RPI..... Anyone a member?

[DrivePirates]

We were at Camping world the other day and RPI was doing a promotion for a 3 night stay at one of their sites to come and listen to their schpeal...
It does seem pretty inviting. Any one here have experience with them? Free stays at our home network sites, $10.00 stays at the other RPI sites, $18.00 at Thousand trails, and 50% at public sites. Does seem pretty inviting.

 

[datasponge]

Well I hadn't even heard of RPI before (I'm a newbie)... thanks for posting about it.


Adding to my  list:
KOA
Good Sam
Thousand Trails
RPI

 

[DrivePirates]

Well I hadn't even heard of RPI before (I'm a newbie)... thanks for posting about it.


Adding to my  list:
KOA
Good Sam
Thousand Trails
RPI

From what I gather RPI is a bit like Thousand trails. It is a buy in RV resort that caters too the outdoorsy type of RV'er. Their sites are either at the beach, on a lake,stream/river or in the mountians. The resorts have pools and hot tubs/spas on site and can only be reserved 90 days out at max. This allows for better access. You are guaranteed a spot even if they are booked up, if you show up and the resort is full at the full hook up sites they will set you up in a dry camp and run you power and fill your water until a site comes available then they will move you to a full hook up. Here in Oregon we have two home network resorts if you buy into the basic plan and 10 resorts within Oregon and Washington if you join in the preferred plan. It really seems like a GREAT SETUP if you want to travel the country and enjoy being out of town. We bought in at the preferred rate for about 50% and can get others in at our rate if they mention us. And of course we get a perk for the referral.

 

[Wendy]

We got one of those free RPI memberships when we were killing time at a Camping World in Sacramento a couple of years ago. I think we used it twice. There were so many exclusions and exceptions that it just wasn't worth the hassle.


Wendy

 

[DrivePirates]

We got one of those free RPI memberships when we were killing time at a Camping World in Sacramento a couple of years ago. I think we used it twice. There were so many exclusions and exceptions that it just wasn't worth the hassle.


Wendy

A free membership? We were offered a free 3 night stay not a membership. We asked crazy questions about how and when we could use it and all came back with viable answers. Not sure what type of membership you would have gotten for free?

 

[Wendy]

It was a free one-year membership for listening to the guy talk for a half-hour. And we only used it twice because there were so many exclusions (not this week, not that month, only 3 spots in the campground and all are taken).

 

[gwcowgill]

I had an RPI membership which came with my TT membership. We found it was much easier and less expensive to use our Passport America membership. Dropped RPI.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

RPI is a time sharing arrangement for folks who own a site in a participating membership campground. I don't think you can be a member without buying a park membership somewhere (e.g. Thousand Trails), so the spiel is probably a campground membership sales pitch. RPI gives you access to other resorts than the one(s) you own a membership in, so that can be valuable IF you travel to places where they exist.  We had an RPI membership for a couple years but dropped it when a change in the rules put about 25% of the parks off-limits to us. That's a long story and applies only to those who are Thousand Trails (or other ELS resorts) owners, so I won't get into it here.

Coast to Coast is another, similar association of membership parks. A different set of parks, by and large, but nearly identical otherwise.

 

[DrivePirates]

RPI is a time sharing arrangement for folks who own a site in a participating membership campground. I don't think you can be a member without buying a park membership somewhere (e.g. Thousand Trails), so the spiel is probably a campground membership sales pitch. RPI gives you access to other resorts than the one(s) you own a membership in, so that can be valuable IF you travel to places where they exist.  We had an RPI membership for a couple years but dropped it when a change in the rules put about 25% of the parks off-limits to us. That's a long story and applies only to those who are Thousand Trails (or other ELS resorts) owners, so I won't get into it here.

Coast to Coast is another, similar association of membership parks. A different set of parks, by and large, but nearly identical otherwise.

I think/hope things have changed now. It seems to us that there are multiple parks available to us, two of which are right here in Oregon and 8 in Washington. It was also explained to us that we could stay in the Thousand trails for $18 a night and got 50% off of public sites. I'm sure hoping things have changed since you all have had memberships. It sounds that maybe they have (had to) because of the decline in members due to the issues presented here. I will keep you posted.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The only RPI program that I am aware of that is available to the public is called Enjoy America. All the others require membership in a participating resort. What you describe sounds rather like Enjoy America, so that may be it.

You can learn about the various memberships here: http://www.resortparks.com/about.html

RPI is owned and operated by Thousand Trails parent company, ELS.

 

[DrivePirates]

The only RPI program that I am aware of that is available to the public is called Enjoy America. All the others require membership in a participating resort. What you describe sounds rather like Enjoy America, so that may be it.

You can learn about the various memberships here: http://www.resortparks.com/about.html

RPI is owned and operated by Thousand Trails parent company, ELS.

So, after checking our membership app. we have joined the RPI Preferred Gold membership. Our home resort is Neskowin Creek RV resort. I may have to do some real investigating now as to what we have really gotten ourselves into? I HOPE THIS WAS NOT A HUGE MISTAKE!!!!
We'll keep you all posted through the year as to what happens while making reservations and such. This year we will not get much out of our home base resorts but look to expand our travels in the upcoming years.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

OK, so you did indeed have to become an owner to join RPI.  I'm guessing they "gave" you the membership, or at least sold it at a very low price?  I hope you read the contract with the home resort carefully, because it is no-doubt a long term commitment. Sometimes they are very lop-sided in favor of the resort and difficult to get out of if you change your mind in a year or two. 

 

[Wendy]

Our RPI came with a free one-year membership in a park in the Sacramento area that also included a free one-year membership in some other campground group. Got it at Camping World for listening to their schpiel. As I said, we only used it once or twice.

 

[DrivePirates]

OK, so you did indeed have to become an owner to join RPI.  I'm guessing they "gave" you the membership, or at least sold it at a very low price?  I hope you read the contract with the home resort carefully, because it is no-doubt a long term commitment. Sometimes they are very lop-sided in favor of the resort and difficult to get out of if you change your mind in a year or two.

I asked yet again and read the contracts VERY CAREFULLY once more. There are no long term commitments with either RPI or Neskowin creek resort. It may be that they were losing so many RV'ers that they had to do something to get them back. We are hoping to get out more in the next few years other than just here in the PNW. But for now this is looking like it will suit our needs very well. But thank you all for the input in this. We were pretty thorough in our questions at first but it was nice to let the salesman know that we asked around and what was brought to our attention.

J&C

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

If you are only in for one years dues, that is a terrific deal.  I don't see how the finances can work out for the Neskowin park, but that's their problem.

 

[DrivePirates]

NO NO NO Gary. The dues were thrown in. It was the 5k buy in that was a bit steep. But hey, Some of our friends have time shares that have cost them the same but they are stuck in one location. Our location changes with our mood. 

 

[Kirk and Evangeline]

Okay,  so we fast forward a few years.  What is your opinion of RPI Gold membership now?  Is it worth the cost?  Are the parks full hookup and maintained? Have you traveled anywhere other than your immediate vicinity?

 

[HueyPilotVN]

If you look at the OPS profile, they last posted in July 2013, over 4 years ago.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I'm not DrivePirates, but we used RPI for some years and can comment. First of all, the RPI price is inexpensive - just the annual RPI dues. The only expensive part is buying into a membership campground, the pre-requisite for becoming an RPI member.  You have to get your money's worth from that park membership separately, because there is no way to make RPI cost-effective if you buy the park membership solely to use RPI.

Since the parks that participate in RPI are all membership parks, they are mostly well-cared for. Some are downright elegant and most are at least decent.

As with any fixed price annual dues system, the economics depends on your usage. You pay $10/night, so if you stay enough nights you will come out ahead. If not, you lost money on the deal.