My experience using my credit card's roadside assistance benefit
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
We've all been there...
You head out to your car, hop in, try to start the ignition and either hear that dreaded clicking sound or nothing at all. Your battery is dead.
My Tuesday last week ended just this way. I was in a rush to pick up my daughter from school and was stuck in my driveway. I noticed that one of the interior lights had been on all day (thanks to that same daughter of mine) and I didn't have anyone to give me a jump.
After contemplating just grabbing an Uber, I remembered I could use my Chase Sapphire Reserve card's roadside assistance benefit instead.
Sure, I've written about the roadside assistance benefit from the Chase Sapphire Reserve before, but admittedly, I've always wondered how it would actually work. With the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you're covered up to $50 per incident, four times a year. But would it be as easy to use as they say it should be? Would it cover the cost of service or would I wind up with some exorbitant bill?
You'll be happy to know that the entire experience, from start to finish, couldn't have been more effortless. All told it took about an hour to get my car up and running again.
Here's exactly what happened
First, I called Chase's roadside assistance at 1-866-860-7978. I was connected to an agent who said she'd confirmed that I was a Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholder through my phone number, then asked for the details of my issue. I told her my battery was dead and she said I'd be receiving a text shortly, once a service provider had been assigned.
I got a text almost immediately after hanging up, asking me to confirm my location.
After that, I got a text confirming that a service provider had been assigned. They gave the provider's telephone number along with a link to track the progress of my service call.
By clicking the link, I was able to see the details of the service requested -- my location, reference number and the type of service requested.
I could also easily access the service provider's name, contact info and their ETA. I could even see which steps of the process were in-progress or completed.
All in all, I was incredibly satisfied with the service and didn't have to pay a thing. Having used AAA in the past, I found the Chase Sapphire Reserve's roadside assistance benefit to be just as easy to use, if not easier due to Chase's text system and the speed in which it confirmed my card membership and sent out a service provider. I'll certainly be adding this to the long list of reasons why I love my Chase Sapphire Reserve. And it's further proof of why the card regularly ranks on TPG's list of the best premium travel rewards cards.
Cards that offer roadside assistance
Any of these cards offer a roadside assistance benefit:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express: up to 4X/year, no maximum (going away by the end of 2019)
- Chase Sapphire Reserve: up to 4X/year, $50 maximum
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: 4X/year, no maximum
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card: 4X/year, no maximum
- Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express: 4x/year, no maximum
For more in-depth information on each of these cards (and others that offer similar benefits), here is a more comprehensive listing of credit cards that offer roadside assistance.