Are There Any Good AAA Alternatives?
Last Updated on October 6, 2023
AAA is America’s most popular roadside assistance program. However, there are plenty of good AAA alternatives that may be a better choice.
Popular AAA alternatives include Good Sam Club, Allstate Motor Club, Better World Club, and your insurer’s in-house roadside assistance program.
Alternatively, you can also buy roadside assistance from your cell phone provider or credit card company.
Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about good AAA alternatives.
Table of Contents:
- Top 6 Best AAA Alternatives
- What Does Roadside Assistance Cover?
- Better World Club
- Good Sam Club
- Allstate Motor Club
- Roadside Assistance From Your Current Insurer
- Roadside Assistance From Your Cell Phone Provider
- Roadside Assistance From Your Credit Card
- AAA Versus Competitors: Pros and Cons of AAA
Top 6 Best AAA Alternatives
You can find plenty of alternatives to AAA. Although AAA is one of the best-known names in the roadside assistance space, the company is facing growing competition from other providers.
The top 6 best AAA alternatives include:
- Good Sam Club
- Better World Club
- Allstate Motor Club
- Roadside assistance from your insurance company
- Roadside assistance from your cell phone provider
- Roadside assistance from your credit card company
Anyone can sign up for Good Sam Club and Better World Club. Like AAA, these companies are for-profit roadside assistance providers available across the United States.
Allstate Motor Club is Allstate’s roadside assistance service. However, you do not need to be an Allstate policyholder to access Allstate Motor Club. Anyone can sign up – regardless of whether you have GEICO, State Farm, Allstate, or any other insurance provider
Similarly, you may be able to access roadside assistance through a cell phone provider or credit card company. Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T offer roadside assistance subscriptions, for example, and some credit card companies offer automatic, pay-per-use roadside assistance services to all cardholders without requiring signup.
Below, we’ll break down each AAA alternative to find the best roadside assistance service for your unique needs.
What Does Roadside Assistance Cover?
Whether you’re buying roadside assistance from AAA or another provider, you should be covered for the following on a standard policy:
- Towing up to 5 or 10 miles (or to the nearest service station)
- Battery jumpstarts
- Flat tire changes
- Vehicle lockouts
- Other general roadside emergencies
- 24/7 coverage in the United States and Canada
Some plans also cover winching, although it’s not standard on all basic plans. If your vehicle slides off the road into the ditch, then you may require winching.
Most AAA alternatives and roadside assistance providers also offer multiple subscription tiers. If you need more than 5 or 10 miles of towing, for example, then you could pay a higher subscription tier. These higher subscription tiers can also cover larger trucks, RVs, and other alternative vehicles.
Most roadside assistance plans cover you in the United States and Canada 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Some roadside assistance plans let you buy added coverage for Mexico.
Better World Club
Better World Club is a popular AAA alternative priced at $58.95 per year for the basic plan. The company has strong ratings from customers, low numbers of complaints compared to AAA, and affordable pricing compared to competitors.
Better World Club also markets itself as an eco-friendly roadside assistance provider. The company is the only major provider offering bicycle roadside assistance, for example, and a carbon-neutral fleet of emergency roadside assistance vehicles.
Better World Club Website: https://www.betterworldclub.net/
Phone Number: 866-238-1137
Good Sam Club
Good Sam Club is one of the best-known AAA alternatives available today. Priced at $49.95 per year for the auto-only basic plan, Good Sam Club is one of the more affordable options available among major roadside assistance providers, and they offer multiple higher-end plans to suit all different needs.
Good Sam offers basic roadside assistance along with Platinum and Platinum+, making it easy for all types of drivers to access the roadside assistance services they need whether they need standard care or comprehensive plans.
If you want basic coverage for a single car, then Good Sam Club is an excellent option. However, Good Sam Club also offers roadside assistance for cars, motorcycles, RVs, and trailers, among other unique vehicles.
Good Sam Website: https://www.goodsam.com/
Phone Number: 866-205-7451
Allstate Motor Club
Allstate Motor Club is a popular AAA alternative available to anyone – including Allstate policyholders and other drivers.
Priced at $79 per year for the auto-only basic plan, Allstate Motor Club offers strong roadside assistance coverage that covers all of the things you expect it to cover, including towing, jumpstarts, vehicle lockouts, and other breakdowns.
Plus, Allstate Motor Club has multiple subscription tiers, allowing you to pay extra to cover long-distance towing, trip reimbursement, and more.
Allstate Motor Club Website: https://www.allstate.com/roadside-assistance/membership-plans
Phone Number: 877-597-3393
Roadside Assistance From Your Current Insurer
Most insurance companies offer in-house roadside assistance. This is generally the cheapest roadside assistance available to you.
The average roadside assistance plan costs $50 to $100 per year. When you buy roadside assistance from your insurer, however, you could pay just $1 to $4 extra per month – or $12 to $48 per year – for similar roadside assistance coverage.
Your insurer’s roadside assistance works in a similar way to AAA and other major providers. You pay an annual fee, then get complete coverage for roadside emergencies.
Most insurers outsource roadside assistance to a third party. In fact, some insurers use the same third parties, which means you’re getting identical roadside assistance coverage to competing providers.
There are multiple advantages of buying roadside assistance from your current insurance provider, including:
- Same billing and account management as your insurance policy
- Generally the most affordable roadside assistance available to drivers
- Good roadside assistance coverage similar to other major roadside assistance plans
- Priced as low as $10 to $50 per year with most insurers
- May offer less coverage for long-distance towing and other options than AAA
Overall, if you’re happy with your current insurer, then check their roadside assistance policy options. Most insurers now offer comprehensive roadside assistance at a surprisingly reasonable price.
Roadside Assistance From Your Cell Phone Provider
AT&T, Verizon, and certain other cell phone carriers offer roadside assistance for an added cost, including:
AT&T: $35.88 per year for each enrolled phone line ($2.99 per month).
Verizon: $59.88 per year for each enrolled phone line
The coverage works similarly to other roadside assistance packages. You get coverage for jumpstarts, vehicle lockouts, and short-distance towing, among other services, without paying an added pay-per-use fee.
One of the biggest perks of getting roadside assistance through your cell phone provider is the ability to carry coverage wherever your phone goes. If you’re driving with a friend, for example, and the friend’s car breaks down, then you can call roadside assistance on your AT&T phone and receive free coverage. As long as your AT&T phone is at the location where the roadside assistance is being provided, you receive complimentary coverage.
Some of the benefits of choosing your cell phone provider as a AAA alternative include the following:
- Affordable coverage (priced at $36 to $60 per enrolled phone line per year)
- Coverage goes wherever your phone goes, regardless of which car you’re driving (or who is driving the car)
- Standard roadside assistance coverage, including 24/7/365 coverage for towing, jumpstarts, lockouts, and other roadside emergencies
Roadside Assistance From Your Credit Card
Certain credit cards offer roadside assistance at no added cost. You pay a fixed fee for each roadside assistance event, and your credit card covers any remaining fees.
Some credit cards also offer full-featured roadside assistance, where you do not pay a fixed fee for each roadside assistance event; instead, you get free roadside assistance coverage – just like you would when paying for a full roadside assistance subscription.
Credit cards with roadside assistance include:
Chase Sapphire Reserve: The popular Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card includes 24-hour roadside assistance from Chase’s network of 25,000+ service providers across the United States and Canada. Chase covers up to $50 per incident, and you can use the benefit four times per year while traveling in the United States and Canada. You get coverage for jumpstarts, flat tire changes, fuel delivery up to two gallons, towing, and lockout assistance. The Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card has an annual fee of $595 per year. It also comes with rental car insurance.
Visa Signature Cards: Certain Visa Signature cards include complimentary roadside assistance service at no extra fee. Bank of America, Capital One, and Wells Fargo all offer Visa Signature cards with complimentary roadside service that works similarly to roadside assistance from AAA and other providers.
Other Chase and Visa Cards: Other Chase and Visa cards also offer roadside assistance for a fixed pay-per-use fee. You call the Chase or Visa roadside assistance hotline, and they dispatch a technician to your location to solve your problem. You pay a fixed fee, and Chase or Visa covers the rest. Low-fee Chase and no-fee Visa credit cards come with pay-per-use coverage for up to five miles of towing, flat tire changes, car battery jumpstarts, vehicle lockout service, fuel delivery, and winching, among other perks.
Check your credit card documentation to verify your roadside assistance coverage. Even if your credit card doesn’t wholly cover the cost of roadside assistance, you could save hundreds per year on roadside emergencies with discounted, pay-per-use rates.
AAA Versus Competitors: Pros and Cons of AAA
AAA is the biggest and best-known roadside assistance company in the United States. However, the company faces competition from a growing number of competing providers.
Some of the pros and cons of buying roadside assistance through AAA include the following:
- AAA is customizable and offers a range of coverage options for different vehicles and roadside assistance needs
- AAA has a higher number of complaints relative to other roadside assistance providers on our list
- AAA tends to be more expensive than competing providers, especially compared to your existing insurance company
- AAA charges enrollment fees in some regions – something we don’t see with competing roadside assistance providers
- AAA offers additional travel benefits, insurance discounts, rental car discounts, perks, and agency benefits we don’t see with competing roadside assistance providers
Final Word – AAA Alternatives
Overall, AAA continues to be the country’s best-known and most popular roadside assistance company. However, a growing number of AAA alternatives have given drivers multiple options.
Many drivers like buying roadside assistance through their existing insurance company for peace of mind and convenience at an affordable price.
However, you may already have roadside assistance through your cell phone provider, insurance company, or other organization.
Check out any of the AAA alternatives listed above to ensure you’re covered against roadside emergencies.
