Worth the money to upgrade AAA to Plus?

[SondraC]

It's time for me to renew our AAA membership, and I was trying to decide if it is worth the extra cost to upgrade to the Plus vs. the Basic plan that I currently have. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[weHEARTmickey]

It's time for me to renew our AAA membership, and I was trying to decide if it is worth the extra cost to upgrade to the Plus vs. the Basic plan that I currently have. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

We bought the basic membership last year STRICTLY for the Diamond parking at WDW, storytime, & 10% discount at DTD. We thought, "well, if we need it for our cars, that's just a bonus!"

My DH's car broke down about a month later & AAA would only tow it like 2 or 3 miles. Well, that didn't help one bit! Since DH will drive his car until it absolutely falls over & dies, we went ahead & upgraded to the plus plan this year. I think you get 3- 100 mile tows. This goes for any car DH or I am in (our car or someone else's.) So, for us, it was worth it! I think it was double the $$ though.

 

[JB2K]

It's time for me to renew our AAA membership, and I was trying to decide if it is worth the extra cost to upgrade to the Plus vs. the Basic plan that I currently have. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

If you are a true "road warrior", it's worth it because of the 100-mile tow (to the garage/dealership of your choice) for Plus members versus the tow to the "nearest shop" if you're a Basic member.

On the other hand, if you only knock around town, you would be better-off with the basic (you can upgrade/downgrade at any time -- your local auto club has more details)...

 

[MermaidsMom]

With the plus membership you also get free passport pictures. Something to use if you need them.

 

[Lewisc]

AAA will pay to have you towed to the responding station, no matter how far. The 2 (or 3) mile limit applies when you specify where you want to be towed to. Extra miles is at a discounted AAA rate.

The plus membership includes towing a longer distance (3-100 miles?) to the station of your choice.

 

[debbiecarr98]

We bought the basic membership last year STRICTLY for the Diamond parking at WDW, storytime, & 10% discount at DTD. We thought, "well, if we need it for our cars, that's just a bonus!"

My DH's car broke down about a month later & AAA would only tow it like 2 or 3 miles. Well, that didn't help one bit! Since DH will drive his car until it absolutely falls over & dies, we went ahead & upgraded to the plus plan this year. I think you get 3- 100 mile tows. This goes for any car DH or I am in (our car or someone else's.) So, for us, it was worth it! I think it was double the $$ though.

should have checked in to discounts before we went to disney i guess! we have the upgraded membership because the kids leave stuff on in th car so often that one time they said i had exceeded my number of calls with the basic so i upgraded.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

We chose "plus" due to the longer towing distance. If our car has any sort of major problem while on the road and out of town, we want to go to a dealership and not an independent/franchise repair shop.

 

[weHEARTmickey]

should have checked in to discounts before we went to disney i guess! we have the upgraded membership because the kids leave stuff on in th car so often that one time they said i had exceeded my number of calls with the basic so i upgraded.

Yes!!! And, you can also get vacation package discounts through AAA. We waited too close to travel time for AAA to have any discount rooms available. If we weren't going during FD this year, we'd probably use the AAA discount.

 

[The Iron Giant]

I have the basic membership and the two times we needed a tow they were willing to tow the car anywhere we wanted for $4 per mile with the first 5 miles free. I have a very short commute to work so the basic plan makes the most sense for us.

 

[zachnsamsmommy]

AAA plus is definately the way to go with an older car, for sure. In college, I got waaay more than the membership cost towing my 1984 Nissan P/U to the repair place .

This year it saved us lots of money...4 passport pix, 1 long tow (25+ miles), and a couple of battery jump-offs (I should duck and run over those, lol).

Anyways...most of the PPs have made really good points!

 

[SondraC]

Thanks for all the replies!
I think we are going to spring for the Plus.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I have the highest one. Is that Plus or Premiere? I forget.

Anyway, I go to DL a lot and my car is 14 years old. I like having that extra insurance of knowing AAA will get me home if I have trouble. I've had to use it once and I live 40+ miles away from DL. That "free" tow was worth the amount I pay for AAA each year for both of us.

Plus, we've needed notary stuff and it is free with the tier we have.

 

[LisaNJ25]

I wait and see if we are talking a long trip an than add it. Its pro-raided so its ends up being cheaper.

 

[sharonmickey]

I've had the basic plan for 30 years. (I know --- I'm old, lol) Last year DD was driving 20 miles from home when a wheel came off and she needed towed. She was on a highway and no service stations were within the 2 or 3 mile range. It cost me around $40 for the tow back home. This was about the same money if I had upgraded to the plus membership. Needless to say, I decided to upgrade after that. She is going to college 150 miles from home now so that if she would need a tow she can either have it towed home or to school, whichever is closest. For now, the plus is the best plan for me.

 

[Sorcerer's Dad]

We also went with the Plus since we frequently take long trips. Daughter broke down in the middle of the night once in Georgia on I-95 and having the plus saved her from having a big tow bill.

 

[Tony P. IL.]

This is from AAA

AAA Plus RV for Extra Security


Towing distance allowance increased to 100 miles from the point of disablement to the destination of your choice. This gives you the freedom to have your vehicle towed to a repair facility or other location of your choice within 100 miles. (Regular membership covers tow to responding station or up to 5 miles from place of disablement.)

Free emergency fuel. (Regular members pay for fuel.)
Extrication. Services of a second truck and driver for one hour if needed. (Services of one truck and driver for unlimited time available to regular members.)

Up to $100 in parts and labor for lockout/locksmith services for your vehicle. ($50 covered under regular membership.)

Plus RV extends benefits to campers, motor homes and motorcycles.

Auto Travel Interruption Protection (trip continuance) benefits increased up to $1000 reimbursement. ($600 available to regular members.)

Extended legal fee reimbursement up to $1,500. (Regular members receive up to $500.)

$300,000 air Travel Accident Protection when tickets are purchased at AAA Travel. ($100,000 insurance included when regular members purchase tickets at AAA.)

Two sets of passport photos free per PlusRV member, per member term. (Regular members pay $8 per set, non-members pay $12 per set plus tax.)

 

[Shagley]

Auto Travel Interruption Protection (trip continuance) benefits increased up to $1000 reimbursement. ($600 available to regular members.)

This is the reason I got the Plus plan. A few years ago we had our van break down on our way to Disney World (our 2nd day of a 10 day trip). We had to pay for a rental car so we could finish our trip . It added a few hundred dollars to our trip that we hadn't planned on. It is well worth the extra money to not have to stress about that happening again, or at least I will know that I will get reimbursed for my extra expenses.

 

[dyna]

We have AAA Plus on all drivers in the family. The 1st year we did that my DD was on her way back to college after the christmas holidays her car threw a rod 80 miles from home an 160 miles from school out in the middle of no where. That tow more than paid for our AAA that year alone.

We also carry the RV AAA as motorcycles are considered an RV by AAA we never know when Christine is gonna decide she doesn't wanna run no more that day only to start an be fine the next day. OH then there is running over the nail in middle of road too that is always fun.

 

[LindaDe]

Learned the hard way, went cheap with just the basic membership and on our way to WDW that year the car broke down while driving from PA. Had to pay towing because of the limited towing distance of the basic. Now I only get the upgrade. Then to make matters worse went cheap on our auto insurance that same year also....so we also had to rent a car and pay the extra for the insurance on the rental car...sometimes you just can't get away with being cheap.