Coach-Net, AAA, Good Sam? Roadside Assist

[Smartstream]

I have been with AAA since I was a kid. After so many years the premier package is free. A few years back we had a problem in New York. After a few calls we discovered AAA New York does not cover RVs. After a call to AAA Washington we were told to hire whoever we needed and we would be reimbursed. The tow cost us $1100, inconvenient but we received a check in about a week with no questions ask. With all the discounts, free maps, yes we still carry and use paper maps, I am happy with AAA.

[Ted S.]

I don't think you will ever find a perfect roadside service. I think a lot of has to do with where you break down and what services are offered in that area.

When you break down, you get service from a local provider, not from AAA, Good Sam or Coachnet themselves. So I think you will always run the gamut. But I am not an expert.

Having said that, I had one experience with Coachnet. I upgraded to the premier level because that covers the tow vehicle as well. The promo level you get with your trailer does not, or at least in my case.

I pay $150 a year, pretty happy with it. They were on it when I needed them. I had AAA pre-camper days, Broke down one day took hours to get a hook. The issue was the local shops were all busy. Just the way it goes. Don't think any service is better than the other in that situation.

[davidrrand]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Long time
AAA member so will probably add there RV premier service.

Dave

[sbacon]

I had a flat while on the interstate in Texas. I called good ole Sam, told him the
mile marker and he asked "What do you see nearby?" Answer was "Trees".
Good ole Sam finally said that he could not find me, and I was on my own.
Goodbye to brain dead Sam.
It's funny, but AAA has always been able to find me. Wonder why good ole Sam
couldn't find me on an interstate with a mile marker?

[urnmor]

We have had Good Sam fo almost six years and used them twice. Once at home in my drive way and once on the road when we had a blowout. In both cases their response and service was excellent. I will renew with them.
However whether or not who you go with I personally think (maybe it is an age thing) the insurance is well worth the piece of mind. It is one of those things that you don't know when you will need it but if you don't have it when you need it it is to late to get it.

[57Wanderer]

We used our AAA +RV yesterday when the TPMS alerted us to a tire that was very very low. We called the dispatcher and the central office found a local tire shop with a mobile unit that came out within 90 minutes to change the tire out to the spare and investigate the problem (the injured tire had a big nail in it.)

They came to the campground, from Charleston, SC. About a 30 minute ride for the driver. Excellent service.

Prior to that, we have used the RV service when we were locked out of the trailer and the central dispatch located a locksmith to come to our campground and open the door for us. Excellent service again. Another 60 minute wait. Again, the tech had to drive about 30 minutes (Desert Hot Springs, Ca) to find us.

Towing, tires, locksmith. What more do you need? I am a long time customer of AAA, and have always had great experiences with them. Prior to this, our coverage was on our cars and work trucks, in the middle of a very big city, with services all around. So when it came time to look for coverage while full time RVing, I looked around and no one else had the service for the price of AAA.

[switz]

Good Sam lost the legal rights to insure our trailer because they were cancelled as an agent. Switched to FICS agency and now have Progressive insurance on both trailers. Have stated value on Classic with many modifications.

Have had AAA coverage since 1962 and has worked for us. Also have CoachNet as one or the other can get the job done. Let Good Sam road side lapse as got tired of all of the junk mail.

Have lifetime membership in GoodSam which lets me get discounts at some RV parks along with AAA, military and AARP.

[Lhenry83]

What is the BEST roadside assistance if you want to tow your AS to an authorized AS dealer?
I’ve got USAA, Coach-Net that came with my 2019 Globetrotter and AAA “Classic” - no RV coverage. USAA will tow my trailer to the closest “Service Center”, AAA “Premier” + RV will tow 100 miles. I plan to call Coach-Net tomorrow to see what is the distance they will tow. We just returned from a trip to Pagosa Springs, CO. The closest “authorized” dealership was 158 miles away in New Mexico. I do NOT want some “random” RV repair shop working on my 2019 AS - especially when it’s under warranty.
What am I missing? What happens to the AS travelers who have a breakdown in Alaska, etc. How would Coach-Net / AAA handle that scenario? Is the towing cost out of my pocket - that is a scary thought. Thanks, 16242-TX

[davidrrand]

I am the original poster from May of 2018. I went ahead and upgraded my membership to AAA Premier RV in November. I have been a member of AAA for 37 years. It cost me $222.00 for one year. In February of this year, I was returning from a trip to Florida and within 20 miles west from Jacksonville, FL we had a flat tire on my 2015 F150. Called AAA and told since I was a Premier member, this call would be a “priority”. I thought, well this is good since I am on the side of I-95 towing my Airstream on a Sunday morning with heavy car and semi traffic. About 15 minutes later, we received a call and they said they were unable to get any service providers to accept the service call and would have to go to “outside channels”. They said it could be 3-4 hours and would get back to me. After another 5 minutes of trucks whizzing by, I decided this was too, dangerous to sit there for four hours, so despite a bad back and neck, I changed the tire on the truck, still hooked up to Airstream. It took almost an hour with my wife trying to flag trucks into the other lane without much success. It was drizzling around noon when this all began. After changing the tire I realized it was shot with a hole the size of my finger apparently from a bolt or something. About a mile on our way was a Walmart at the next exit. Unfortunately, they did not stock Goodyear Wrangler 18” tires. Another 20 miles west and we were in Lake City, another Walmart and same story. By this time, it was around 3:30 PM and still no call from AAA. We called them and cancelled the service call and voiced my displeasure with their lack of response.

Fortunately, there was a Ford dealer in Lake City, closed so we spent the night in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn Express with the manager’s permission. Next morning, at the dealer early and they would have to order the tire but would have it by early afternoon. Left the dealer late pm with a full set of new tires as the original tires with 38K were all in need of replacing. I told my story to the Ford service writer and he asked why I did not call Ford? Says they will tow your car/truck to the nearest Ford dealer, anywhere on vehicles with vehicles less than 60,000 miles or 5 years. If you are towing a trailer, they will tow that, too, for up to $200.00 in tow charges for the trailer. By the way, the Ford dealer offered better pricing by about $75.00 than the Discount Tire across the street on the same tire.

Once home, I called AAA and gave my story to a “supervisor”. He was sorry but says the only thing he could offer me was a $35.00 reduction on next years’ renewal! I told him this was unacceptable and that if they did not want me to cancel my membership after 37 years, he had better get someone up the chain to contact me with something better. I never got a call back.

In the meantime, health issues have kept me from enjoying our Airstream, but should be able to go to the Rockies in August and decided to keep the AAA which expires in November. Going forward from there will go with Ford as I have another 20K on my truck before the road assistance expires and may just upgrade to a 250 in 2020.
As n2916s said in post #2, “You pays your money and you take your chances…..” CANNOT RECOMMEND AAA, BUT YMMV.

Dave

[Mollysdad]

Just posted Sunday, the Airstream couple, LoLoHo posted their thought on roadside assistance programs they've used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knZy4ouICCQ

They basically say if you need anything other than a tire changed, you're on your own.

[Robkhoo]

I have a 7 month old Airstream Interstate 19 2019 model. CoachNet is included for the first few years. I have encountered a dozen issues and I have made many calls to CoachNet. I find the service basic and not very helpful at all when I was traveling out away from home. Sometimes the tech didn’t know what model I had, didn’t know what to advise me.

If I had to pay for such substandard service, I wouldn’t.

[oldenavy]

Has good Sam when we full-timed. The one time we needed it, we were stuck at Kirkland AFB with a broken autolevel system (couldn’t hitch up). DW spent hours on the phone trying to get them to send a tech to fix our 5th wheel. Ended up diagnosing it myself, got the part through Amazon and dumped GS. As infrequently as this type of problem comes up, we figure we’ll just pay when we need something.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

I've had one experience with Coach Net. I caught a blown brake early and was able to get off the road to someplace safe. Since we were safe, as far as they were concerned ... no need for them to do anything like fix the brakes so we could continue down the road. Also no need to get us anywhere that the brakes could be repaired .....

It may come as a big surprise but, we did not go with them after the free trial ran out ....

We'll give AAA a try and see how it goes. Hopefully we will not need to be towed over 200 miles. Big plus - coverage for trailer, tow vehicle (with or without trailer attached) and the car ....

Bob

[uncle_bob]

Hi

One other layer to this: Medical. If you are incapacitated while out and about, what happens? Can the "rest of the crew" get the RV home on their own? How do you get transported home?

Some plans appear to include this. There are also outfits that will sell you a plan independent of the normal tow stuff.

Bob

[lsbrodsky]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

One other layer to this: Medical. If you are incapacitated while out and about, what happens? Can the "rest of the crew" get the RV home on their own? How do you get transported home?

Some plans appear to include this. There are also outfits that will sell you a plan independent of the normal tow stuff.

Bob

If you got AAA, they have a discount on Emergency Assistance Plus that will do as you describe, including getting your pet home.

Larry

[uncle_bob]

Hi

There also are straight up "travel" medical insurance plans that will cover this and that. The gotcha is in the gap between the RV stuff and the medical stuff. The evac plans I've had in the past were targeted at somebody who flew in and expected to fly out. That's not *quite* what you have with 10,000 pounds of aluminum luggage on the trip

Now, you also *could* ask - why do I need to go home? Unless you are heading out of the country, there is pretty good care available for the routine stuff where you are. Your medical insurance covers you out of area doesn't it? ( = this is a real good thing to check *now* ).

Driving with your leg in a cast from hip to toe .... hmmm .... not so easy. Been there, but never tried to drive with the cast on Even getting in and out of a vehicle with that cast was a challenge.

Bob

[Lhenry83]

Originally Posted by davidrrand

My two-year complimentary membership with Coach-Net is coming to a close. Have not used so do not know if it is worth the $109-179.00 annually, depending on plan. What’s your experience? Good Sam? AAA? Others?

Thanks!
Dave

Dave,
I too have The complimentary Coach-Net 3 year that I got with my 2019 Globetrotter. I also have the “basic” RV with USAA who also has my comp and collision on the AS. After talking with both organizations- USAA and Coach-Net I plan to renew my Coach-Net for the Basic program $99 and the Basic roadside with USAA for the main reason that Coach-Net will TOW my AS to the closest authorized AS dealer. USAA will only tow my AS to the closest RV service center which I see that as a problem, especially if my AS is still under warranty. Now, Coach-Net roadside service only covers mechanical breakdowns. It’s a different story if your trailer is involved in an accident - the other reason I kept my USAA $8 / 6-month policy.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Lhenry83

Dave,
I too have The complimentary Coach-Net 3 year that I got with my 2019 Globetrotter. I also have the “basic” RV with USAA who also has my comp and collision on the AS. After talking with both organizations- USAA and Coach-Net I plan to renew my Coach-Net for the Basic program $99 and the Basic roadside with USAA for the main reason that Coach-Net will TOW my AS to the closest authorized AS dealer. USAA will only tow my AS to the closest RV service center which I see that as a problem, especially if my AS is still under warranty. Now, Coach-Net roadside service only covers mechanical breakdowns. It’s a different story if your trailer is involved in an accident - the other reason I kept my USAA $8 / 6-month policy.

Hi

Be a little careful about what Coach Net considers an "Airstream Dealer". Last time we did anything with them, they seemed to have a very interesting definition of the term. ( = places that had been dealers 20 years ago ....).

If you are 800 miles from the nearest dealer, I can understand that towing / transporting that far has significant issues. When Jackson Center is 120 miles down the road ... ummm .... errrr .... what ????

Bob

[ROBERT CROSS]

AAA Plus RV....Gives the co-pilot POM.

Disclaimer....Since 1988 we have only had one instance when coverage may have been helpful, it wasn't as we didn't have it.

Bob
🇺🇸

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

AAA Plus RV....Gives the co-pilot POM.

Disclaimer....Since 1988 we have only had one instance when coverage may have been helpful, it wasn't as we didn't have it.

Bob
🇺🇸

Hi

That *is* the flip side to this. If you are out and about for 30 years spending $150 a year on a "plan" that's $4,500 (without interest) you could have in a big pie of $20's in the trunk. You can cover a tire change or a tow with that sort of cash.

Bob