A woman ran out of gas. Instead of hoofing it to the nearest station or phoning a friend, she used an innovative way to fill her tank without paying the higher prices she’s seen over the past month. Here’s what she did, how it involves AAA, and why some are urging her to keep it a secret.
TikTok creator Shantell (@iiamshantell) recently posted a video explaining her gas hack. “Using my AAA to fill my tank so I don’t have to pay these high gas prices,” she writes in the on-screen text.
The video shows Shantell opening her gas tank. A person who is apparently a AAA worker then fills it using a portable fuel tank.
Is The AAA Gas Hack Common Knowledge?
In the comments section of the video, viewers reacted to Shantell’s idea for avoiding high gas prices through her AAA membership.
“I’m not using my membership to its full potential,” said one viewer. “How many times have you done this?”
“OK, I saw it, now delete this,” said a second person.
“Using your four calls for this,” guessed a third viewer. “Love it, though.” Shantell responded, “I have roadside assistance on my insurance. I’m overly good.”
Another person said, “I’ve done this when I was in college. It was eat or put gas in the car. I went to the restaurant. While I ate, I called AAA.”
Using The AAA Fuel Delivery Service
According to AAA, its roadside assistance service will deliver members fuel when they run out of gas. This is generally understood to be one or two gallons to get you to the next gas station and not a complete fill up.
AAA members can request fuel delivery via its app or by calling the number on their membership card. Requests usually take less than four minutes when chatting with the virtual assistant, it says.
The assistant will ask for vehicle details, including what kind of gas is required, the location, and the destination. The app will give members an estimated arrival time, and they can track the delivery in the Auto Club App while they wait.
Depending on the region, basic members may have to pay for the gas, while the cost is covered by Plus and Premier memberships. As a viewer pointed out, members are generally allotted four service calls per year.
AAA members on a Reddit thread posted to r/Frugal agreed that it’s important to check your specific membership and its annual call limits so that you don’t hit the max prematurely and not have access to it in a real emergency.
While it’s not guaranteed, it’s important to note that overusing the service could result in AAA denying you a renewal. So just take that into account before hitting the button on the app.
Motor1 contacted Shantell via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We also contacted AAA via press email for comment. We'll update this if either responds.
@iiamshantell 😩😩😂
♬ original sound - yslroe
