AMA Membership - Worth it?

[nj2Type-S]

how many of you guys have AMA memberships? i'm thinking of singing my wife up for a membership just for our peace of mind. i'm sure plenty of you here can relate lol.

for those who are members, do you typically get your money's worth? $80/year is not significant, but i'd like to know if their additional benefits make it worth it as well.

do you get discounts if you switch to their home and car insurance, and what are your experiences dealing with their insurance department?

thanks!

[FraserB]

The lowest level membership is worthless, you only get 5KM of towing, then they start charging. The $120 membership has 160KM allowance per tow and a lot of the service charges that apply to the basic membership are waived.

That being said, AMA has lost money on me the last 4 years I have had it. Has probably saved me over $2000 in tow fess and it will take them a few claim free years to recoup the cost. I consider it cheap insurance to have if you ever need it.

[got_mike33]

I have it and it is great piece of mind. I have never had to use it, but if I was ever stuck somewhere with my keys locked out of my car, a flat tire, or dead battery they aren't more than a phone call away.

I find that I get lots of use out of the member benefits as well. Member only registries is the greatest part, I find I just have to walk into an AMA most of the time and there is no wait.

Also the benefits in the way of movie tickets, and ski passes definitely make it worth it as well (usually save $10-$20 at the hills and no waiting in line once you get there).

I don't know about the insurance discounts though as I am with MM.

Think of it as a $80 bump to your insurance for the year, it's fairly cheap if you look at it that way.

[a social dsease]

I bought an AMA membership after my car broke down way out on the Smith-Dorrien in Kananaskis costing me $500 in towing fees to get it home. Had I had AMA the cost would have been $0.

In the three years I've had AMA I've used it twice, once for a tow (only a few kms) and once when I ran out of gas

For me it's worth it for the peace of mind and the knowledge that if anything happens it will be taken care of quickly, easily, and for free.

[variance]

does anyone know if costco roadside is any good? Its $80 per year and gives 250km of free towing.

http://www.costco.ca/Elite-Premier-R...100090683.html

[Mibz]

I had AMA for, uh, 10 years? Used it three times. Twice on the same night, haha. I ended up cancelling a couple years ago because it just wasn't worth it.

[xnvy]

I have it for peace of mind. Especially on long road trips it's nice. Had to use it when the van ran out of fuel.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[oilerfan4lyfe]

Originally posted by variance
does anyone know if costco roadside is any good? Its $80 per year and gives 250km of free towing.

http://www.costco.ca/Elite-Premier-R...100090683.html

If you go on redflagdeals there was a big thread about Costco roadside assistance. I think in the end people found it to be a very good value since it was $80 per household instead of per membership.

I have AMA and it's served me well. I've had to call a few times while in the States for a boost and the company they use there showed in about 10 minutes.

[nj2Type-S]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
I have TD Auto Club as a perk on my credit card... I've called on them once, I had gotten stuck on a snowy hill outside of Kamloops on summ.... actually it doesn't matter what kind of tires for this story. They sent a truck out... but it was a blizzard and never made it to get me, haha.

I've never had a chance to try it out otherwise, but I think they will just come and tow or boost me if needed. Plus it is free, so... there is that too.

i have a TD first class infinite visa. i didn't know about thos feature! i had to get my car towed a few months ago, when it was really cold and my car wouldn't start. i wonder if i can still claim this.

thanks for the response, guys. looking into it, i'll sign my wife up for the $120/year membership. that $80/year membership is pretty useless lol.

[Mar]

I can't remember if it's AMA but I think that's the one that gives you a discount on Banff park passes as well. Saves us $20 or something every year.

The auto insurance is crap though, I called Contemporary Coachworks to do some insurance repairs on my car and they asked if I was with AMA. I told them I wasn't and they said it was good because AMA has a maximum hourly rate they'll pay and Contemporary Coachworks charges more than that.

[Brent.ff]

Bump.. renewal season..

whos doing it, or who's dropped off out of it?

[eglove]

Dropped mine. Didn’t use it once the last year. Not worth the price imo.

[Mitsu3000gt]

At least one person in my family has had a membership for pretty much as long as the service has been offered, and we have collectively never used it once. The partner 'deals' are pretty bad too IMHO.

[ExtraSlow]

It's a form of insurance, and like all insurance, on average, it's not a good deal. However, it can make sense for some use cases based on your habits and risk tolerance.

[tonytiger55]

I have a old vehicle, I don't have close family or anyone nearby to fall back on. So it makes sense to do so.

I used it twice. Once when I did not have it (I used a friends) and another time my car was stuck in my parkade and needed it towed to my mechanic. AMA guy was awesome. He showed me that I did not need a tow, I just needed to go to Canadian Tire and buy a new battery connector for $7.
I get my moneys worth in the sense that its gets bloody cold here, defo for peace of mind.

[Brent.ff]

wife drives like 200 k a day..prob a good investment.. so many yearly subscriptions

[arcticcat522]

I've had it for 13 years and dropped it this year. Used it maybe 1 time per year for someone. Rarely myself. It was convenient to just know a number to call with any vehicle related issue.

[Tik-Tok]

I've only got it because of my trailer, and annual trips through BC with it. I don't know the cost of towing both a truck and a RV trailer from the Coquihalla, or highway 3#, but I imagine it would be around 4 years worth of AMA payments.

[botox]

Maybe I'm just lucky but I've only had 3 tows in the last 25 years and two of them was just me being stupid and could of been avoided so really just needed 1 tow for a breakdown so I don't think it's worth it (knock on wood). Depends on your scenario (driver, car age, driving distance, etc...) but if you just want piece of mind, $120/year isn't bad so go for it.