Which Club should we join For Discount RV Camping Prices

[stonemason]

Hi guys,

We are from Belgium, and are preparing our next trip with a rented RV a class.
We will start at Orlando travel over new Orleans to Oklahome to join the route 66
and will end in Laos Angeles, we rented for one month, started at April 3Th.
All suggestions are very welcome, but we have a main question which club
should we join for discount RV camping prices.
From Road Bear we will get 10 % at Koa campings but although we find them
campings very good we will certainly also go for other (cheaper) camping places.
Taking in consideration that we are not residents.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Oscar Mike]

I use Good Sam. http://www.goodsamclub.com/ There are several others, Passport America for one.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

KOA and Good Sam offer only 10% discounts and it is hard to recover the cost of joining in only one month. I would not recommend either in your case.

Passport America is a 50% discount program, so pays back after you use it only a few times. Probably a good choice for you, but be aware that some campgrounds restrict the availability of PA discounts to off-peak times or seasons. For example, some will exclude weekends.

The main drawback to any of these is that the participating campgrounds may not always be near the places you visit. Carefully review the lists of participating campgrounds to see how many are near your planned route.

 

[lumpy75]

It depends on what services you require when you stay. KOAs have all the services but are some of the most expensive in the country even with the discounts. I use Passport with Good Sam for when there is not a Passport park to use. As Gary said it would be hard to get your cash back on the Good Sam in a month. With the restrictions on Passport it will be hard to find a discount every time you stop. If you do not require full service i would suggest to back up Passport parks with the Corp of Engineers parks. They are all over the country. You can g on the web site to see all the parks. You get a nice site with water and electric for $20 to $25. KOA will cost $40 and up with the discount.

 

[Jeff in Ferndale Wa]

Another option may be to look at state parks.
I can't speak about the east,but on the west coast,most state parks in the various states are pretty nice,with reasonable rates.
You can google state parks for the various states you will be traveling through and get an idea of locations and rates.

 

[Trailer traveler]

Passport America may work for you, but travelling in April you will have to research the restrictions to see if it will be worth it. Another membership to check out is the Encore/Thousand Trails Value Card. It gives you access and a discounted rate to their parks for 15 days. You will have to see if the parks are located where you want to go to determine if it would be worth it. In addition to State Parks, there are many city and county parks that are usually very reasonable. Ultimate Public Campground Project and US Campgrounds are good map based websites for finding them.

Hope you have a Great Trip!!

 

[ArdraF]

It might be worth having a copy of the 2014 Good Sam RV Travel Guide & Campground Directory because it lists thousands of campgrounds all over the U.S.  It includes both public and private campgrounds, including KOAs, Passport America, federal, state, municipal.  It's good for travelers who want to go to a specific place and need to find nearby campgrounds, regardless of memberships and discounts.  There is a map for each state that shows campground locations.  Each entry specifies what amenities that campground has, such as paved streets, grass sites, trees, laundry, groceries, pool and the like.  The entries also provide dates of operation if they close for the winter.

ArdraF

 

[stonemason]

Great reply folks, thanks very much, I will certainly take in consideration your remarks.
That book "2014 Good Sam RV Travel Guide & Campground Directory " looks like a
tool to have absolutely.
Also the mentioned websites will give things to do and to prepare our next trip.
We look forward to it.

Thanks again.

GC