Memberships

[Russ & Linda]

Just wondering if anyone can give us some guidance on RV Camping Memberships, i.e. Thousand Trails, Coast to Coast, etc. We are so confused.

Russ & Linda

[BradPAjax]

Hi,

We are in Canada and just got our F-350 and 38BR last May. We joined Good Sam's and stayed at a number of sites that were affiliated and not on a trip to Nova Scotia and back. We had good experiences at the Good Sam affiliated sites. There are others in the USA and Canada that are recognized in both countries. Some of them make a real difference whether you full time or not as to whether you get your money's worth. The big ones advertise in the RV mags and you need to check the fine print regarding where you are staying. Previous posts have relayed groups that offer "time share" type plans that may not be what you want.

[jrgkfg]

Look into Passport America. I think it was 79 dollars for two years and it paid for itself the first month we had it. There are some restrictions and some of the parks are not the greatest but we like it.

[TravelinAnderson]

We looked into Thousand Trails but since we travel to different parts of the country we passed. If you camp a lot in the area you buy a membership it could be beneficial though.
We use Escapees, Good Sam's and Passport America when looking for campgrounds. Passport America can save you a lot but like jrgkfg mentioned, there are often restrictions on when you can use the discount and some parks aren't of resort quality.
A lot of campgrounds will give you a free day when you book for a week which isn't bad either.
Campground memberships are similar to timeshares. There are websites that have listings of people wanting to sell their memberships at discount prices.
Here's one:http://www.rvonline.com/campgrounds/camplocate.html

[Russ & Linda]

Thanks for the info. It is going to be a while before we are ready to go all out, but looking at ways to save on campsites before we just jump out there (guess that is the accountant in me). We do plan on doing some travelling and want the get it as reasonable as possible.



Thanks for the help.



Linda

[rcflame]

Be careful if you decide to buy into a membership campground. Don't let them pressure you into buying. They can be a good deal if they or their affiliates are in the area you are going to be traveleing in. Just make sure you know and understand all the restrictions that apply such as how long you can stay and how long before you can return. We bought into one ten years ago and even though we don't use it now because we aren't traveling as much, we more than used it enough to come out well ahead since we had no annual dues. We listened to their speel, and than told them we wanted to take the contract and the membership book overnight so that we could read themand make sure we understood them before we bought. They weren't anxious to let us do that, but we said if we couldn't do that we wouldn't even consider buying. They gave in and we understood what we were getting into before we bought.

[mhs4771]

Agree, be careful with some of the outfits out there, some are pretty high pressure with lots of hidden costs or restrictions. We're life menbers of both Good Sam and PassPort America. When traveling we try and use PPA as we're just looking for a safe place for the night and the info will be right on the web site as to restrictions. As has been mentioned some aren't the greatest, but for just a stop over all we're generally looking for is electric to run the Fire Place if cold or the ACs if hot, other are some pretty nice resorts.