LOOKING FOR WEBSITE FOR TRAVEL GUIDANCE

[XFILE36]

I looked into AAA the other day and was very disappointed. Why I am upset with this "new" AAA and am NOT getting it? I only want good old fashioned roadside assistance like AAA used to do and DMV service. That's it! End of conversation. Now they added all this other mumbo jumbo.
–Daily credit monitoring
–Email alerts
–Fraud Resolution Support
Tier 3 is same +$10,000 Identity Theft Insurance, provided by American International Group, Inc.

What's AAA doing putting their business in MY personal credit?! That's ridiculous. As an important aside, I've known a few people who have gotten Credit Fraud Insurance, and within a month or two, they all got their credit hacked! So, what good was that AND it seems quite fishy to me. I believe there was an additional fee for my friends to get something done as a solution to the hacking. Seems like a perfect crime to me, create a problem, offer a solution, for an additional fee.

Is Good Sam only $27???

 

[SoulRaven]

Good Sam is relatively cheap. As soon as you sign up you will be given your member number and away you go. Takes awhile to get your card but it's not needed really they will have all your information.

I have used them 3 times and they are fairly prompt. In Dallas I had to wait but it was rush hour and the highways were jammed.

 

[user 423]

My State Farm coverage includes roadside assistance and towing. Check with your insurance agent.

Good Sam is a great idea and may be cheaper.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

My State Farm coverage includes roadside assistance and towing. Check with your insurance agent.

Just be aware of the fact that not everybody who does roadside assistance does it for RVs.  Travel trailers can be a problem.  Some companies will tow your tow vehicle, but leave the trailer sitting alongside the road rather than send a second, flatbed to bring that in too.

The fine print can be important.  With some AAA plans, they won't change tires on dual wheels.  etc.

Just my personal opinion, but with RVs, you are probably better off dealing with plans that specialize in RVs.

 

[user 423]

Oh, I thought it was a van she's getting. Very good advice for sure though since I will be getting a cargo trailer.

 

[Almost There]

A lot of insurance companies these days are including the roadside assistance in the coverage automatically.

There's a couple of problems with them for the average motorist, particularly when they are away from home -

First, most if not all require YOU to call the tow service - if you're travelling you're at the mercy of whatever search engine you can use to even find a tow service. You have no way of knowing the quality.

Second, you  have to pay up front and submit the bill to your insurance company for reimbursement. If you're travelling on a limited budget it can be a deal breaker having to fork out the money and wait for it to come back to you.

If you're headed to Escapee's anyways for residency and title/tags, they're one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, RV owners groups around. Use them.

 

[XFILE36]

My State Farm coverage includes roadside assistance and towing. Check with your insurance agent.

Good Sam is a great idea and may be cheaper.

I was looking at the wrong good sam page.  It's a little more, but not too much.  I will get insurance once I get the title. (THAT IS, IF IT PASSES MY MECHANICS INSPECTION.  Turns out the mechanic's closed until Monday. )  My flight is Tuesday.   Escapees recommends a few ins. companies.  My current ins. company is very high in CA, Liberty Mutual.

 

[XFILE36]

A lot of insurance companies these days are including the roadside assistance in the coverage automatically.

There's a couple of problems with them for the average motorist, particularly when they are away from home -

If you're headed to Escapee's anyways for residency and title/tags, they're one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, RV owners groups around. Use them.

AT, Thanks for that info, very good to know and I won't be combining the two.  I will be going to escapees to get everything done, but they don't offer their own insurance, just recommend several which I will porbably use..

 

[MrNoodly]

Texas has a decent system of rest stops. If you're taking I-10, then Las Cruces, Deming and Lordsburg are gas-food-lodging (and nap) stops in NM. In AZ there's Wilcox and Benson before getting to the Tucson and Phoenix metro areas. Buckeye is pretty much the last stop on the west of Phoenix before the long haul to Quartzsite and Blythe. Chiriaco Summit between Blythe and Indio is a big gas-food-convenience store stop, with the General Patton museum if you're into that kind of stuff. Then from Indio onward it's all typical Southern California suburbia and industrial areas.

 

[user 423]

You have to check out Slab City north of El Centro. Or wait until winter...

 

[XFILE36]

MrNoodly, yes according to Robndahood I will be taking the 10 all the way. Thanks for the stops. I will have to pass on sight seeing this time around bc of my cat. He's never been away from me in 14 years and is very attached to me. He will be in good hands with my friend who has a hospice care for old unwanted cats. He WILL be stressed out though, so I gotta come back ASAP. I will drive later with him to go to Georgia and will be able to have more fun on my way.

 

[XFILE36]

You have to check out Slab City north of El Centro. Or wait until winter...

I've heard about it and saw a video of it.  I'm on a mission...maybe another time.

For clarification it's a Class B van.

 

[XFILE36]

So I'm checking out Good Sam and for an additional $25 I can add this: Savings at Good Sam Parks, Camping World and Pilot Flying J. Is it worth it?

 

[tx2sturgis]

Very good advice for sure though since I will be getting a cargo trailer.

Not to detour the thread, just some thoughts.

Its a good idea to carry a spare set of hub bearings and of course a spare tire.

With cargo trailers, after tire failures, is bearing failures. (yearly maintenance or bearing buddies help).

Also, carry a couple of 4x4 wood blocks in case you DO have to leave it sitting on the side of the road if your 'prime mover' is towed away.

Take the wheels off the trailer and lower it onto the blocks with a jack. Then take the wheels and jack with you.

They are a LOT harder to steal if they cant roll.

 

[SoulRaven]

I added the optional enrollment for the 25 dollars, whether it is worth the money? I haven't tried it yet.

 

[Almost There]

So I'm checking out Good Sam and for an additional $25 I can add this:  Savings at Good Sam Parks, Camping World and Pilot Flying J.  Is it worth it?

That depends - are you planning on staying in RV parks most of the time, some of the time or very rarely!

For me it would be a waste of good money.

The savings at Good Sam Parks are only good if you're staying at one of the parks that is affiliated with them and they tend to be the higher end parks. The rates are higher than average and the savings just bring down the rate to what you'd pay at another campground.

If you rarely or never stay in a privately owned campground then there's no savings to be had from that bennie.

Camping World is the highest priced RV accessory store in the nation. Again the savings are only to be had if you're a frequent shopper there instead of frugal like most of us here and shop online for bargains and/or are low volume consumers.

Flying J has it's own card for savings both in the store and at the pumps...it's free. I use it and their parking frequently. It used to be a point cards but is now a discount per gallon card. I also get 10% off at the on-site Denny's/Subway etc food places at the Flying J.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Texas has a decent system of rest stops.

Texas (or any state) rest stops are fine for short breaks, but the smaller ones are not that safe for overnight stops for a woman traveling alone in a van or SUV, car, whatever.

The larger rest areas, what we call the 'million dollar' rest areas, and I mean LARGE, do have security lighting, cameras, separate parking for autos and trucks, and sometimes an attendant on site. These are somewhat better.

The safest places for a solo woman traveling along this route are the many Walmarts in small cities and/or on the edge of town, and the many Love's, Pilot, Flying Js, and TAs along I-20 and I-10 heading west from DFW thru West Texas, into New Mexico, and Arizona.

In the transportation industry, you are taught and learn quickly that you try to not park alone somewhere overnight, beside a busy highway, in a dark, deserted little rest area or roadside park....if you do, you become a target.

If you can park for the night in a busy area on the edge of town, you are a much less visible target, mixed in with every other vehicle on the lot. And if something DOES happen, help is much closer.

Its a survival skill.

 

[jester]

I've parked in some small rest areas overnight and never had a problem. I've also never been the only one there. Lots of people use overnights at rest stops to break up their journey.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I've parked in some small rest areas overnight and never had a problem.  I've also never been the only one there. Lots of people use overnights at rest stops to break up their journey.

That's the point I was making. If you have multiple vehicles at the rest area, there is safety in numbers.

But at a deserted little roadside table in the middle of nowhere, on the side of a busy highway at night, you are a target if you are the only vehicle parked there.

If a truck or a car hits your vehicle pulling out at 4 am, or a troublesome group of drunk teens decide its a great place to party, or you get sick from something you ate, or the vehicle wont start in the morning, or you simply need help getting a tire changed in the morning when you notice a flat, you now have turned an inconvenience into a big problem. And, MissX will be driving an un-tested van in an unfamiliar area.

If she could not tell a 911 operator exactly where she is, maybe she needs to find another spot for an overnight stop. And that's assuming there is cell coverage. Hundreds of miles in West Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona have very spotty cell coverage in the boonies.

I have had way more good experiences than trouble...but it only takes one time to ruin things.

It's a bit like the 'soccer moms' you see that pull over on a busy highway shoulder and let little Jimmy pee in the grass.

They might do this 3 times a year and think its perfectly safe to do, since they 'never had a problem'.

But when something DOES happen, it is never a good outcome.

I've seen a LOT of stuff happen in 37 years of driving professionally.

But what do I know, right?

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

If she could not tell a 911 operator exactly where she is, maybe she needs to find another spot for an overnight stop. And that's assuming there is cell coverage. Hundreds of miles in West Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona have very spotty cell coverage in the boonies.

Easterner here, so forgive the lack of knowledge.

I get that there are large parts of the West where there is no cell coverage in the boonies.

But I was under the impression she was taking I-10 the whole way back.

Are you saying there are stretches of the Interstate Highway that has no cell coverage?