AAA vs Good Sam Roadside Assist

[groundhogy]

I was recently asked for my opinion on which might be better.
I have no ideas on what to report so I figured I should ask here.
Thanks. gh

[BayouBiker]

There is a very recent thread on this topic. You might want to read through it. My take is they are both pretty good and personal considerations play into it. Also the plans do vary from state to state.

[groundhogy]

Funny.
I did a forum search before posting and didn’t see anything.

[Halford1]

Pro: AAA does not send 1 ton of mail per month like Good Sam does. I quit after a year and stuck with AAA ever since. Now my Gieco cover trailer for emergencies. So I use both Gieco and AAA.

[BayouBiker]

Here is one thread I recall....

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f48...et-212327.html

[Fjord F-150]

I ordered both AAA RV Plus and Good Sam Platinum Complete https://www.goodsamroadside.com/mbbs/index.cfm last week. The AAA RV Plus has longer distance towing that made it attractive to me (versus towing to the nearest facility). The AA Plus provides 4 tows up to 100 miles. Good Sams provides to the nearest professional service center capable and
willing to repair your vehicle. Next year at renewal I will decide which one to keep.

Of course my wife did not approve when she found out after my sound executive decision. Sometimes it is better to ask for forgiveness than for permission (when spending $ on an Airstream at least).

One interesting thing I discovered about AAA though, is they have different regional franchises versus one central organization. Accounts for long time customers can get tricky when moving between regions.

Good Sam " Good Sam Platinum Complete Roadside Assistance pays 100% of the towing fees for
the delivery of your vehicle to the nearest professional service center capable and willing to repair your vehicle. "

[Sailorjamie]

I had both for a few years, 18 or 19 years ago, with my old Class C motorhome. Had the transmission go out in northern Alabama at 10 or 11pm on a weekend. No one would even answer the phone at Good Sam. I eventually gave up on them and called AAA. AAA took care of me. I dropped Good Sam after that.

[drbrick]

Here in British Columbia Canada BCAA-RV provides the best support

[kidjedi]

The deciding factor for me was this: Good Sam will only help in a *roadside emergency.* AAA Plus rv membership ($195 per year) will tow your vehicles (any vehicle you own) up to 100 miles per instance from any point A to point B. If you purchase an RV with no motor, they will flat tow it to your home.


Not only that, but when I was trying out Good Sam with the "club" membership, I found that the "benefits" were worthless, and I have never received so much junk mail in all my life.

[xyzabe]

I found FMCA's road service the best. Unlimited towing..period. Plus fuel and tire services.

[journeydog]

I had GS once upon a time with a Class A covered. I was pretty much all set to do some traveling, and when I did my pre-trip check out I found one of the rear dually tires was more than a tad low. So, called GS and told them my sad story. This was on a Saturday morning. Within a few minutes, I got a courtesy call from GS informing me that the nearest service was over 300 miles away and they wouldn't be able to help me for a couple of days! Luckily I was still parked in my own yard and was only about 2 miles to a local tire shop. I made it there and when they checked the tire, they found a piece of sand had somehow wedged itself in the tire valve and was causing a slow leak. Problem fixed - no charge.


I called the GD dispatch back to cancel my service request, and told them to cancel my policy with them also. Now, I have a similar service policy with my insurance folks and, of course never needed it in the last 20 years

[prairieschooner]

AAA! have had awesome experience

[Aprilrivet]

We were stranded on a Florida interstate rest area for 4 days over a long weekend waiting for Good Sam to find someone to help us. We now have CAA / AAA RV protection and thankfully have only had to use them once and that issue was resolved over an afternoon.

[Jrcat]

We paid for almost 10 years of Good Sam roadside assist premiums. We never needed them until we had a trailer tire delaminate on I-84 along the Columbia Gorge in Oregon. When we called Good Sam roadside assist for help, they claimed we were out of their service area. That was totally ridiculous. There were hundreds of vehicles whizzing past us, and it was a major interstate. We finally had to call our auto insurance provider and they took care of us. Needless to say, we canceled both our roadside assist and travel assist policies with Good Sam the next day. They can’t be trusted.

[glrtex]

For anyone looking for great service by knowledgable tech staff, I urge you to look at CoachNet.

[kidjedi]

Originally Posted by Jrcat

...they claimed we were out of their service area.

This alone would completely eradicate them from my list. If there is anywhere I can take my RV or trailer that is somewhere they won't give me coverage, then what good are they?

I have definitely heard cases where someone was so out in the boonies that the AAA office couldn't find someone to help, and the member had to find a tow service on their own, but even in those cases they were at least reimbursed for anything out of pocket.

[engineshow]

Had CW for 15 plus years, only needed once. They could not find me in north Carolina after 6 hours the state police even tried to give our location, with out any luck. Geico came through and covered everything. I will not use CW even with your money.

[oldfrank]

My experience with AAA - Northern Utah at a truck stop, the brakes on my '76 locked up. I had joined AAA about a month before. Called them, they said they would be there in a couple of hours, as the truck was finishing another call. Two hours later, a flat-bed trailer came, loaded up truck and trailer and delivered me to a shop in Green River WY. Repaired and back on the road the next day.
Another time, transmission in my '04 Sierra gave it up west of Denver. AAA came to the campground, picked up me and the truck, and delivered us to a transmission shop. Not sure what either would have cost, but it sure would have put a dent in my fishing budget - - -- -

[badfish_2]

I had GS. Locked the keys in the truck. 5 hours and 3-4 phone calls later they still had not shown up. Fortunately someone at the RV park was able to pick the lock on my truck and open it up for us! Cancelled GS after that. They were totally useless. This happened in Houston, TX.

[jcanavera]

I have AAA and also coverage from my Airstream's Progressive insurance policy. I've found the AAA coverage has been good for specific tow vehicle issues when not towing. If towing the Progressive coverage deals with both the trailer and the tow vehicle in mind. I found that AAA coverage for RV's can vary between states. The Progressive policy will cover both the trailer and the tow vehicle during the time the tow vehicle is in use towing the trailer.

What's important to me is if the tow vehicle is disabled the Progressive policy will cover towing of the tow vehicle, and towing of the Airstream so that it's not left roadside somewhere. I've never been in a situation were we were forced to tow both vehicles, but have used AAA to tow my my tow vehicle while the Airstream was in a destination campground. I needed a tire change this year in Michigan at the first Michigan rest stop after you cross the Indiana boarder. For some reason AAA couldn't seem to comprehend my location and dispatched a vehicle from the northern Michigan boarder when when calling the driver ascertained that AAA's dispatching service didn't seem to have an idea of where I was. While waiting for another truck located on right side of the state to be dispatched, a kind trucker at the rest stop saw my situation and changed the tire for me.

The additional charge for towing with the Progressive Insurance policy is minimal vs Good Sam charges. Was sort of a no brainer to take that coverage in conjunction with AAA extended towing coverage (but no RV).

Jack