Good Medicine for the Motorist

Stuck somewhere? Battery die? Flat tire? Did you get a ticket? A motor club can help. Not only do motor clubs rescue drivers but also make available a diverse variety of services, all related to your vehicle.

Basically, what the clubs offer is protection against auto breakdowns, accidents and unforeseen problems. What follows are some of the top auto clubs, including key services and benefits.

The American Automobile Assn., with 29 million members, is the largest motor club in the United States. It charges from $17 to $56 annually per membership, and $10 to $23 additional for a spouse or youth in the same family.

Benefits include free towing with limited mileage, up to $5,000 for a bail bond and $3,000 in accidental death insurance.

Additional services include an evaluation of new cars, emergency check guarantee up to $200, trip routing with maps and brochures, partial reimbursement of legal fees resulting from moving violations, fee-free American Express traveler’s checks and discounts on car rentals and accommodations.

For more information, contact the American Automobile Assn., 8111 Gatehouse Road, Falls Church, Va. 22047, or call (800) 336-HELP.

The Automobile Club of Southern California, an affiliate of the AAA, charges master members $35, a spouse $13 and a dependent associate $14. An enrollment fee of $15 also is charged. Towing is free up to a five-mile radius.

The club reimburses up to $30 in parts for lost or broken keys and provides aid when keys are locked in cars. In addition the firm, with 3.4 million members, gives free accidental death benefits of $100,000 on flights booked by the association.

Other services include up to $500 to guarantee an appearance in court for a motor vehicle violation, plus up to $5,000 for a bail bond. Also, the club offers maps, books and brochures, hotel and motel reservation services, car-rental discounts and worldwide travel-agency service, plus fee-free American Express traveler’s checks and automobile license services.

Members, too, can call (800) 222-5000 to an airline express desk for booking flights. A new emergency road service for RVs, including motor homes, campers or travel camping trailers, is available for a $16 annual fee. On the road, members are reimbursed for emergency towing or tire changes for RVs, up to $100 per breakdown.

A magazine, Westways, is mailed to members at no charge for the first six months. For more information, contact the Automobile Club of Southern California, 2601 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles 90007, or call (213) 741-4880.

The National Auto Club, 3600 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 90010, phone (800) 982-5599, operates in Southern California with 300,000 members. The firm charges a first-year fee of $53 ($38 for renewals). A membership for each dependent is $15. The club offers a dispatch towing service to its own garage or a five-mile limit on towing to the garage of a member’s choice.

For keys locked in cars, the club provides dispatched aid. Other benefits include free maps and brochures, representation of members in the payment of parking tickets or other violations, and transfer of car registration. The club also gets license plates for members, offers Mexican insurance and will take pictures for passports.

Chevron Travel Club, with 400,000 members, charges a basic membership fee of $36 annually. Cost with a spouse is $39, with dependent children $42. For a family, including dependent children, the fee is $48. Members will be reimbursed up to $40 for towing and roadside service, including aid for keys locked in a car. In addition, a death benefit for any accident is $20,000 for the basic member, $10,000 for a spouse and $5,000 for a dependent.

Other services offered by Chevron include trip planning, a car-theft recovery reward of $1,000 on conviction, car-rental discounts, a road atlas and scenic guide, protection against loss of credit cards, emergency cash up to $200, trip interruption caused by a disabled car of up to $300, and a service to help regain lost keys. Also, members receive a magazine, Chevron USA Odyssey, featuring general-interest travel stories. Contact Chevron Travel Club, P.O. Box P, Concord, Calif. 94524, (800) 222-0585.

Shell Motorist Club, P.O. Box 2463, Houston, Tex. 77001, phone (800) 621-8663, charges its 265,000 members an annual fee of $39, including spouse, and $18 for each family youth from 16 to 23 years old. The firm also reimburses members up to $75 for towing and up to $75 to get keys out of a locked car.

In addition, Shell provides up to $25,000 in accidental death insurance and up to $500 to guarantee an appearance in court for a motor vehicle violation, plus up to $5,000 for a bail bond. Other services from the club are trip routing, credit card protection and a list of dealers with the lowest prices for new cars.

Chicago-based Amoco Motor Club, with members in 2.7 million households, charges a $35 annual fee and free membership to a spouse.

Club benefits include trip routing, new car and truck rental discounts, discounts of 50% off the first night with Quest International for 1,100 hotels and motels, emergency check cashing and discounts for vacation packages. The firm also gives free towing up to three miles and aids motorists who lock keys in cars.

In addition, Amoco gives up to $1,000 for a bail bond. Accidental death benefits are $2,000 to $4,000. Amoco also sends its members a bimonthly general interest magazine, Adventure Road. Write to Amoco Motor Club, 200 E. Randolph Drive, Chicago, Ill. 60601, or call (714) 827-0341 or (800) 334-3300.

Exxon Travel Club, P.O. Box 3633, Houston, Tex. 77253, phone (713) 680-5723, features memberships of $27 for one person to $42 for a family, including spouse and children.

About 925,000 people belong to the club, which reimburses towing costs up to $50, but which charges a monthly fee for the service.

Also, members will be reimbursed up to $50 for costs involved with getting keys out of a locked car. Other benefits include trip routing, credit card registration, an emergency medical card, household inventory listing, new car and truck rental discounts, discount vacation-travel coupons, a lost key return service and discounts on travel trips and film.

Also, the firm sends out a quarterly general-interest magazine, Vista. The club provides up to $500 to guarantee an appearance in court for a motor vehicle violation and $5,000 for a bail bond. Accidental death benefits are from $5,000 to $20,000, depending on the type of membership.

Montgomery Ward Auto Club charges $45 for member and spouse, plus another $16 for dependents up to four. Towing aid is either dispatched or members can be reimbursed up to $80 if they call their own service.

The club will reimburse members, too, up to $60 for money spent on keys locked in cars. In addition, the club provides up to $1,000 to guarantee an appearance in court for a motor vehicle violation, and $10,000 for a bail bond.

Additional benefits include trip routing, fee-free traveler’s checks, hotel and motel registration discounts with a second-night-free program, complete travel booking service, new car price lists, car- and truck-rental discounts and rewards up to $5,000 leading to conviction in auto theft and hit-and-run cases. Write to Montgomery Ward Auto Club, 200 Martingale Road, Schaumburg, Ill. 60194, or call (800) 621-5151.

Allstate Motor Club, 34 Allstate Plaza, Northbrook, Ill. 60066, phone (800) ALL-CLUB, has 2.7 million members. An annual fee of $32 includes membership for spouses but each dependent costs $12.

The firm dispatches trucks up to a $50 maximum (about 30 to 35 miles) from contract garages for towing, and reimburses members up to $50 to get keys out of locked cars. In addition, Allstate guarantees up to $500 for a member’s appearance in court for a moving violation, and offers members up to $750 for an attorney if they’re involved in a court case due for a moving violation. Accidental death benefits are $3,000 in an auto and up to $20,000 in a common carrier.

Other benefits include trip planning, car and truck rental discounts, hotel reservation discounts and a check-cashing service of up to $250 at any Sears store.