Gulf Front Recommendations?

[napria]

I am having a very hard time finding a Florida or Alabama Gulf front RV Park that fits all the following criteria:

Big rig friendly
WiFi at campsite
Accepts American Express (seems to be a big stumbling block)
50 amp service
Sewer
Water

We don't have to be gulf front per se, but near enough to be able to enjoy the beaches each day. Also, I'd like to be able to enjoy a view out the back window of our rig.

This is proving to be nearly impossible! Any recommendations?

[K0LCB]

The Silver Slipper casino in Waveland is across from gulf

[pineranch]

There are a couple places in Navarre Fl, that back up to the intercoastal waterway. Gulf beaches are a mile by road.
The CC problem should be easy to solve. We did the GS card for parks.
Mike

[napria]

The Silver Slipper doesn't have WiFi according to RV Parks Reviews.

I'm not sure what to do about the Amex issue. What is the "GS card"? Good Sam? My husband is adamant that we pay only with American Express. The last place we went to didn't take Amex, but I was able to pay by check. We wanted to try Live Oak Landing in Freeport, FL which met all our requirements, but they wouldn't even take a check! MC, Visa or cash only. I don't have or want a Master Card or Visa.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

We have had to pay with Master Card cause they won't take Discover.

Suggest that if your hubby is unbending in this respect, you carry LOTS o cash.

We try to be as flexible as we can be, carry more than one type of credit card, so we are not limited as to where we can stop and play.

We pick the campground by where we want to be and what we want to do. Unless they are super duper scuzy, we make do. We have had less than 5 campgrounds in over 40 years of camping and rving that we considered so bad that we could not wait to leave and would never go back.

Good luck, stash your cash in your safety box in your unit?? Just another idea.

[steves]

W/o multiple credit cards you're going to continue to have problems not only at Campground but at Fuel stops, Restaurants, etc. No other solution I can think of except what Carol said - carry lots of cash.

[JandC]

We don't even try to use our AE credit card anymore. We carry some cash but what I learned on this forum early on was to use Walmart and other groceries stores as a free ATM. It seems like we are getting groceries or some type of produce twice a week so we just get cash back at the check out depending on how low our reserve is. Our Pilot, Shell, and Visa cards always take care of the diesel fill ups. We try to use cash for smaller stuff and sometimes eating out. I agree with others that you need more than one card plus you may need to notify your credit card company that you will be traveling. We had one that cancelled us once because of suspicious activity, when in fact it was just us traveling across the country. Sorry about sidetracking to much from your original question(s).

[napria]

No, you're not sidetracking at all! Thanks for the tips. I've never thought of getting cash back from my Amex on purchases.

But right now we're just vacation travelers, so we really want the comfiest (for us) campground. My 17 year old is autistic and epileptic and it's best for all of us if he feels comfortable. In fact his comfort is why we got our first RV. Aside from his particular needs due to autism, his seizures decrease when he's in a familiar place with low stress.

I'm thinking of caving and applying for a MC or Visa just for trips. The places we'd like to go to during the times we are able to go require booking in advance... With a credit card!

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Our cash back card of favor is Discover. At most WalMarts, you can get up to $60.00 back when you buy something. But, not in New Mexico?? Ya, really. No, I do not know the real WHY of that, just know that the month we spent in NM a couple of years back, we could NOT get cash back on Discover or anything else for that matter at the Walleyworlds.

OH, and your call on notifying your credit card company of impending travels. Last time we did that CountryGuy spent well over 30 minutes for each card notifying them on the phone, very specifically laying out that we would be gone for close to a year. Discover bounced me every time I went cross a state line. They froze my account so many times I had a red hot file, it was steaming! Then, someone really stole the # and charged well over $2,000.00 at walleyworlds around Austin Texas. NOOOO, we did not have to pay. It was a small inconvenience (been there, done that 3 or 4 times). We had to wait till we stopped for more than 3 nights so they could ship us a new set of cards.

Here is the thing, if that Discover card had been our ONLY credit card, what would we have done when it was closed down, frozen, DOA?? I guess we would have had to sit where we were and wait. IF, we could. Remember, sometimes the hour you vacate your beloved campsite, someone else moves in right away. Sometimes you just cannot extend to stay.

We actually have several extra cards that we do NOT use, just in case we run into this issue again.

Also, note, that sometimes you cannot fill your fuel tank on the limits enforced by both the credit card companies and the gas stations. Yes, you can put the same card in for a second go around, however, that has also been known to flag the credit card company and freeze up the account.

Good luck and enjoy that rig, it is a special floor plan!

[Carl n Susan]

Listen to Carol, she has experience. Once you start traveling you will likely find multiple credit cards to be necessary. We travel for months at a time. We have a primary card (Visa) that we use everyday. But about every 6-9 months that card gets "compromised" and is unusable until they get us a replacement. Sometimes it is due to suspicious activity ($1,500 worth of charges in Dallas while we were charging in Yuma), other times because a company has a break in and they don't know what card numbers were stolen (twice now - once at Basha's (a grocery chain in AZ) and another at Harbor Freight).

Consequently, we carry a second credit card that we can use if the primary is closed. Normally we don't charge anything to that card unless we have to. But we also have monthly bills paid via a credit card. We actually have a third credit card that we *ONLY* use for those payments. We really don't want that card to be compromised and have our monthly payments affected.

Then there is our AMEX card. Yes we have one (our fourth credit card). I used to use it for business expenses when I was working. But so few places take it anymore (other than Costco), it just sits unused.

Notice that I never mentioned a debit card. Why not is another long discussion.

[johnp4191]

I have tried switching to Amex and found too many places do not take it. It is not always an option to take my business elsewhere when the Amex isn't accepted. So, like others have said, I carry several cards, kept in different locations, (wallet, safe..) or cash.

Judi

[ctwebb]

Camping on the Gulf in Destin, Its right on the beach , Not sure about the cc.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

napria,

Here is what happened to us today, a good example of how you can be in a pickle with one credit card in just a matter of moments.

We are in Chattanooga for a week. We are playing tourist. We decided to take the river cruise. Big parking lots, but, you gotta pay, with an unmanned central kiosk.

They do take credit cards, so, CountryGuy punches in the correct info and tries to swipe the Discover. BAM. Says the card is NO good.

GULP. So, I suggest he try to use the MasterCard. Swipes it, initially is says, NO GOOD, then, spits out a receipt for the MasterCard payment.

Bad machine, as the next fellow had the same issue. We used the Discover just minutes later to purchase our river cruise tickets and it ran through that machine just fine.

We had the required cash today, but, yesterday when we went downtown, we did NOT have the required cash and the machines do not make change.

Not one of our most proud moments, as we were unaware, as in unprepared, for the fees required. Yesterday no cash. Today, prepared, and aware, and the machine malfunctioned.

Ya just never know when that second card will be a welcome addition to our wallets.

[napria]

I had been thinking that being vacationers vs. long timers or full timers we could get away with just our Amex. But I am thankful for everything everyone has posted about needing multiple cards. It's been an eye opener! You've all made a great argument for opening at least one other major CC.

So, with the Amex issue out of the way, now I just need recommendations for RV Parks that have WiFi at the campsite. I heavily rely on campgroundreviews.com, but the one flaw is that many parks listed as having WiFi don't actually have it at each campsite. My dear autistic son needs to be able to connect to his favorite kids shows online to be comfortable

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Wifi at the campsite is a HUGE topic.

My 20 cents worth, since I do not seem to be able to do this in 2 cents worth of space or time.

Wifi at campgrounds has improved every year. That said, we still find campgrounds that say they have Wifi (even IF we have to pay extra for it) that Wifi just does not get to every campsite in the campground.

We only use the campground Wifi as a backup plan. A poor, undependable back up plan.

First issue is security. That is another entire book.

Second issue is dependability. It is our opinion, based on long timing and extreme long timing since 2001 (when I stood in a phone booth with a quarter, a phone cord and prayed they had a local dial up for AOL) that the ONLY way to go for the most dependable connectivity is to have our own.

So, we have an air card, or some people use Mifi and some people use satellite.

IF I were you, with your special needs and son, I would NEVER depend on a campground to provide the internet he MUST have.

See if you can find a month to month service *, or maybe use one of your cell photos to tether. Do your research.

I will say that in 9.5 months last year, from Michigan to Washington and a LOT of points in between we only had extreme issues with connectivity at Big Bend National Park, Yosemite National Park, Jackson California and Packwood Washington in the shadow of Mount Rainier.

If you stay in more populated areas you should be fine with cell connection/tethering OR a air card (or something similar).

* A very popular month to month service for RVers has been Millenicom, but, as of May 1st the price is going up $20.00 a month and they will be strictly enforcing the 20 gig a month limitation. Movies and television on the computer can suck up 20 gigs faster than you can possibly imagine.