GEICO vs. AAA Auto Insurance [2024]: Which is Better?

Shopping for auto quotes with GEICO and AAA proved that both companies can be more affordable depending on which area you live in. We pulled quotes from both and found that while GEICO offers more discounts, AAA provided more add-on coverage options, including new car and glass protection.

Both companies rank well in customer satisfaction, with AAA ranking better in six out of the 11 regions. However, GEICO ranks better in customer satisfaction for overall usage-based insurance.

Which one is better will boil down to your area and unique driving needs — i.e. if you are a driver that wants more options for insurance coverage, GEICO is the solid choice, but if you like the idea of included roadside assistance and coverage catered to your region, AAA might be better for you.

When to go with GEICO

GEICO has a high A.M. Best rating of an A++ (superior) and also ranks higher than AAA in customer service in the following areas: New England, New York, Northcentral, Northwest, and Southeast. Personally, it is the insurance company I use as a driver in California, switching to GEICO many years ago from Costco auto insurance because it was cheaper.

Even though my research found that AAA’s insurance quote was cheaper in the Los Angeles area, I did find that for my driving needs AAA quoted me $28 more per month than what I am paying with GEICO.

Plus, GEICO offers a few more options that AAA doesn’t: Mexico insurance and rental car reimbursement. For drivers living on the border, Geico offers Mexico tourist insurance that is simple to turn on and off when you need it. Additionally, when you need to rely on a rental car, GEICO allows you to choose up to $60 per day rental car reimbursement.

Here’s when it makes sense to go with GEICO:

You want more insurance options

Compared to AAA, GEICO offers more insurance options, including coverage for collector’s cars, RVs, ATVs, and even bicycles. GEICO’s auto policy can also be bundled with other insurance options for savings, including homeowners, condo, mobile home, pet, life, business insurance, and more.

You want to save with usage-based insurance

Usage-based insurance (UBI) uses technology to monitor your driving habits and rewards you for good driving habits or less frequent driving. GEICO ranked second highest with a score of 837/1000 in the latest J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey. GEICO also offers this discounted driving option to more drivers, offering this discount in 39 states and Washington D.C. AAA’s discounted usage-based insurance, AAADrive, is only available in 14 states.

Read our full GEICO review

When to go with AAA

While AAA has a slightly lower A.M. Best rating (A+ — superior) than GEICO, it does have a higher overall customer satisfaction ranking in six out of 11 regions according to the recent J.D. Power survey.

I found that AAA was more affordable in the Los Angeles area, but a similar quote for Ocala, Fla. was more than triple the cost than GEICO’s price. Trying to request a quote for Aurora, Colo. was more difficult because the site said I needed to call an agent due to more insurance needs for the area.

Here’s when it is best to go with AAA:

If you’re already an AAA member

Even though AAA coverage might be cheaper in your area, you still need to purchase a membership, which can add to your yearly costs. However, if you were already planning to use the membership for its discounts and benefits — especially the roadside assistance, then pairing the membership with insurance coverage would make sense. A great perk with membership includes 10% off regularly-priced parts and labor at AAA Approved Auto Repair facilities. If you have an older vehicle that you anticipate needs repairs soon, this could be a nice savings opportunity for you.

You need GAP insurance

If you buy a new car, you might owe more on your auto loan than the vehicle's current value, which could put a financial strain on you if an accident happens. For example, if you purchase a new vehicle for $50,000 and drive it off the lot, your car loan will reflect that you owe $50,000, but your car might only be worth $40,000. If you total your car within your first two years of owning it, insurance will only cover the current market value, which might be less than what you still owe on the loan.

Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance is an optional coverage you can add on to your policy so you don’t have to worry about your new vehicle. GEICO does not offer GAP insurance or new car replacement coverage, which allows you to get the same vehicle make and model no matter the cost.

Read our full AAA review

GEICO vs. AAA: Who costs less?

Since car insurance prices can vary by state, here is a sample of what you can expect to pay for a married couple in their mid-thirties with a two-car household. Coverage is $25K/$50k/$15k with a $500 deductible.

Quotes include $15k/$30k underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage with all additional coverages waived. Cars are 2020 Toyota Prius with a work commute of 15,000 miles per year and 2015 Toyota Sienna for pleasure with less than 12,000 miles per year.

Keep in mind that you will also have to purchase an AAA membership before you can buy insurance. This will be an additional $64.99 to $124.99 per year, depending on which level of membership you get, but new members can get a massive discount on their first year. Some new members reported paying as little as $7 for their first year of membership. This will also give you roadside assistance, as well as other perks like identity theft monitoring and lock out car assistance.

GEICO provides more discount options

Both GEICO and AAA have bundling discounts and a few student-related discounts. But GEICO also has discounts for different affiliations, vehicle equipment, having a clean driving record, and more.

Here are a few GEICO discounts that AAA does not offer:

• Driver’s education course
• Emergency deployment
• Federal employee (eagle)
• Certain membership and employee
• Military

Coverage and availability

Both companies provide similar types of car insurance coverage options. This includes typical types of coverage, such as liability, comprehensive, and collision. The only areas where there were differences between GEICO and AAA were with the add-on policies.

For example, AAA provided options for glass, OEM parts, and new car protections. But you could purchase mechanical breakdown insurance and upgraded accident forgiveness with GEICO.

You can get roadside assistance coverage with both companies, which often includes changing a flat tire or towing services. But it makes sense to get an AAA membership instead of a car insurance add-on because it comes with more services, so even if you have GEICO it could make sense to get an AAA membership instead of adding on GEICO’s roadside assistance policy add-on. AAA memberships typically include towing and locksmith services, fuel delivery, and partial reimbursement for locksmith fees.

From our experience, GEICO and AAA were pretty evenly matched with their available policies, but AAA had more add-on options. Keep in mind that certain policies or coverage might only be available in certain areas. For example, the GEICO quote did not include uninsured motorist property damage coverage because it wasn’t available with collision coverage in our state.

Availability

AAA is available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. GEICO is also available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C, so there shouldn’t be any issue getting car insurance from either provider no matter where you live in the U.S.

One difference we ran into with AAA is that it’s separated into dozens of different clubs, and each AAA club has its own website. So your AAA experience could be different depending on where you live.

Each AAA club is an independent organization and covers a specific area, which could be several states, certain regions within states, or even certain cities within states.

This is different from GEICO, where you’ll likely get the same experience no matter where you live because GEICO isn’t separated into dozens of different organizations.

Reviews and ratings

As far as reviews and ratings go, both GEICO and AAA are popular and well-rated auto insurance companies. You will notice that each rate higher in different areas, so it is best to look up each company in your area. For example, GEICO has better customer service ratings in New York, whereas AAA ranks higher in Florida and Texas.

Both have A+ ratings from Better Business Bureau (BBB), but also have an average of one-star ratings from actual customer reviews. This could be due to the fact that most drivers only review their insurance company when something goes wrong with their claim. J.D. Power did a claim satisfaction survey and ranked Auto Club of Southern California (AAA) as 7th, and CSAA Insurance Group (AAA) 9th, and AAA 12th. GEICO ranked number 14 out of 21 companies.

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Bottom line

Which is better: GEICO or AAA? It depends on your area and your needs. For me, GEICO is cheaper and offers more insurance options that fit me — i.e. easy to add-on Mexico insurance since I visit there once a year. However, in some areas AAA is cheaper and the driver perks that come with the AAA membership will make more sense for them.

Overall, it makes sense to compare rates between all available insurance providers to find the cheapest coverage. Check out our best car insurance page to see what’s available in your area.

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