AAA was the best thing I ever did. I complained for 6 years that I was wasting money on AAA.
Then I had some seriously bad reliability issues with my car. AAA towed me, for no added expense, 8 times over 5 months. Never complained again. The tow driver showed up promptly and took me wherever I needed to go within 100 miles.
I used the insurance twice. I had to wait three hours both times, in Denver. Both times I had to call back to remind them I was waiting. On one call, the original company just never sent anyone, and the "service" had to start over again.
The operator actually chastised me for calling back too son.
My impression was it was a call center somewhere in the country, and they did the equivalent of looking up a tow for you in the yellow pages/internet.
AAA has always been within the window they said, always professional, always effective. I've had them out for tows, jump starts, locked out, even had a battery replaced once by the guy who came out.
The subscription is per person, so if you're riding with someone else and they don't have AAA, no problem.
If you have brand name insurance, they often have an AAA-like option for $10 every six months. Does towing, gas, locksmith, etc.
I know geico has this and probably progressive and others.
For $20 a year it is a no-brainer. You'll use at least one of the services every couple years so it pays for itself.