a car.

Employer

Your employer may offer roadside assistance as part of a voluntary benefits package, employee discount program, or membership network.

Review your benefits package to see whether roadside assistance is in it. If your employer’s auto benefit came through MetLife, note that MetLife sold its personal auto book to Farmers in April 2021 and it is now serviced as Farmers GroupSelect, so Farmers is the company to call. Costco membership is another route worth checking, since American Family’s Costco program includes roadside for Executive Members.

What Does Roadside Assistance Cover?

Whether you’re getting free roadside assistance or a paid subscription, plans tend to cover similar services, including:

Most plans cover you anywhere in the U.S. and sometimes Canada, but the limits are where plans really differ. Published towing allowances run a long way: 5 miles on Visa’s Roadside Dispatch and on AAA Mountain West’s Classic tier, 7 miles on AAA East Central’s Classic, 10 on Verizon, 15 on GEICO and Progressive, 100 on AAA Plus, and one 200-mile tow a year on AAA Premier. Dollar caps cluster lower than people expect: $50 an event on Chase Sapphire Reserve, $75 an event on AT&T and on American Family’s Costco program. And almost everything stops at four service calls a year, including Verizon, AT&T, Chase Sapphire Reserve, AAA Mountain West and AAA Washington.

What’s the Catch with Free Roadside Assistance?

Free roadside assistance can be genuinely useful—just don’t assume “free” means “unlimited.” Check the plan details for restrictions like:

Towing limits: Many plans only tow to the nearest repair facility or cover a short mileage limit. Past that, you may pay per mile.

Coverage limits per event: many plans cap what they pay per call, often around $50 to $75. AT&T’s “maximum program benefit is $75 per service event” and Chase Sapphire Reserve pays up to $50. A long tow will go past that and the difference is yours.

Service-call limits: four a year is the industry habit. Verizon, AT&T, Chase Sapphire Reserve, AAA Mountain West and AAA Washington all stop at four.

Where you’re covered: Coverage may exclude off-road use, private roads, gated areas, or certain parking structures.

Winching restrictions: plans only winch you out if you’re close to a public road, and the distance is bigger than you might think. GEICO covers winching “within approximately 30 feet (about 2–3 car lengths) of a publicly maintained roadway.” Progressive, Visa and Chase all use 100 feet. Verizon caps winching at $100 instead of setting a distance.

Vehicle restrictions: standard plans cover passenger vehicles. Visa’s Roadside Dispatch covers light duty only, “10,000 lbs. or less,” and says heavier vehicles “are NOT covered.” Mastercard’s document excludes “over one-ton capacity trailers, campers or vehicles-in-tow” and anything off road. RVs, moving trucks and motorcycles usually need extra coverage.

What isn’t included: roadside assistance buys service, not parts. State Farm’s wording is typical: it delivers gas, oil, a battery or a tire “but not the cost of these or similar items.” A new battery, a new tire and the fuel itself are yours.

If you understand the limits, “free” or low-cost roadside assistance can be a great safety net—especially for drivers who don’t need long-distance towing.

FAQs on Free Roadside Assistance

Final Word – Free Roadside Assistance

Many drivers already have roadside assistance through their car’s warranty, a dealership program, a wireless add-on, a credit card perk or their auto insurance policy. Of those, the warranty is the one that is actually free, and the insurer add-on is the cheapest thing you can buy.

Check your owner’s manual, review your policy documents, and scan your credit card and wireless benefits to see what you already have—then confirm towing miles, service-call limits and per-event caps before you rely on any of it.

My advice is to pick one and cancel the rest. I’ve seen people pay for a wireless add-on, a card benefit they never use and an insurer add-on all at once, which is three bills for one tow. Work out which has the towing distance you actually need, and drop the others.

Sources

Checked October 4, 2026