My car battery died as I was leaving for the airport — Chase's roadside assistance arrived in 8 minutes
It's a feeling no one wants to experience.
You're all set to leave the house. The kids are loaded, the electronic devices are charged and the car is gassed up. You go to start it up, and ... nothing. Your battery has died.
This exact thing happened to me earlier this month, but mine has a happy ending. That's because I called Chase and requested roadside assistance, a benefit on my Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees).
And, amazingly enough, a service technician arrived at my house exactly 8 minutes after I placed the request.
Here's my story — and how you might be able to use the same perk on one of your cards.
A dead battery — and a failed call to AAA
My story begins just minutes before I was set to leave for the airport on a business trip. I had loaded my suitcase and said goodbye to my wife and daughter. Unfortunately, the car wouldn't start. And the clicking noise made me pretty sure it was the battery.
Thankfully, my drive to the airport wasn't super time-sensitive; I was spending the night there before an early-morning departure. Nevertheless, I was nervous it would take a long time to resolve, since it was after 6 p.m. when I discovered the issue.
I do have a AAA membership, which I've primarily used for hotel discounts over the years. However, now I needed help with my car, so I initiated a free service request at 6:10 p.m.
Unfortunately, things did not progress from there.
At 6:41, I was told (via text) that a driver would be en route soon. 17 minutes later, I was informed that my service had been scheduled, but the online system was still showing nothing. And nearly 90 minutes after submitting the request, I saw that the estimated arrival time would be 9:26 p.m — even though I still had no assigned technician.
This, I decided, would be a great time to test out Chase's roadside assistance benefit. And boy, am I glad I did.
How to initiate roadside assistance with a Chase card
To initiate roadside assistance, call Chase's card benefits services line. The number is different depending on the card you have, but here are some popular ones:
| Card | Number to call for roadside assistance |
|---|---|
1-800-350-1697 | |
1-800-352-2173 | |
1-800-350-2919 | |
Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card (no longer available to new applicants) | 1-800-350-1246 |
Each of these cards covers up to four service calls a year, with a maximum benefit of $50 per call. This typically covers things like a battery test, a tire change, a fuel delivery or a short tow to a repair facility.
The information for the Ritz-Carlton Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Note that many other Chase cards also offer roadside assistance, including the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees) — but you'd need to pay "a pre-negotiated, per service fee" to utilize the benefit.
When you call, the system will likely ask whether you would like to receive a link to the online claim portal via text, but do not do that. The site is used for most other claims, including car rental coverage and trip delay reimbursement, but not roadside assistance.
Instead, follow the prompts to reach a representative about your card benefit, who can help start a service request. Be prepared to enter your full card number and provide some information on what's going on.
You should then receive a text confirming the request with a link to track it.
My experience with Chase's roadside assistance
Once I got a hold of an agent and gave her my information, the request was officially submitted at 7:37 p.m. Just two minutes later, I got another text, letting me know that a technician had been dispatched and should arrive in 20-50 minutes. So far, a much better timeline than AAA.
But I wasn't prepared for what happened next.
At 7:45 p.m., I got an alert on my motion-activated camera, along with a phone call from a local number.
The technician had arrived. Eight minutes had elapsed from when I placed the request to when he pulled into my driveway.
After accessing my battery and running a test, he quickly determined that I needed a replacement. He had one on his truck, so he went ahead and installed it. He finished by 8:30 p.m.
While the service call was free, I did need to cover the cost of the new battery, including labor — but that would've been the case regardless of where I took it. The fact that all of it was done within an hour of calling Chase's benefit services was absolutely astonishing.
Bottom line
The battery in my car recently died, and after nearly an hour and a half waiting for AAA to even dispatch a technician, I decided to test out the roadside assistance service on my Chase Sapphire Reserve. Amazingly, it took just eight minutes for the technician to arrive — and I was finished less than an hour after I placed the request.
As it turns out, the technician lives less than two miles from my house, and he just happened to be on call at home when my request came through. That's clearly a stroke of luck.
Nevertheless, it was an important reminder that it's not just the airport lounge access, statement credits and valuable rewards that matter. Sometimes, those under-the-radar perks can save the day.