• Manage your OnStar account and service plan any time, day or night.
• Check on your car’s condition by accessing your latest OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics and maintenance report any time.
• Learn how to take advantage of all your OnStar services, like RemoteLink®(1) mobile app, which gives you unprecedented connectivity to your vehicle from the palm of your hand, wherever you have cell phone service.
• Provide your in-case-of-emergency (ICE) information in your account file, so in an emergency you won’t have to try to remember the numbers — an OnStar Advisor will already have it on hand.
• Provide your insurance information so if you are involved in a crash and are shaken up, an OnStar Advisor can have the information ready for you.
• Ensure you’ll never be without OnStar coverage by keeping a credit card or debit card on file.

Sign up online today and make your OnStar services work harder for you — go to onstar.com and click on “sign up.”

1 Available on select Apple®, Android™ and BlackBerry® devices. Services vary by device, vehicle and conditions. Requires active OnStar subscription.

OnStar subscribers will be able to follow Santa’s journey around the globe on Christmas Eve with a push of their blue OnStar button.

Thanks to a special partnership with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), OnStar subscribers can follow the jolly old elf’s journey beginning on Christmas Eve at 7 a.m. through 5 a.m. EST Christmas morning. If you don’t have an OnStar subscription, you can call 877-HI-NORAD (877-446-6723) or visit NORAD Santa Tracker to check Santa’s progress.

NORAD — a joint U.S.-Canada organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America — has been undertaking this operation ever since Christmas Eve 1955, when a young girl called the number for Santa Claus listed in a department store advertisement in the local paper. Turns out the number had been misprinted and instead of the store, she reached the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center (CONAD) hotline in Colorado Springs.

The colonel on duty that magical night ended up not only taking numerous calls from kids wanting to know how close Santa was getting, he had his operators find Santa’s location and relay the information to every child who called. And a tradition was born.

Today, NORAD tracks Santa’s journey through infrared satellite systems, high-powered radars and jet fighters. Plus Santa’s sleigh is equipped with OnStar, so he can find all the houses of the good little boys and girls via OnStar Turn-by-Turn Navigation. And, if he needs to take a call from Mrs. Claus, he uses OnStar Hands-Free Calling, so he can keep his eyes on the sky and his hands on the sleigh reins.

Be sure to track Santa’s journey on Christmas Eve. Just push your OnStar button. And don’t forget to leave out some milk and cookies for him — and maybe a carrot or two for the reindeer.

Do you keep track of Santa’s journey every year? Tell us your Christmas Eve traditions in the comments below.

Erin had suffered a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), a rare and potentially fatal condition that occurs when the coronary artery develops a tear, causing blood to flow between the artery layers, resulting in a heart attack or other complications.

Her husband rushed her to the nearest hospital, about an hour away. Her condition was so serious that doctors stabilized her, then had her airlifted to a hospital in Billings, Montana, 250 miles away.

When Nikki and John heard the news, they immediately got in their 2005 Cadillac SRX for the four-hour drive to Billings.

Thankfully, the surgery was successful and Erin was on the road to recovery. John had to return to the ranch to care for the cattle while Nikki stayed at the hospital with Erin.

But on Thanksgiving Day when John was on his way to dinner with friends 250 miles away, Erin developed fluid around her heart and her condition started to deteriorate. “As a mom, I totally freaked out,” says Nikki. “I was frantic to contact John, but I had our cell phone and I knew he was in the car.”

Then she thought of OnStar.

“I realized all I had to do was call into the car,” she says. “John immediately started back to Billings.” Nikki and John used Hands-Free Calling often during the next four hours. “He called me several times from the car to check on Erin’s condition and to let me know where he was. And when I could finally tell him that Erin’s condition had improved, he was so relieved.”

With OnStar Hands-Free Calling, John could keep his eyes on the road and hands on the wheel while driving. The service is designed for better connectivity in areas of limited cellular reception, making it easy to make and receive calls.

Erin spent 10 long days in the hospital and, after four stents and a pacemaker/defibrillator implant, life has finally returned to normal. And John and Nikki are especially looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner with Erin and her family this year.

“It means the world to us that we’ll all be together,” says Nikki. “The feeling is indescribable.”

Nikki and John are grateful to OnStar and its built-in Hands-Free Calling capability for helping keep them connected through such an emotional ordeal. “You might not use OnStar a lot,” says Nikki, “but it is so wonderful to have when you need it.”

Want to know more about Hands-Free Calling? Check out these Hands-Free Calling tips and commands.

“In my opinion, there’s nothing else out there like it.”

Matt Lobberecht is an auto mechanic at a Chevrolet dealership. He spends a lot of time on the road, driving around and listening to music. He also details cars on the side and is a dirt track racing fan. And since he bought his 2012 Chevy Cruze in July, he’s become a big OnStar fan.

“I use it a lot, especially the Hands-Free Calling,” he says. “I also use it for directions. And I really like the convenience of the RemoteLink(1) mobile app. If I forget to lock my car and it’s raining, I just use the mobile app command and stay dry inside. Thankfully I haven’t needed to use the emergency button but I’m sure glad it’s there.”

Before he bought his Cruze, Matt admits he knew little about OnStar. “The number of services that are available are amazing,” he says. “In my opinion, there’s nothing else out there like it.”

Matt says with OnStar, “I know that I can go anywhere and it’s always got my back. It’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity.”

He’s also a great fan of the live 24/7 OnStar Advisors. “The best part about this service is even though you don’t know the person on the other end, no matter what the situation is, they treat you like family and provide you with the best customer service possible to get you out of harm’s way,” he says. “Truthfully, I don’t know a lot of people that would be as concerned about my safety as much as OnStar.”

Dog days of summer …

Susan Spaid and her husband have two rescue dogs — a Brittany named Scooter and an English Springer spaniel named Clarabelle. Susan is both a high school counselor and an animal rescuer and thrives on both jobs. “I always tell people I save dogs and teenagers and they have a lot in common… both are focused on food, both need affection and understanding and both are living in the moment! “

Susan’s 2012 Buick Verano still had its new car smell when she says she became an OnStar believer.

One day this past summer, Susan was picking up Clarabelle from the groomer’s on a 90+ degree day. She put Clarabelle in the passenger seat and placed her purse with her cell phone on the car floor. As she was walking around to the driver’s side, Susan heard the unmistakable click of the door lock. Clarabelle had somehow managed to lock herself in the car.

“As soon as I realized what happened, I ran into the groomer’s shop and asked for her phone and immediately called OnStar,” Susan says.

Because of her animal rescue work, Susan knows how quickly a car heats up on a hot day.

“It was close to 95 degrees and the car was in the sun,” she says. “But the OnStar Advisor was wonderful. She was genuinely concerned about Clarabelle and asked me several times if she was OK. And she helped calm me down. Without OnStar I would have had to break a window to save my dog!”

That day, Susan became a believer. “I went home and told my husband that as soon as our trial period was over, ‘We are paying for OnStar, I don’t ever want to be without it!’ He didn’t argue with me.”

1 Available on select Apple, Android and BlackBerry devices. Services vary by device, vehicle and conditions. Requires active OnStar subscription.

Is there a single feature that keeps you an OnStar subscriber? Tell us about it in the comments below.