Camping clubs, memberships etc. I'd like to hear your experiences

[Buddy110]

Hi everyone,
  I'm researching camping clubs, memberships etc, such as 1000 trails, coast to coast and others. I'd like to hear from other members of this board and your experiences, recommendations and pitfalls. I looked but did not see a specific topic thread on this particular subject

Thanks in advance

 

[Tom]

Use the Search button in the menu above and enter "1000 trails" as the search term; You'll find a number of prior discussions. Repeat for "Coast to Coast".

 

[halfwright]

Passport America has been a good match for us. There are restrictions at some parks (no weekends--day of stay limits--seasonal), but with a little research and adjustment, it is easy to save 50%.

That is the only RV related club we have joined, but we also use the Moose lodges and the VFW posts for short stays.

 

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

Most everyone agrees that Passport America is a good deal.  You only need to use the membership a couple of times for it to pay for itself.  There are many restrictions, though, on specific campgrounds so you need to do a bit of research on the PPA website. http://www.passportamerica.com/

Some of our favorite campgrounds are the Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds and they are generally priced right.  Of couse, National Parks are great destinations for RVers.  Many of them only provide dry camping, but they put you right where you want to be.  If you are over 62, but sure to get an America the Beautiful pass to use for both Admission and discount camping at these parks.  https://store.usgs.gov/pass/senior.html

Some campgrounds offer good discounts to Escapees members but you don't really join Escapees for the discounts.  This organization is the go-to place for information on fulltiming.  They offer a great mailing service and are always on the front lines when it comes to RV advocacy.  https://www.escapees.com/

Then, there's Thousand Trails.  If the "preserves" work for you and if you use them, say 50 nights or more a year, TT is a really good deal.  If you don't like them or don't use them, well, of course they're a poor investment.  Still, many fulltimers say that they couldn't afford to be out there if it wasn't for TT.  https://www.thousandtrails.com/

 

[John From Detroit]

First, if you decide on 1000 trails please PM me for my membership number so I get credit.

Now.. Thousand Trails has a unique product called a "Zone Pass" this is a limited membership giving you about 1/5th of the parks for one year for about what I pay as dues for a year... 30 Nights free, then a small fee after that,  2 weeks in one out (that last being the same as my "National Membership). They also offer a 3 week in one out national upgrade as I recall. more parks too.

But the Zone pass is a one year renewable.. If you wish not to renew you do have to send a letter. but you are not locked into a lifetime contract


Lifetime contracts: One CG chain I did sign with still, to this day, bothers me for dues... Of course they no longer have any parks I can use.. So I told them Goodby (in writing) and then they told me they needed two letters, So a decade later they are still bugging me for dues (NOTE: way over the 7 year limit)  This is the big danger, if you change your mind, they will hound you forever.

Generally though. I still have two memberships.. So during the summer, most of which I spend in Michigan. I pay less than 100/month for parking. Two weeks in one park, two in another

Now; Back to thousand trails:  Encore is not doing a good job of funding the parks,, Managers are, for the most park, making every dime do at least a quarter's worth of work but still the parks are not the shining places they once were.  However the staff.. Well  I can not say I've met nicer people in very many places.. To me they more than make up for it.. Still  Electrical systems are marginal (for the most part)  Buildings some may be closed and all need work.

The other Membership I have the Buildings all shine.. Floors are mopped daily, Restrooms cleaned several times a day, Pools monitored and staff always there (not necessarily lifeguards but staff)  Sites are clean, Electrical ssytems are up to date (no voltage issues)  Some of the managers are a bit.. Gruff, but I've not had any problems

This one though is mostly in Michigan.  I do have access to like  2 or 3 parks outside of MI as part of this membership (Direct access) but they are all in the north so of no use in january with this Class A.

And of course, belonging to one membership park usually qualifies you for Camp Coast to Coast or RPI (resort Parks International) which allows you to use many other membership parks on a "Fee Basis" of usually less than you'd pay at a private or state or federal park in the area.

Most provide Full hookup,, Water, Sewer, Electric.. Decent showers if you choose to use them.. Some provide Wi=Fi (All Thousand trails but it may be Verizon 2-way Sattlite internet which is ... annoying) and Some Cable, either free or fee based. 

My reconnendation is to pick a zone from TT and try a one year Zone pass.  Get it when they are on sale and you may get two zones for slightly more than the price of one.

 

[Buddy110]

Thanks everyone. I will search and read.

 

[Old Grape]

We have been members of Coat to Coast or C2C. Our home park is in GA and have never been there yet. C2C is a great deal if you use their affiliated parks. The member parks usually restrict the number of C2C campers per day and some really don't even honor the affiliation. I pay an average of $10 a night at places like the Camp Hatteras (NC Outer Banks). Same goes for two separate RV parks down in Myrtle Beach, SC which are high dollar. So it is like any other club, you get your money's worth only if you use it. We are happy with it.

 

[Buddy110]

First, if you decide on 1000 trails please PM me for my membership number so I get credit.

Now.. Thousand Trails has a unique product called a "Zone Pass" this is a limited membership giving you about 1/5th of the parks for one year for about what I pay as dues for a year... 30 Nights free, then a small fee after that,  2 weeks in one out (that last being the same as my "National Membership). They also offer a 3 week in one out national upgrade as I recall. more parks too.

But the Zone pass is a one year renewable.. If you wish not to renew you do have to send a letter. but you are not locked into a lifetime contract


Lifetime contracts: One CG chain I did sign with still, to this day, bothers me for dues... Of course they no longer have any parks I can use.. So I told them Goodby (in writing) and then they told me they needed two letters, So a decade later they are still bugging me for dues (NOTE: way over the 7 year limit)  This is the big danger, if you change your mind, they will hound you forever.

Generally though. I still have two memberships.. So during the summer, most of which I spend in Michigan. I pay less than 100/month for parking. Two weeks in one park, two in another

Now; Back to thousand trails:  Encore is not doing a good job of funding the parks,, Managers are, for the most park, making every dime do at least a quarter's worth of work but still the parks are not the shining places they once were.  However the staff.. Well  I can not say I've met nicer people in very many places.. To me they more than make up for it.. Still  Electrical systems are marginal (for the most part)  Buildings some may be closed and all need work.

The other Membership I have the Buildings all shine.. Floors are mopped daily, Restrooms cleaned several times a day, Pools monitored and staff always there (not necessarily lifeguards but staff)  Sites are clean, Electrical ssytems are up to date (no voltage issues)  Some of the managers are a bit.. Gruff, but I've not had any problems

This one though is mostly in Michigan.  I do have access to like  2 or 3 parks outside of MI as part of this membership (Direct access) but they are all in the north so of no use in january with this Class A.

And of course, belonging to one membership park usually qualifies you for Camp Coast to Coast or RPI (resort Parks International) which allows you to use many other membership parks on a "Fee Basis" of usually less than you'd pay at a private or state or federal park in the area.

Most provide Full hookup,, Water, Sewer, Electric.. Decent showers if you choose to use them.. Some provide Wi=Fi (All Thousand trails but it may be Verizon 2-way Sattlite internet which is ... annoying) and Some Cable, either free or fee based. 

My reconnendation is to pick a zone from TT and try a one year Zone pass.  Get it when they are on sale and you may get two zones for slightly more than the price of one.

We are actually visiting a park where TT has a site. We have looked into the zone pass and it seems like a really good offer. The trouble, as I see it, is they do not guaranty full hook ups when booking. That could be a problem for longer stays. In this case we are close to home, and only staying two nights. In the event we can't get a full hook up, we can sustain with a full FWT.
Thanks again

 

[ArdraF]

We stayed at a couple of Encore parks this summer as we were going from point A to point B and were not impressed by the facility.  The sites were old, not level and difficult to get into for a 40-foot motorhome.  The electric also was problematic and Jerry even commented at the time on the lack of maintenance.  As John said the staff were very nice but we won't seek out Encore parks in the future.  Nice staff can't overcome obsolete and rundown facilities.

ArdraF

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Just for the record, Encore doesn't own or fund Thousand Trails. Both TT and Encore are owned by Equity Life Style Properties (ELS), a huge REIT that specializes in "recreational properties", park model communities, resorts, timeshares, RV parks, etc. ELS is interested only in maximizing their return-on-investment, both from operating income and long term appreciation of the properties. Encore and TT are operating units that have to fund themselves out of their revenue stream, though ELS may provide additional investment capital for major property improvements. Encore and TT share a lot of things now, e.g. a central reservation system (rvonthego.com), billing and payroll systems, that sort of thing. And they cross-refer campers to each other, basically as one system. ELS also owns and operates the Resort Parks International (RPI) RV timeshare system and has TT and Encore participate in that.

The big and popular TT and Encore parks generate a good revenue stream and get most everything they need. TT Hershey, for example, recently upgraded about 100 30A+water sites to 50A FHU, and they fill them every night. Many Encore parks run heavily toward seasonals, often with park models or semi-permanent RVs, that sort of thing. Not always attractive for traveling RVers, but very nice for those who enjoyt a community of friends to belong to..

An ELS exec told me straight out that the membership sales business model of TT is unworkable, basically a Ponzi-scheme that relies on new membership sales to subsidize operating costs for previous members stays. They are actively discouraging new memberships (even though TT still sells them) and shifting to an annual subscription model (the Zone Pass) as well as seasonal rentals, cabins, and even general public access.

 

[ArdraF]

Thanks for a good description of the confusing relationship of these entities, Gary.  It certainly clarifies why the Encore parks we've stayed at seemed so run down.

ArdraF

 

[Bill and Debbie]

Thanks for a good description of the confusing relationship of these entities, Gary.  It certainly clarifies why the Encore parks we've stayed at seemed so run down.

ArdraF

Would be interested in what TT/Encore parks you have been to that you consider "so run down". And also thanks to Gary for explaining how ELS is involved with membership clubs.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I can give as many examples of "well kept" as of "run down". Well, I would say more like "a bit shabby" than "run down". Some of them I haven't been to in quite a while, so maybe they have improved. The Natchez Trace TT used to be kind of shabby, but I've been told upgrades have been done. Horseshoe Lakes TT (near Indianapolis) is old and badly needs campsite upgrades, but the club house and other facilities are fine. Leavenworth (Washington) is similar.

On the plus side, TT Hershey (PA), TT Clermont (Florida), TT Wilmington (OH) and TT Chesapeake (VA) are all quite nice. For Encore, Mt Desert Narrows Too (ME), Lake George Escape (NY), and Southern Palms (FL) are all good choices.

Sometimes you see places that are "not your style" and that can be equated to "no good". I'm talking about open vs treed, water vs landlocked, near civilizations remote,  cable tv or not, that sort of thing. People's expectations differ widely.

I think, though, that we all expect a membership chain of campgrounds to be uniformly good. We have less option to choose another campground (it costs extra $), so we feel cheated if one is not up to par.

 

[ArdraF]

Run down includes potholes not filled in, electricity that is iffy, narrow sites that are difficult to get into because of said potholes, etc.  In other words, deferred maintenance.

ArdraF