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Last updated: May 29, 2024

GEICO vs. AAA Car Insurance Comparison

You probably already know GEICO sells car insurance, but did you know AAA is an auto insurance company as well?

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GEICO is one of the most recognized names in car insurance. While AAA is a household name as well, many people don’t know the company also sells car insurance in addition to providing roadside assistance. But should you go with an old favorite or try something new? The answer depends on who you are and what kind of car you have, as insurance premiums differ based on your ZIP code, vehicle, driving history and other factors.

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Comparison at a Glance

In terms of third-party ratings, GEICO wins over AAA, as it gets stronger marks when it comes to both customer service and financial strength. GEICO’s insurance pricing is also lower on average.

Comparison AAA GEICO
Average annual cost $1,903 $1,194
Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating A+ A+
AM Best rating A+ A++

That said, many factors affect the cost of car insurance, so for some people, AAA’s car insurance pricing may be lower than GEICO’s. To find out which insurer is cheaper for you, you’ll need to request auto insurance quotes from each provider. You may find lower or slightly higher auto insurance rates with either company, so be sure to give your ZIP code to get insurance quotes specifically for your area.

Which Is Better?

GEICO is better for:

  • Good drivers
  • Federal employees
  • Members of the military, especially those called into emergency deployment

AAA is better for:

Availability

Both GEICO and AAA are available in every state and Washington D.C. However, AAA works a little differently than GEICO, as it’s the parent company of different Auto Clubs throughout the nation. So, if you live in San Francisco, for example, you’ll buy insurance from the Auto Club of Northern California, but if you live in Providence, you’ll buy from AAA Northeast. Either way, you can get car insurance anywhere in the United States with both AAA and GEICO.

Coverage

AAA and GEICO both offer full coverage, customizable car insurance. The only major differences in terms of their coverages are under medical payments, gap insurance, mechanical breakdown insurance and custom equipment.

Coverages AAA GEICO
Liability (bodily injury/property damage) Yes Yes
Medical payments/personal injury protection Yes ― excess MedPay covers ambulance fees/funeral costs and pays after MedPay and healthcare have reached their limits Yes
Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage Yes Yes
Collision Yes Yes
Comprehensive Yes Yes
Roadside assistance Yes Yes
Towing/labor Yes Yes
Gap Yes No
Glass Yes, included with comprehensive coverage Yes, included with comprehensive coverage
Rental reimbursement Yes Yes
Personal umbrella Yes Yes
Mechanical breakdown Yes, but under separate extended warranty. Applies to vehicles up to 15 years old with up to 150,000 miles. Yes, for new or leased vehicles less than 15 months old and with less than 15,000 miles.
Custom equipment Yes No
Accidental death and dismemberment Yes Yes
Classic car Yes Yes
Mexico coverage Yes Yes
Rideshare coverage Yes Yes
  • Excess MedPay: If you want to be sure your car insurance will cover you and your passengers’ medical bills in the event of an at-fault accident, AAA’s excess MedPay goes beyond typical MedPay and health insurance coverages. If you still have losses after you’ve exhausted your MedPay and health insurance options, it will kick in to cover the remaining expenses, including ambulance fees and funeral costs.
  • Gap insurance: Only AAA offers gap insurance, which means that if you have a loan or a lease on your car, GEICO may not be an option for you as many loan and lease companies require gap insurance.
  • Mechanical breakdown insurance: While GEICO includes mechanical breakdown insurance as a coverage add-on, with AAA, it’s a separate extended warranty called a Vehicle Protection Plan. If your car has more than 15,000 miles on it but less than 150,000, AAA is your only option for mechanical repairs.
  • Custom equipment: If you’ve added any custom equipment to your vehicle that you want to insure, only AAA offers coverage ― this means features like stereos, custom wheels or permanently installed TVs.

Roadside Assistance

Although AAA is primarily known for its roadside assistance program, you may be surprised to learn GEICO has a similar service that’s much cheaper. However, AAA offers more protection in terms of towing distance, lockout and key reimbursements and even labor discounts at repair stations.

What Roadside Assistance Includes AAA GEICO
Maximum number of times you can call roadside assistance per year 4 No limit publicly listed
Maximum distance of roadside assistance in miles Basic: 3

Plus: 100

Premier: 100

No limit publicly listed
Maximum distance of tow in miles Premier: 200 20
Jumpstarts and replacements Yes

Premier: $25 off AAA battery

Yes
Fuel delivery service Basic: Free, but you have to pay for fuel

Plus and Premier: Free, including enough fuel to reach nearest filling station

Yes
Flat tire emergency service Yes, includes spare Yes, if you have a functioning spare
Winching No Yes, if your vehicle is stuck on or right next to a publicly-maintained roadway
Lockout and key maximum reimbursement Basic: $50

Plus: $100

Premier: $150

$100
Discount on labor at approved repair network 10% off, up to $50 No
Monthly cost range $4.27 to $8.99 $1
Annual cost range $39.20 to $95.90 $14

While AAA offers three roadside assistance plans, GEICO sells one and it’s much cheaper. That said, neither plan will break your bank. Learn more about AAA’s roadside assistance program in our AAA auto insurance review.

Pricing: Which Is Cheaper?

The cost of car insurance depends on many unique factors: where you live, what kind of car you drive, your driving history and more. So, take it with a grain of salt that GEICO has lower average car insurance costs compared to AAA, although both are near the national average, which, as of the latest data, was $1,070.47.1

  • AAA: $1,903
  • GEICO: $1,194

Discounts

Another factor to consider when it comes to car insurance pricing is discounts. Both AAA and GEICO offer a slew of discounts, but not every discount will apply to every driver.

Discounts AAA GEICO
Accident-free No Yes
Annual mileage Yes, up to 19% off No
Defensive driver course Yes, 5% off Yes
Driver training No Yes
Driving history/habits No Yes, if no accidents within the past 5 years ― up to 22% off
Federal employee No Yes
Good student GPA 3.0 or higher at full-time high school or college, 14% off Yes, up to 15% off
Length of membership At least one year, 6% off No
Low mileage Up to 19% off if you let AAA track your mileage None
Membership/employee discounts Yes, AAA members get 15% discount

Professional workers (engineering, law, medicine, accounting or education) get 7% off

Yes, for federal employees and military members

15% off for military personnel, 25% off for active duty called into emergency deployment and 12% off for federal employees

Multicar/family Yes, 20% discount on select coverages Yes
Multipolicy Yes, bundle with home ― 15% off auto, 20% off home

Condo ― 10% off auto, 20% off condo

Renters ― 8% off auto, 20% off renters

Yes
New car 5% Yes, up to 15% off certain coverages
Paid in full/good payer Yes, 5% off No
Paperless/automatic billing $10 off membership No
Safe driving Yes, up to 20% off Yes, through DriveEasy app, ― rewarded for safe driving with a lower rate
Student away from home Yes ― if attends school at least 100 miles away, 47% off No
Vehicle equipment Antitheft devices, 25% off Yes ― airbags, antilock brakes, antitheft system, daytime running lights get 5% to 23% off

While GEICO offers discounts for federal employees and military members, only AAA has a low-mileage program. If you let AAA track your mileage, you can save up to 19 percent on your car insurance costs, a form of pay-per-mile insurance. GEICO doesn’t offer a similar program, which means AAA may be a better option for those with a short or no commute.

Mobile Apps and Online Tools

Both companies offer mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, AAA under the name Auto Club App and GEICO under the name GEICO Mobile. Despite similar ratings, the GEICO app is much more comprehensive while the AAA app caters to the regular AAA membership and not necessarily car insurance.

Apps AAA GEICO
iOS rating 4.7 4.8
Android rating 4.6 4.6
View membership card Yes Yes
Request roadside assistance Yes Yes
Book travel Yes No
Find discounts nearby Yes, gas, hotels and more Yes, gas
Pay bills, enroll in paperless billing, update payment methods, cancel a payment and view payment history No Yes
Manage policies No Yes
Get a quote No Yes
File and view claims No Yes
Find gas nearby No Yes
Live chat with support No Yes
Find your car No Yes

With the GEICO app, you can manage your policy, get a quote, pay bills and take other actions regarding your insurance policy. AAA’s app focuses more on nearby discounts, roadside assistance and travel bookings, so GEICO wins when it comes to the usefulness of its mobile app for car insurance.

As for other online services, both companies offer what you’d expect in terms of customer service: online help centers, live chat and phone support. However, one cool feature that AAA has is its Virtual Video Appointment, which allows you to video chat with an insurance agent. Of course, if you’re not super tech-savvy, both insurers also have local offices across the country where you can speak to someone in person.

Telematics

Both AAA and GEICO offer telematics — telecommunications systems that communicate with each other through GPS receivers to track vehicles.2 However, they track different data points. While AAA’s telematics track mileage, rewarding drivers who drive fewer miles, GEICO’s DriveEasy program tracks distracted driving ― including handheld phone calls and active usage of a phone ― hard braking and speeding.

So if you’re a good driver, GEICO’s DriveEasy could save you money. But if you’re a low-mileage driver, AAA offering may be a better option.

Bundles

Both AAA and GEICO have many different types of insurance policies you can bundle with auto. You can save the most money by bundling multiple policies under the same provider, so make sure your chosen company offers coverage for everything you want to secure.

Other Types of Insurance Offered AAA GEICO
Aviation No No
Bicycle No Yes
Business Small business Yes
Boat Yes Yes
Cell phone No Yes
Condo Yes Yes
Dental Yes No
Earthquake No Yes
Event Yes Yes
Flood Yes Yes
Homeowners Yes Yes
Identity No Yes
Jewelry No Yes
Landlord No Yes
Life Yes Yes
Motorcycle Yes Yes
Motorhomes Yes, RVs, motorhomes and travel trailers Yes, RVs, campers and motorhomes
Off-road vehicles Yes, trikes, ATVs and snowmobiles Yes, ATVs
Pet Yes Yes
Phone protection No Yes
Renters No Yes
Travel Travel medical and international travel Yes, overseas
Umbrella Yes Yes

NOTE:

The biggest bundling discount from AAA is for auto and home insurance. You can save up to 15 percent off auto and 20 percent off homeowners’ insurance when you bundle the two together.

Third-Party Ratings

In addition to completing our own analysis, we also viewed third-party ratings for GEICO and AAA from customer service and financial strength organizations like AM Best, the BBB, J.D. Power, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

Third Parties AAA GEICO
AM Best A+ A++
BBB customer rating (out of 5) 1 1.14
BBB rating A+ A+
BBB-accredited Yes3 Yes
J.D. Power 844 828
NAIC Complaint Index Score N/A 1.7
S&P N/A AA+

No matter the category, GEICO had ratings higher than or equal to AAA. Still, both have high AM Best rankings, BBB ratings and JD Power ratings. Neither company has a good customer rating from the BBB, but this is typical for insurance companies, unfortunately. As AAA isn’t on the NAIC Complaint Index Score or S&P, we were unable to compare the two in those regards.

FYI:

NAIC’s rating means GEICO has a number of customer complaints that’s 7 percent higher than the national average for a company of its size.

Methodology

Our methodology for comparing insurance companies involves combining our proprietary data on customer success with third-party ratings and research about each company, its coverages and its discounts. To learn more about GEICO and AAA, keep reading for our auto insurance frequently asked questions below.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Does GEICO raise rates after six months?

GEICO may or may not raise rates after six months. Your rates could change due to a change in coverage, discounts, driving records, life events or a new car.

Why are GEICO rates so high? =

GEICO rates are not very high, on average. GEICO’s average annual cost for car insurance is $1,194, which is not far from the national average of $1,070.47, according to 2019 data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Your GEICO rates may be higher if you live in a densely populated area with high rates of vandalism and auto theft, have a poor driving record or have a low credit score.

Is AAA insurance?

Yes, AAA sells insurance, including car insurance, homeowners insurance and more policies, in addition to selling roadside assistance, extended warranties and other financial services.

Is Allstate the same as AAA?

Allstate is not the same as AAA. They are completely separate entities.

Citations

  1. 2018/2019 Auto Insurance Database Report. National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). (2022).
    https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/publication-aut-pb-auto-insurance-database.pdf

  2. What is Telematics? Samsara. (2022, Apr 29).
    https://www.samsara.com/guides/what-is-telematics/

  3. AAA – The Auto Club Group. Better Business Bureau. (2022).
    https://www.bbb.org/us/ne/omaha/profile/insurance-agency/aaa-the-auto-club-group-0714-105000056