Thousands of Germans travel in their cars every day, be it to work, on a trip or to visit family. Depending on the destination, the distances can be really long. Those of you who live in Germany and often travel by car are probably aware that anything can happen on the road and even the newest car can suddenly break down. You should be prepared for such a situation in order to save yourself and your family time and stress.
At the Automobilclub von Deutschland (AvD for short) you can become a member for 79 euros per year and enjoy worldwide roadside assistance. The precondition is that you are registered in Germany.
It is also worth mentioning that AvD services are assigned to a person, so it doesn’t matter which vehicle you drive!
AvD – a cheaper alternative to ADAC
AvD offers, similarly to ADAC, roadside assistance within Germany (AvD HELP 39 Euro/year, in ADAC 54 Euro) or worldwide (AvD HELP PLUS 79 Euro/year, in ADAC 94 Euro). Here are some of the services that the AvD HELP PLUS offer includes (worth recommending for those who frequently drive outside of Germany):
Premium
– The current bonus for AvD HELP PLUS membership is a €20 shopping voucher at amazon.de
Roadside assistance
– 24h hotline
– Toll free emergency number in Germany
– Accident and roadside assistance in Germany, Europe and worldwide
– Vehicle recovery after an accident
– Provision of a replacement car in the event of a breakdown
– Overnight accommodation in case of breakdown
(up to 3 days and €75/person)
– Rental car in case of breakdown
(up to 7 days and €60/day)
– Delivery of spare parts
– Transport of car in case of breakdown
AvD mobile application
– Enables exact location of the vehicle
– Possibility to call for help through the app
Medical assistance
– Car pick-up in case the driver is unable to drive the vehicle
– Transport of the sick by plane worldwide
– Search and rescue costs
– Assistance in the event of death
– Assistance in special emergency situations
– Shipping of medicines and glasses
– Return transport of children
– Return transport of animals
Other services
– Provision of a replacement car in case of theft
– Assistance in case of lost keys
– Assistance in case of lost documents
– Assistance in case of trip cancellation
How to become a member of AvD?
To become a member of AvD you need to choose one of the tariffs (e.g. AvD HELP PLUS described above). You can find all available offers on www.avd.de.
To access the application form, click on the button “Jetzt Mitglied werden” (see point 1.):
To begin with, you have to decide when your membership should start and provide personal data (see point 2.). You then enter the account details (IBAN) from which the membership fee is to be debited and confirm the payment by direct debit (see Section 3.):
If the account owner is someone else, then “Abweichender Kontoinhaber” must be checked (see section 4.) and provide their details:
In the next part of the form you should indicate that you have read the legal information (see point 5.) and decide whether you wish to receive information from AvD. If so, please indicate by what means (see Section 6.):
Finally, you can check the correctness of the entered data and correct them if there are any mistakes (see section 7.). If the data are correct, confirm the order by clicking on the button at the bottom (8.):
Membership documents will be mailed to you. If you have any questions, write in the comments.