camping memberships for full-timing?

[Montana_2130]

Purchased a resort membership and am now trying to decide how well it fits our needs as full-timers( I know a little backwards). Seems like most memberships have a home resort and some affiliates. Looks like you are only able to spend 2-4 weeks a year at any one of these depending on the season. That may be fine for vacations, but as full-timers we will need to get some sort of discounts year-round for weeks at a time( as I will still be working).
The other best alternative I have seen offer 50% off the going rate for 1-7 days at a time.Any other options out there?

[Northstar]

I too am looking into this type of savings. I am sure someone will come along and give us more info. Happyrving......

[sreigle]

Passport America has some great discounts but rarely is it for more than a few nights. We were in a couple that allowed the discount for as long as you want to stay.

Another thing you might not be aware of is that staying for a month a more and getting a monthly rate usually gives you a very good discount. For example, one park I know of is $20/night, $120/week, $225/month. With the monthly rate you also have to pay electricity (meter at the site) but that's usually going to run from $25 to $75 per month from our experience.

Keep in mind the discount plans, like KOA, Passport America (and I think Escapees, too) are discounts off the daily rate. Rarely do they give the discount off weekly and monthly rates. But the usual discounted monthly rate at most parks is generally a seriously good discount.

You could call a few parks in areas you might be and ask the daily, weekly, and monthly rates, just to get a feel.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

The only club I can add to sreigle post is Good Sam Club.
Good Sam is usually a 10% discount but I have seen 15%. Good Sam can be used at many many campgrounds with few limitations.
And if the campground doesn't take Good Sam, Passport America or any of the other discount clubs ALWAYS, ALWAYS ask about senior citizen, AARP, AAA discounts. It never hurts to ask, you maybe surprised. BUT as Steve said look at the weekly and if possible the monthly rates for the big savings.

[Doug and Lorraine]

You should look into Thousand Trails. I think it's 2 weeks in, 1 week out and you can suppliment it with RPI for $65.00 a year. After annual dues, you pay nothing for your stays. RPI was $8.00 per night. We like it.

[NJ Hillbilly]

We looked at Thousand Trails last year. The $8000 buy in plus the annual dues along with the limited amount of parks in our area pushed us away. I also don't like the fact that the dues are required and You can't easily get out of paying unless You sell Your membership. Your deceased spouse and children are responsible for dues after Your passing. The sales people did not help either. One thing I didn't like about their system is that their sites are not assigned. You are reserved a place but not a site. They tell You to ride around the park, find a site and tell them where You are staying. I don't like to wander around a park in search of a site, especially in the dark. It disturbs everyone else who arrived earlier and may be sleeping to have people driving up and down rows looking for a site.
The salespeople were a little pushy and basically told me that I was an idiot for buying a RV since I don't camp every weekend. I told them that I only get out once a month and they thought that was too little. They also have another couple of groups of CG's that You can use at a discount but would not part with the info so I could make an informed decision.

John

[Doug and Lorraine]

We didn't pay anywhere near $8,000 and we bought in 2 years ago. We like it so far. Go to Hershey alot and also Chestnut Lake at the shore. We think it'll really pay off when we retire. We go camping more then once a month.

[NJ Hillbilly]

I am sure that these plans work better than some than others. I'm glad that You can utilize the program.

John

[Doug and Lorraine]

Yes, I suppose that's why there are all different programs for different peoples' needs. It's gotta work for you.

[rames14]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is RPI?

[Glenn and Lorraine]

RPI, Resort Parks International

Another club like 1,000 Trails and C2C.

I personally know more people that bought in and shortly thereafter sold out, usually at a loss, than I know that are still members.
I have to wonder, if it was such a fantastic deal why is there such a huge change over in memberships?
Why are you able to buy someone's membership for less than half of what they originally paid for it just a few months earlier?

I asked these same type questions of the sales people at all 3 clubs. Not one could give a satisfactory explanation.

[Chuck and Carol]

We belong to Thousand Trails. Have for about 5-6 years now. Very happy with it. We only bought in to the East coast only. Didn't cost us any $8000. We usually arrive very early and park in the overflow parking lot. It has electric. When it is light we look for a site. Have never spent more than 10 minutes from the time we entered until we were parking whatever unit we had at the time. This year we are upgrading. Only part that we don't like is making reservations. It's got a confusing system. But we are happy with it.

Carol

[Doug and Lorraine]

We always make our TT reservations from the TT website. We find it to be VERY easy and never had a problem with it.

[Gypsy]

I bought a nationwide Thousand Trails/NACO/Leisure Time Resorts membership almost 2 years ago for half that price. Look into pre-owned memberships and/or regional coverage as a way of buying in at a lower price, but be sure you know all the terms and amount of dues as there are lots of variations in types of memberships. Some allow 14 nights in, 7 nights out. Others allow you to stay 21 nights and go from park to park, but the dues are $1200 per year. If you stay 12 months that's just $100 per month, but if you stay 2 months it's $600.

As a full-timer I feel I get my money's worth and try to stay in the parks as often as possible. And I feel the $65 additional for RPI is worth it to be able to have a place out of TTN/LTR for 7 nights at $8. Park quality varies, and some are harder to get reservations in during peak times. Las Vegas is very popular and sites are small and hard to back into (I really felt the extra 19" length of the 3670 vs my former 3295). I'll be going to the Palm Springs preserve Dec 15, and it's right next to I-10 so I know it will be noisy. On the other hand, Wilderness Lakes and Soledad Canyon are easy to get into, usually have lots of choices of sites, and are pretty quiet.

The lack of assigned sites bothered me at first, too, but now I like the fact that I can choose my site based on things non-RVers (some people at check-in desks) don't think about, like a clear shot for my satellite dish, space for 3 slides (widest one on curb side), avoid potentially noisy neighbors (count the dogs, number of bicycles), etc.

Reservations can be made online or by automated phone "Star" system. You can also talk to a real person toll-free. Whenever a preserve shows full online I call the preserve directly and they can usually find space.

Another membership I've heard good things about is Western Horizons, but I don't have personal experience.