Credit cards with free roadside assistance

  Credit Card Reference

Several credit cards offer at least some Roadside Assistance benefits.

Coverage is usually limited to the US and Canada, and usually won’t cover vehicles other than typical passenger cars (and sometimes rental cars). These benefits can be used by cardholders, even when they are not driving their own car.

• Free Roadside Assistance. Most premium, and some not-so-premium, credit cards offer FREE roadside assistance. Amex’s “Premium Roadside Assistance” is a benefit of the Amex Platinum Card, Amex Business Gold Rewards Card, Amex Gold Card, Delta Reserve Card, Hilton Aspire Credit Card, and Plum (Business) card.  Chase offers free roadside assistance on the Sapphire Reserve Card, discontinued Ritz Carlton Credit Card, United Explorer Credit Card, and United Club Credit Card. Citibank has a similar benefit on the Citi Prestige Card.

If you would normally leave your card at home, make sure to carry around some record of the card number. In the unexpected case that you need to call in for assistance. It is an even better idea to always keep one of these in your wallet.

There are small differences in the benefits you get from each of these cards. Since you might have access to several of them, use the card that best handles your particular emergency. The Ritz Carlton and United Explorer cards don’t provide coverage when you are within 50 miles of your home.

	Amex	Chase	Citi
Phone Number	855-431-1156	855-860-7978	866-918-4670
Towing	Up to 10 miles	Up to $50	Up to 10 miles
Fuel	Up to 2 gallons	Up to 2 gallons	Up to 2 gallons
Lockout Assistance	Included	Up to $50	Included
Covers rental car	No	No	Yes
In Common	Every program includes lock-out assistance, installation of an inflated spare tire and jump-starts—although Chase has an overall limit of $50 per event.

• Reduced-fee Assistance. All Visa Signature cards offer a roadside assistance benefit, at a pre-negotiated rate of $60 per call. This is usually a lower price than if you had to pay directly. Some Mastercards, and all Diner’s Club cards, have a similar program, but the rates are different, for different services.  Discover cards offer a pre-negotiated rate of $70 per call.
• Roadside Assistance Hotlines. Many other cards, such as all American Express cards that don’t have premium assistance, provide Roadside Assistance hotlines. You can call the customer service number on the back of the car, and they will connect you to a nearby service provider. But, they won't subsidize the price you'll need to pay.

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