AppleCare Warranty vs Squaretrade Warranty

Well, I want to buy a warranty for my MacBook Air and I've seen a lot of people say good things about AppleCare and Squaretrade warranties, but I don't know which is the better buy. Squaretrade's warranty covers accidental damage which is huge while AppleCare does not. AppleCare on the other hand extends my current warranty to 3 years and gives me 3 years of phone support. Squaretrade is $159 for a 1 year warranty, and $239 for 2 years. Apple is $249 for 3 years and no accidental damage.

Which would you say is the better buy? I dont know anything really about Squaretrade, but it seems like accidental damage being covered would come with a catch.

Personal stories from anyone that has used Squaretrade in the past would be very helpful.

Nevermind... I read the fine print on Squaretrades website and they don't offer coverage for accidental damage on refurbished items and they dont offer 3 year warranties for refurbished items. I guess I'm going with AppleCare. It doesn't really matter though as I would prefer having AppleCare since I would be getting 3 years of Apple phone support. Either way, I'm happy lol.

ZipZap said:

Squaretrade is more like insurance. The value of the policy is the amount of total repair costs you can incur. If you reach that limit you dont have any coverage.

With Apple you can have repairs dont under warranty for the entire period (no spending limit).

For something like the MBA with likely high repair costs...I am not convinced Squaretrade is the best way to go.

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Thank you for that very informative post. No way will I be going with SquareTrade now.

You sir, just saved me $159 and possibly my MBA if it were to get into any trouble.