AAA vs. Geico: Auto Insurance Comparison
AAA’s cheap rates and quality customer service make it our recommendation over Geico for most drivers- but both companies offer competitive auto insurance rates.
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Best for | AAA | Geico |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Coverages and discounts | ||
| Shopping experience | ||
| Claims processing | ||
| Overall customer satisfaction | ||
| AAA review | Geico review |
AAA vs. Geico: Which has the cheapest car insurance?
Car insurance is cheaper with AAA than it is with Geico, based on our survey of rates for drivers in California, Arizona and Nevada.
A 30-year-old male living in California, for example, could save $217 per year on insurance premiums for a full coverage policy by choosing AAA auto insurance over Geico. Additionally, AAA’s car insurance rates for our 18-year-old profile driver in California were 25% cheaper than Geico’s for a minimum coverage policy — $1,827 per year for AAA and $2,451 per year for Geico.
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AAA vs Geico auto insurance rate comparison
Rates represent the average annual cost of an auto insurance policy for benchmark drivers in California, Nevada, and Arizona
Age | AAA | Geico |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | $2,202 | $2,778 |
| 30 | $4,324 | $4,888 |
| 60 | $4,060 | $4,698 |
Drivers with an at-fault accident on their driving record can get cheaper car insurance premiums with AAA than with Geico. For drivers with a bad driving record, AAA’s insurance premiums were only 46% more expensive on average, than their rates for drivers with clean motor vehicle records — compared to a 51% difference for Geico.
AAA vs. Geico: Discounts
In terms of discounts, both AAA and Geico offer a number of the standard discounts offered by many car insurance companies. However, Geico features a number of discounts targeted towards military members — such as a 15% premium reduction and reduced rates for deployed military members — that make it the better choice for drivers in the military.
Discount | AAA | Geico |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-policy | ||
| Multi-vehicle | ||
| Good driver | ||
| Good student | ||
| Affinity discounts (for members of certain groups or clubs) | ||
| Military member | ||
| Emergency deployment |
In addition to the discounts on insurance premiums, AAA members — including those without auto insurance through AAA — also have access to excellent benefits and discounts. This is a benefit that Geico cannot come close to matching, and includes special pricing at various retail stores, restaurants and hotels. In fact, AAA estimates that their members save $1 billion per year by taking advantage of the discounts that accompany their membership.
AAA vs. Geico: Customer service, claim satisfaction and reviews
Drivers should expect to get better customer service from Geico than AAA. Both current customers and professional rating agencies have given Geico solid reviews for their claims processing and customer service. In comparison AAA’s marks were generally positive, but less so than AAA’s.
Geico has better customer service than AAA
Geico earned more top ranks for its customer service than AAA. Only about one in every three AAA customers say they receive excellent customer service compared to 42% of Geico customers. Additionally, more respondents reported fair or negative service with AAA than Geico — 12% compared to 3%.
Besides cheap rates, customer service is the most important factor for consumers when choosing their insurer according to our survey of customers. One-third of customers cited customer service as the reason they chose their current insurer.
Insurer satisfaction rating | AAA | Geico |
|---|---|---|
| Excellent | 32% | 42% |
| Great | 40% | 29% |
| Good | 16% | 26% |
| Fair | 10% | 3% |
| Poor | 2% | 0% |
Source: ValuePenguin’s survey of current customers.
Geico’s customers are more satisfied with their claims than AAA’s
When asked how satisfied current customers were with their most recent claim, 64% of Geico’s customers reported being extremely satisfied, which is 20 percentage points more than AAA’s. Furthermore only 2% report having a negative experience with their most recent Geico claim.
If you are in a car accident, you will likely end up having to file a claim against your auto insurance company to receive compensation for damage to your vehicle. Having an insurer that you feel is working with you to get you back on the road after an accident is one of the most important aspects of choosing an insurer.
Claim satisfaction rating | AAA | Geico |
|---|---|---|
| Extremely satisfied | 44% | 64% |
| Somewhat satisfied | 32% | 30% |
| Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied | 20% | 4% |
| Somewhat dissatisfied | 4% | 2% |
| Extremely dissatisfied | 0% | 0% |
Geico has a slightly higher rate of complaints than AAA
Relative to its size, AAA receives fewer complaints than Geico. In 2018, the most recent year data is available, the two companies received identical complaint ratios — which is the number of complaints an insurer receives relative to its size. However, when you consider the three-year average of each company, AAA’s complaint index of 0.74 is lower than Geico’s score of 0.87.
Complaint Ratio | AAA | Geico |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.55 | 0.65 |
| 2017 | 0.75 | 1.05 |
| 2018 | 0.92 | 0.92 |
AAA vs. Geico: Insurance coverage comparison
Both AAA and Geico will be able to offer you the expected auto insurance coverages.
Bodily injury and property damage liability | AAA | Geico |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury protection (in states where it is offered) | ||
| Medical payments | ||
| Uninsured and underinsured motorist liability | ||
| Comprehensive and collision coverage |
Quote methodology
ValuePenguin’s analysis used insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services. These rates were publicly sourced from insurer filings and should be used for comparative purposes only — your own quotes may be different.
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the author’s opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.