I have AA 'gold' cover, which covers me, the wife and our two (adult) kids. I subsequently found out I still had VW Assist on the Cali as well.
I broke down in France on New Years Day this year. I called the AA number first, only to be told that although I was Gold member, it didn't cover Europe!! I complained mightily, as I paid over £400 for the cover, and they said they would cover me as a gesture of goodwill. It would be recovery to a garage only, no onward travel etc etc.
As I sat and waited, I went to the manual and found the VW Assist note. Worth a shot I thought, so called the number. Believe it or not, the exact same woman answered the phone, after explaining the situation, it turns out VW Assist offered the full recovery, overnight stay etc etc cover. She swapped my call on the VW Assist cover there and then. I was very impressed with her.
As it turns out, the issue was fixed at the roadside in less than an hour anyway. However, I learned a few things....
1) After the first year, the AA are robbing little so and so's. I paid top dollar believing me and the family were covered for every eventuality. When (as I did) you go from top end personal cover to family cover, they remove European cover plus some other stuff. At no point is this made clear to you.
2) VW Assist is actually very good cover.
3) The same company deals with you regardless, so go by price / level of service
I'm not going to renew the AA membership this year. It's far too expensive. I've been having a look at
AutoAid instead. Seems to represent much better value and is recommended on the MoneySavingExpert website.