AAA RV vs Good Sam

I have Geico and when I had a blown tire a couple years ago, they sent someone in about 30 minutes, and even I didn't know exactly where we were. They covered the road assistance and the repairs from the blown tire very well.

RVRAC said:

I have Geico and when I had a blown tire a couple years ago, they sent someone in about 30 minutes, and even I didn't know exactly where we were. They covered the road assistance and the repairs from the blown tire very well.

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That's good to know. I was considering an 'add-on' roadside policy, but after two separate occasions where I spent 20+ minutes on the phone with Geico going over the details of the roadside assistance part of the policy, and comparing it point-by-point, about the only thing I could come up with was they sounded very squishy if you weren't on a publicly maintained road or in a private campground. Since I'm not very adventuresome "offroading" in the Dutch Star, I decided to take my chances the last 3 years.

Scott, I had a good experience with them.  They have a separate department that handles RVs.  But also, my DW was hit by lightning in Ocala, most of the electric systems were destroyed,  they cover all but our deductible. They paid more than $15,000 to the Ocala dealer.Both experiences have been very well handled.

RVRAC said:

Scott, I had a good experience with them.

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That's good, and generally I've had good experience with them as well. I did have one claim denied which made me furious. The dollar amount involved was very small, it was the way they handled it. I had someone enter my rig when it was parked at a repair facility for an extended period. They took a weird variety of small thing - tshirt, electric razor, misc toiletries etc. A few hundred dollars. Items worth much more weren't touched. I filed a police report, and the facility stepped up and paid my deductible for a cracked window. Because the perpetrator didn't enter through the window and there was no evidence how they got in (apparently through a door the facility left unlocked), notwithstanding the police report they denied the claim. When I explained that literally every RV uses the same key for exterior compartments and everything in there could easily be stolen, they were unswayed. So, in essence, everything in the basement is uninsured.

It's on my to-do list to run the scenario by other companies to see how their language reads

RVRAC said:

Scott, I had a good experience with them.  They have a separate department that handles RVs.  But also, my DW was hit by lightning in Ocala, most of the electric systems were destroyed,  they cover all but our deductible. They paid more than $15,000 to the Ocala dealer.Both experiences have been very well handled.

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Could you please clarify this? Assuming you were not insured with AAA, but not clear.  Are you saying that Good Sam paid for the damage to your rig from a lightning strike off of your Good Sam Insurance or your Good Sam Roadside Assistance?  It is important to make it clear amongst the 4 types of insurance that Good Sam offers which paid for this - 1 or 2 below:
1. Good Sam RV insurance (liability, comprehensive, collision, etc.) {guessing it was this}
2. Good Sam roadside assistance {possible partially from this?}
3. Good Sam Travel Assist {only for medical issues}
4. Good Sam Tire and Wheel Protection Plan {only for tires and wheels}

This string is mostly discussing items 2-4 relative to AAA, Coachnet etc.

Joel, you need to read my previous post.  I was talking about Geico.  The comment was meant to be that other insurance companies might cover what the OP is looking for.

AAA vs Good Sam?
Appreciate the information.  As a newbie to the site I was shocked to learn about Coachnet.  That service sounds great.
I am considering keeping my AAA plus with RV.  Expensive yes, but I have used it many times with my autos.
The "To the Nearest Dealer" concerns me.  I once cancelled my AAA and went with a plan that went to the "nearest dealer".
I was 80 miles from home with the family.  The nearest dealer was 20 miles in the opposite direction.  I was forced to get a hotel and rental car to get home.

Is there an issue with having both?  Use the Coachnet to get out of trouble.  Use the AAA to get to responsible or desired service center.

AAA is number of regional clubs some of which OFFER RV Plus some of which do not.
If you have RV plus you will be serviced everywhere in the country. The rub is that in areas that do not offer RV plus there is no extensive network of AAA authorized facilities for RV's as they have no local RV Plus members, so you may be waiting for a long  while as they try to find someone to service your vehicle.

Skybeatle1965 said:

Is there an issue with having both?  Use the Coachnet to get out of trouble.  Use the AAA to get to responsible or desired service center.

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I have used CoachNet at least 5 times in 3 years. Twice for tire problems on the road, once for a smashed windshield (it was still useable so they deferred to my insurance company), once for towing more than 50 miles to an Allison Transmission Center, and once for a mobile tech to replace a dead AC compressor (in campground).  The towing job was the one where they could have just dropped the coach off at a tranny mechanic in the next town but when they heard it was an Allison transmission they decided it had to go to the nearest Allison dealer  (50+miles).  Their coverage extends to all the family vehicles but my auto insurance also does that so there is an overlap there. I do not have AAA.  Have been a USAA member for 58 years and have no plans to leave. 

Bill

Skybeatle1965 said:

AAA vs Good Sam?
Appreciate the information.  As a newbie to the site I was shocked to learn about Coachnet.  That service sounds great.
I am considering keeping my AAA plus with RV.  Expensive yes, but I have used it many times with my autos.
The "To the Nearest Dealer" concerns me.  I once cancelled my AAA and went with a plan that went to the "nearest dealer".
I was 80 miles from home with the family.  The nearest dealer was 20 miles in the opposite direction.  I was forced to get a hotel and rental car to get home.

Is there an issue with having both?  Use the Coachnet to get out of trouble.  Use the AAA to get to responsible or desired service center.

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Coachnet is not (was not?) available in California. I have Good Sam as well as AAA Premier. I've had AAA-P for a long time - I have some pretty old cars (50+) and AAA is how I planned to get them home in case of the worst. Oddly, the only time I needed a tow was about 4 miles from home. I have sneakily used my towing to get newly-purchase non-running cars home a couple times, and I have definitely used the windshield & locksmith reimbursements.

AAA-P has some limitations when it comes to RVs, and Good Sam's Platinum fills in those blanks. The big one is that AAA is limited to 200 miles, whereas Good Sam is unlimited miles. Good Sam also offers some "RV return" services (like, you go to the hospital, they take the rig home), and they have some tire/wheel services (delivery, roadhazard coverage) which seem like potentially big time savers.

I have never needed to call in Good Sam so I don't know what the actual service is like, but I did test call them once shortly after signing up to see what the experience might be like... I called for a jump start but "it magically started working" before I ended the call.

After reviewing the options, I don't think I would rely solely on AAA with an RV - the specialty providers have some real benefits worth considering. Having both isn't an enormous cost and I'd rather have options if I get caught in a situation of needing roadside help.

I've had AAA for many years.  Have the Premier plan which covers RVs.  Covers across US and Canada.  Nothing indicates that certain states are not covered.  There is no logic whatsoever in not towing a trailer because it has a boat on it.  The brochure doesn't even mention boats.  The 200 mile limitation is a concern and the reason we also have FMCA Safe Ride.  But regardless of the mileage, as far as I know, they all limit reimbursement to the nearest facility that can do the repair.  So while a 200 mile maximum may see like a big deal, there's not much likelihood you'll be more than 200 miles from a service facility.  Exceptions are Alaska and parts of Canada. 

I got a marketing spam email from FMCA a couple weeks back.  Something I've not learned about yet... but have been meaning to research it.
. FMCA Roadside Rescue?, powered by SafeRide RV Motor Club

maybe another option???

Good Sams here! Have yet to have to use it though....

blw2 said:

I got a marketing spam email from FMCA a couple weeks back.  Something I've not learned about yet... but have been meaning to research it.
. FMCA Roadside Rescue?, powered by SafeRide RV Motor Club

maybe another option???

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SafeRide is the same ERS company that provides the Escapees roadside plan.