Campground memberships March 29, 2013, 02:05:32 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137829I hear about and read about various "deals' that are campground memberships where you can get a reduced rate or a $10 per night deal, etc. Are these a scam, an expensive deal, or a good thing? At a RV show they were touting a deal but by the time yuou got through they were talking about a lt of money! Also, no real written information, just "notes". What has been the groups experience and are there any good one out there that are worth while and reputable? Thanks......Ian
Re: Campground memberships Reply #1 – March 29, 2013, 02:17:45 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137830Quote I hear about and read about various "deals' that are campground memberships where you can get a reduced rate or a $10 per night deal, etc. Are these a scam, an expensive deal, or a good thing? At a RV show they were touting a deal but by the time yuou got through they were talking about a lt of money! Also, no real written information, just "notes". What has been the groups experience and are there any good one out there that are worth while and reputable? Thanks......Ian Ian, passport America is tried and true and has been and has been a favorite for many of LDers for years. https://www.passportamerica.com/Joe Hamm
Re: Campground memberships Reply #2 – March 29, 2013, 02:33:47 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137831I am a former campground membership owner. Memberships can be a good deal if you like, and use your home park frequently. Unfortunately, the upkeep and quality of the membership park I belonged to declined, and I opted to end my membership. I would be very cautious about the contract, and have a legal adviser review before you sign. The lifetime membership agreement can lock you into a lifetime of annual maintenance fees, which which may be difficult to get out of. If you like the idea of membership parks, you also might consider the Thousand Trails system. They currently offer an annual "Zone Pass" with no longtime commitments. I joined at the end of last year, and so far I have been satisfied with my experience.SF__ From: ianwalker906 ianwalker906@...> To: lifewithalazydazerv@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, March 29, 2013 11:05 AM Subject: [LD] Campground membershipsI hear about and read about various "deals' that are campground memberships where you can get a reduced rate or a $10 per night deal, etc. Are these a scam, an expensive deal, or a good thing? At a RV show they were touting a deal but by the time yuou got through they were talking about a lt of money! Also, no real written information, just "notes". What has been the groups experience and are there any good one out there that are worth while and reputable? Thanks......Ian[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Campground memberships Reply #3 – March 29, 2013, 04:36:28 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137838"I hear about and read about various 'deals' that are campground memberships where you can get a reduced rate or a $10 per night deal, etc. Are these a scam, an expensive deal, or a good thing?' It entirely depends on the deal. As others have suggested, Passport America (https://www.passportamerica.com) is usually worthwhile, as it gets you half-price admission to more than 1,800 commercial campgrounds. At $44 a year, it generally pays for itself if three or four nights, so it's hard to go wrong... and there's NO CONTRACT. As "SF" pointed out, any membership that involves a contract requires careful study. I once bought into an RPI membership via a campground called Timber Lodge, and soon regretted it--when I tried to quit, they claimed (quite erroneously) that the contract prohibited me from quitting unless I paid them nearly a thousand bucks to buy my way out (or sold the membership to another sucker who would have to pay an equally hefty "transfer fee"). I argued with them over this for several years, refusing to pay any more after I'd notified them of my intention to quit. They turned my account over to a collection agency, and there's probably a black mark on my credit record somewhere because of it. (Do a Google search on 'timberlodge scam' if you want to see how many other people fell for this one.) The Thousand Trails "zone membership" can be useful, depending on what you pay for it and where you travel--be sure to look carefully at their coverage map before you decide. My understanding is that it's a year-to-year membership with no long-term contract. Some years ago when I was planning a trip to the Pacific Northwest with friends, I bought a Thousand Trails western zone membership for $450 a year. Unfortunately, that trip never came off, and since Thousand Trails has exactly one park in the Southwest, where I spend my time (most of their parks are in the Pacific Northwest and Southeastern US), it's been of very little use to me, so I'm about to drop it. One more thing: if you do decide to buy into a membership campground association such as Thousand Trails, don't pay the full price--look for a "used" membership. These are almost always available, usually for little or no money (often people give them away when they stop traveling), and although you will have to pay the campground association a transfer fee of several hundred dollars, that beats paying them thousands of dollars for a new membership. The "today only!" deal that their high-pressure salesperson is pushing is strictly sucker bait. Don't bite. But again: Passport America is a safe bet, because it's a simple, inexpensive one-year-at-a-time deal. Anything with a contract is suspect, and requires careful investigation.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Campground memberships Reply #4 – March 29, 2013, 07:47:17 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137840I enjoy my Passport America membership. It works well for people like myself, retired-can travel mid week- or off season. It is least best for those who have to travel on weekends or
Re: Campground memberships Reply #5 – March 29, 2013, 08:02:03 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137841In addition to Passport America consider Escapees RV Club. They offer discounts on parks around the country up to 50%. You can dry camp at most of their COOP parks for $5.00 a night. This includes access to many amenities present in the Park like bathrooms, showers, dump station, laundry, meeting rooms, WIFI, etc. They offer many support services to their members. I recommend you check out their website. http://www.escapees.com/ I am not affiliated with the organization other than being a regular member.BobQuote I hear about and read about various "deals' that are campground memberships where you can get a reduced rate or a $10 per night deal, etc. Are these a scam, an expensive deal, or a good thing? At a RV show they were touting a deal but by the time yuou got through they were talking about a lt of money! Also, no real written information, just "notes". What has been the groups experience and are there any good one out there that are worth while and reputable? Thanks......Ian
Re: Campground memberships Reply #6 – March 29, 2013, 09:06:17 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137842Quote I hear about and read about various "deals' that are campground memberships where you can get a reduced rate or a $10 per night deal, etc. Are these a scam, an expensive deal, or a good thing? Ian, I'll second the Passport America recommendation, with some caveats. Often the participating facilities are located in out-of-the way areas, and need traffic, hence their being members of the discount program. PPA's discount is 50%, so just a few nights stays will pay for the annual cost. Second, each park gets to set its own restrictions on what time of year, day(s) of the week, duration of stay, for which you can use the discount. These restrictions vary all over the map, but they are listed in PPA's printed and online directories, so you can easily check. Some require reservations while others permit drive-ins. So, while it's not useful everywhere, we've found enough places on our travels that the annual membership cost has always been repaid several times over. -- Jon ('06 TK "Albatross")
Re: Campground memberships Reply #7 – March 30, 2013, 12:15:37 am Yahoo Message Number: 137848This Spring we joined an outfit called Harvest Hosts, and have been very happy with them. The membership is $40 for the year, and gives you access to 425 farms and wineries around the country where you can stay one night for free by calling ahead. We used our membership several times going down the US 101 corridor
Re: Campground memberships Reply #8 – March 30, 2013, 04:45:24 am Yahoo Message Number: 137851You have been given lots of good recommendations. As a nation-wide (not zone) member of Thousand Trails (TTN) for 40-plus years, we can tell you that we have enjoyed our membership while raising four kids and have upgraded all along the way when management changed ownership and offerings. Some years we did not have an RV or kids, but paid the dues anyway. The parks were available for day use and cabin, trailer or yurt rental
Re: Campground memberships Reply #9 – March 30, 2013, 05:15:58 am Yahoo Message Number: 137853Harvest Hosts. What a delightful idea. I bookmarked them. Thanks. s/Terry (2013 27RB)[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Campground memberships Reply #10 – March 30, 2013, 10:29:49 am Yahoo Message Number: 137855Andy didn't say TT had only one park in the Southwest...only that they had one park in the area *he* travels in. Our situation is similar. I, too, looked into the Southwestern Zone Pass and was disappointed in finding out that they had only one park in Nevada and one in Arizona. The one in Nevada, in the Las Vegas area, we would use; however, the one in Arizona is in Cottonwood which is not in an area where we would spend the winter (too cold), which is the only time we'd use these parks. Every other TT park in the Southwest Zone is in California where we don't travel except on very rare occasions. The Northwest Zone Pass has many more parks we would use except, since we are no longer fulltimers and have a house, we don't do much traveling in the summer any more.Linda Hylton http://earl-linda.blogspot.com
Re: Campground memberships Reply #11 – March 30, 2013, 03:26:56 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137867FWIW - I joined Thousand Trails for one summer, exploring the northwest. There are several sites I would happily return to, but they had nothing in Idaho, Wyoming or Colorado, areas I wanted to explore. Like Andy, I winter in AZ and NM, where they only have one site. While I enjoyed that one summer, the requirement for 1 week out of the system after 2 weeks in the system, (yes, I know there are memberships that avoid that requirement - $$$) coupled with the lack of sites in the areas I wanted to explore more, led to my dropping my membership.While a member, I was satisfied with my membership.Ken F in NM
Re: Campground memberships Reply #12 – March 30, 2013, 08:49:23 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137873"Check on their website for their list of campgrounds and the notes for when the membership can be used." Yes, this is one way in which Passport America is superior to the similar "Happy Campers" organization: with Passport America, you can find out exactly what you're going to get before you join. Their well-organized website lets you find Passport America-affiliated campgrounds in the area you're going to be traveling in, and gives complete information on each, including any limitations.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Campground memberships Reply #13 – March 30, 2013, 09:14:23 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137874"Thousand Trails has more than one park in the Southwest (California) area--one southeast of San Diego, one in the mountains to the east, one in Palm Springs, Rancho Oso, Soledad, Idylwild, etc." That's true, and I should have been more specific. There is only one Thousand Trails park in Arizona (Verde Valley) and none in New Mexico, and that's where I spend most of my time. The Verde Valley "preserve" (as they refer to it) is very large--300+ campsites spread across four different areas, plus nature trails, a stream, etc.--and exceptionally nice as commercial parks go. It's located near Cottonwood (good shopping there) and Sedona (great scenery!). On the other hand, the only other Thousand Trails park I've stayed in, Wilderness Lakes in Menifee (southern California), was a dump--a real RV slum. But friends who are long-time members assure me that most TT "preserves" are very nice, including the dense cluster in Oregon and Washington. Again, it all depends on where you're planning to travel, so check the coverage maps before you sign anything.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Campground memberships Reply #14 – March 30, 2013, 09:37:21 pm Yahoo Message Number: 137877"Their well-organized website lets you find Passport America-affiliated campgrounds in the area you're going to be traveling in, and gives complete information on each, including any limitations." I agree the Website is excellent. It is a good idea to look at the "New Discount Campgrounds and Dropped Campgrounds" links lower left of home page. Sometimes this prevents unwanted surprises or gives you good news. Last year I was in Ventura, CA and they had recently added a site that wasn't updated in the directory yet. Saved me some bucks.Bob
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