Best credit cards with roadside assistance

Need a jump or help with a flat tire? When things go wrong — especially on the road — it can be easy to panic and forget about all the options you have. However, one or more of your credit cards may provide a roadside assistance benefit that can help.

The level of assistance and terms vary widely, though. Some cards cover up to a certain amount per event. But, many only arrange help at a negotiated rate and leave you to pay the rest of the bill.

Let’s discuss the best credit cards for roadside assistance and describe what type of help you can expect with each.

The best credit cards with roadside assistance

Comparing the best cards for roadside assistance

Card	Roadside assistance type	Annual fee
Chase Sapphire Reserve	Covers up to $50 for each service event, up to four events each year	$550
Chase Freedom Unlimited	Provides select services at a set price per service call	$0
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card	Provides select services at a set price per service call	$95
Bank of America Premium Rewards	Provides select services at a set price per service call	$95
Wells Fargo Autograph Card	Provides select services at a set price per service call	$0

Now, let’s take a closer look at each of the best credit cards for roadside assistance.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

Welcome bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Based on TPG’s February 2025 valuations, these bonus points are worth $1,230.

Reward rates:

10 points per dollar spent on hotels (excluding hotels that are part of The Edit℠) and car rentals purchased through Chase Travel℠ (after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually)
10 points per dollar spent on Chase Dining purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards when you make prepaid restaurant reservations, order takeout or join virtual cooking events
5 points per dollar spent on flights purchased through Chase Travel (after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually)
3 points per dollar spent on other travel worldwide (after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually) and dining at restaurants (including eligible takeout and delivery services)
1 point per dollar spent on everything else

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Roadside benefit: Roadside assistance benefit covers up to $50 for each service event, up to four events each year (including tow, jump-start, tire change, locksmith and gas), up to four events each year.

Annual fee: $550

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is still my pick for the best travel rewards card. The card offers solid travel and shopping protections, and earning at least 3 points per dollar spent on travel and dining is compelling.

You likely won’t apply for the Sapphire Reserve solely due to its roadside assistance benefit. But, it’s one more reason to consider getting the card if you travel frequently.

Check out the full Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card review for more information.

Apply here: Chase Sapphire Reserve

Chase Freedom Unlimited

Welcome bonus: Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year), worth up to $300 cash back.

Reward rates:

5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel
3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
1.5% cash back on everything else

Roadside benefit: Roadside dispatch provides access to select roadside services (including towing, jump-start, tire change, lockout service, winching and gas delivery) at a set price per service call.

Annual fee: $0

The Chase Freedom Unlimited is an excellent starter card and one of the top cards for everyday spending. It can also become one of the most rewarding cards in your wallet if you have a Chase Ultimate Rewards card — such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card — or plan to get one of these cards in the future.

After all, you can turn your cash back into Ultimate Rewards points if you also have a card that earns Ultimate Rewards points.

Based on TPG’s February 2025 valuation of Ultimate Rewards points at 2.05 cents each, you can get more than double the return when you redeem Ultimate Rewards points for travel instead of cash back.

Check out the full Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card review for more information.

Apply here: Chase Freedom Unlimited

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Welcome bonus: Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening, plus a $250 credit to use in the Capital One Travel portal in the first twelve months. Based on TPG’s February 2025 valuations, this bonus is worth up to $1,638, including the credit.

Rewards rates:

5 miles per dollar spent on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
2 miles per dollar spent on every other purchase

Roadside benefit: Roadside dispatch provides access to select roadside services at a set price per service call. This benefit is only available to accounts approved for the Visa Signature card. Terms apply.

Annual fee: $95

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a popular credit card that earns miles that can be redeemed at a fixed rate or transferred to travel partners. All purchases earn at least 2 miles per dollar spent, so you don’t have to worry about determining whether a purchase will earn bonus rewards.

For more information, see our full Capital One Venture Rewards credit card review.

Learn more: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card

Welcome bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you make at least $4,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.

Rewards rates:

2 points per dollar spent on travel and dining
1.5 points per dollar spent on all other purchases

Roadside benefit: Roadside dispatch provides access to select roadside services at a set price per service call.

Annual fee: $95

The Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card is one of the highest-earning cash back credit cards if you belong to the highest tier of the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program. At this tier, you’ll get a 75% rewards bonus on the points earned by the Premium Rewards card. So, you’d earn 3.5 points per dollar spent on travel and dining and 2.625 points per dollar spent on everything else.

Check out our full Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card review for more information.

Apply here: Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card

Wells Fargo Autograph Card

Welcome bonus: Earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first three months from account opening. Per TPG’s February 2025 valuations, this bonus is worth up to $320 when redeemed for travel.

Rewards rates:

3 points per dollar spent on restaurant purchases, takeout, catering, food delivery services, travel, gas and electric vehicle charging stations, transit, eligible streaming services and phone plans
1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases

Roadside benefit: Roadside dispatch provides access to select roadside services at a set price per service call.

Annual fee: $0

The Wells Fargo Autograph Card is a solid option for earning points and making straightforward redemptions toward travel. The card comes with roadside dispatch services and cellular telephone protection, which are good perks for a card that doesn’t charge an annual fee.

Check out our full Wells Fargo Autograph Card review for more information.

Apply here: Wells Fargo Autograph Card

Roadside assistance with the Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve provides roadside assistance when you’re stranded away from home in the U.S. or Canada with a roadside emergency. Call Cross Country Motor Club at 1-866-860-7978 for assistance. You’ll be covered up to $50 per service event (up to four events each year) when using this service.

The coverage is available when traveling away from home and driving a vehicle you own, being leased or being furnished to you by the owner. Although the guide to benefits notes that you must be “away from home,” the most recent Chase Sapphire Reserve guide to benefits doesn’t define a required distance away from home.

Coverage includes jump-start, tire changing (if you have a good, inflated spare), fuel delivery (up to two gallons), towing (up to $50), standard winching and lockout services (up to $50; does not include key replacement).

Self-propelled, four-wheel vehicles designed, licensed and used for private on-road transportation — as well as trucks with a carrying capacity of up to 2,000 pounds — are covered. Commercial vehicles, however, are not covered.

Roadside dispatch provided by all Visa credit cards

All Visa cardholders have access to roadside dispatch by calling 1-800-847-2869.

This assistance gets you the following services for a set rate per service call (currently $79.95):

Fuel delivery (up to five gallons, though you must pay the cost of fuel)
Jump-start
Lockout service (no key replacement)
Standard towing (up to five miles included for vehicles that weigh 10,000 pounds or less)
Standard winching (within 100 feet of a paved or county-maintained road)
Tire changing (if you have a good, inflated spare)

Even Visa credit cards with no annual fee include this type of protection.

Related: Best Visa cards

Roadside benefits provided by other credit cards

Although roadside assistance is no longer a benefit on most Citi and American Express cards, some other cards still offer roadside assistance as a benefit. However, many only help with arranging services that you need to pay for yourself.

This benefit can still be valuable since it saves you from searching for a provider on your own. But, you might end up with a hefty bill.

To determine whether your card provides roadside benefits, check your guide to benefits or call the number on the back of your card.

How does credit card roadside assistance compare to AAA?

If you have a AAA membership for the discounts and benefits, especially at places like hotels and amusement parks, it may be worth keeping. But if you typically call AAA for roadside assistance and this is the only reason you’re a AAA member, you might be better off replacing that membership with a credit card that offers roadside assistance.

This is especially true if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which offers complimentary roadside assistance up to $50 four times each year.

Some other credit cards — including all Visa cards — provide paid access to roadside assistance. This access may be adequate if you don’t utilize the benefit too frequently. Just remember that the roadside assistance benefit supplied by some credit cards technically requires you to be traveling away from home. So, the benefit might not apply if your car battery goes dead in your driveway.

Bottom line

Roadside assistance, like travel insurance, is a benefit that’s easy to forget about because it’s one you hope never to need. You likely won’t apply for new cards solely based on roadside benefits. But, it’s worth figuring out if any of your current cards offer roadside assistance benefits.

After all, it’s always good to know who to call for the cheapest and fastest fix if you need roadside assistance.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

For rates and fees of the Wells Fargo Autograph, click here.

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