Camping discount memberships?? - Montana Owners Club

dsprik · 08-15-2005, 06:33 PM

AARP, AAA, etc. What organization memberships are the best to have to get discounts while you are traveling as fulltimers? Campground rates, fuel discounts

, supply purchases (consumables), equipment addons, insurance (all), etc??? I really don't want to sign up for EVERYTHING, but may be cost effective to join more than one?

richfaa · 08-16-2005, 12:09 AM

I belong to AARP because I am a old guy and they offer discounts in many areas.The auto clubs offer about the same services.I have Allstate motor club..You have to check to see if AAA covers RV's in your state.Also belong to Passport America.50% discount off listed campgrounds.They have a lot of campgrounds listed across the country..

ken · 08-16-2005, 02:45 AM

Your going to get a lot of replys. Were not fultimers but we travel extensively. We also was in the same quandry on what to belong to. We settled on Thousand Trails/NACO and Passport America. Thousand trails membership was purchased used thru a dealer in Florida and Passport America is only 35.00. Because our TT membership in national, we can stay for 2-3 weeks at each place. For that we pay an annual dues each year. Between those two, and Outdoor World membership (found only on the east coast), we can stay all winter in Florida and not spend a dime. Passport is good traveling to and from our campgrounds. There are a lot of good state and national parks that have discounts to senior citizens too.
Ken and Velda
Dahlgren Va
2005 3475 Montana
2005 2500HD GMC Crewcab w/Duramax and Edge

dsprik · 08-16-2005, 03:09 AM

I'm 53 and I already belong to AARP, but I haven't checked out any of the camping discounts. 50% off campground rates with Passport?? That seems like an awful good deal, Rich. That's not a regional membership is it?

Ken, what membership specifically allows you to stay in FL all winter for free ~ did I read that right?
Dave

dsprik · 08-16-2005, 03:14 AM

Just reread your post, Ken. I believe you are saying that campgrounds, unlike hotels/motels, let you use more than one discount?

dannyl · 08-16-2005, 08:46 AM

I'm also new with my new Monty. Good Sam and others are advertizing heavily but don't really know how good they are. What is the passport America? We have a Thousand Trails camping area near Lake Texoma so I guess I could check them out. Do you only camp in their facilities? I bought a Texas Passport which allows me into the state parks free with reduced camping fees. What about the Golden Age Passport for national parks?

Parrothead · 08-16-2005, 09:08 AM

We have been life members of Good Sam for many years. In fact joined before we bought our first. Their magazine and Trailer Life were our research materials. (not much internet info back in those days). We have usually been vey pleased with anything connected with Good Sam. We never bought a membership because we didn't want to be tied to only their locations. The Golden Age Passport is a good deal to get into National Parks but there is not always camping facilities and many of them can't handle our big units. If you are planning on going to National Parks in your travels you can use it for the admission fee and always park in a campground nearby. Almost all of them have a campground close.
Happy trails................

dsprik · 08-21-2005, 07:01 PM

I hear campers complain about the price of gas for their tv, but I never hear them complain about the price of campgrounds. This suggests to me that FTers are getting decent deals from someone. There has to be more comments on this topic, even though the ones already replying here were very helpful.

richfaa · 08-22-2005, 01:51 AM

dsprik and others...www.passportamerica.com also goggle for other discount groups..They all have some restrictions..see what is best for you. In addition to passport America we have...Good Sam..KOA campgrounds..we are not full timers and so far these have served us well

adelmoll · 08-22-2005, 03:05 AM

We are fulltimers and belong to the following - Good Sam, KOA, AAA, Passport America, AARP, Golden Age and Escapees. By far our favorites are Escapees and Golden Age for the following reasons:
Good SAm has lots and lots of parks offering the discount but most of them also take AARP or AAA too and their discount is only 10%. KOA is 10% and it must be one of their parks. They are really nice parks with lots of things for kids to do but we do not travel with any youngsters so find we are paying for a lot of extras that we do not use. Passport America is usually off the beaten path and their 50% discount is USUALLY only for the first night and then must be a weekday (Mon-Thurs) and not a holiday. If you are lucky and find one where you want to be it is a good deal. Golden Age is for all National Parks that our Montana will fit in and we are finding more and more as we check them out. We love their setting and the quietness. The cost is usually $5.00 per night. What a deal. You also use it to get into all parks and landmarks free. We have used ours so many times we feel guilty and now put money in the donation boxes to help defray their costs. Lifetime membership is $10.00 if over 62 and covers both of you even if one is under 62. Escapees has several kinds of discounts. Their Rainbow Parks are 50% discount for members and are owned by Escapees. Their Co-Op parks are 50% off but are owned by others and are subject to their rules. These are all great parks but most of them are located in the South and Southwest. Across America there are many good parks that offer the Escapees discount of 15%. I like that.

The biggest thing we have found is that the longer you stay the cheaper it gets. Some say stay 2 nights and get the third one free. Others have weekly rates and the best are the monthly rates.

We have really noticed the increase is daily use this year and I'm sure there will be a lot of discussion soon on the forums as we are finding this a major portion of our expenses along with the ever increasing cost of Diesel.

dsprik · 08-22-2005, 03:20 AM

Thanks, guys! Great info! I am printing this off for my files. I also want to let you know that we have five children with grandchildren piling up. It's great! But I don't really want to go camping with them most of the time ~ if you know what I mean. So quieter campgrounds would be a primary goal of Cheryl & I when we want to get away. Sounds like National Parks? I am 53 and my wife is 49. I have just applied for permanent disability, so the Golden Access Pass is something someone suggested I look into. If you are not 62 can you still get a Golden Age Pass at a higher rate or is that a strict age requirement?

richfaa · 08-22-2005, 04:11 AM

Note that The national Parks MAY be dry camping. , also many state Campgrounds are dry camping.Just about all the campgrounds run by the dept of Interior are Dry camping..If that suits you Ok..not us..did not buy a hi $ camper to dry camp.

sreigle · 08-22-2005, 04:32 AM

We've had pretty good luck with Passport America. We've found the whole gamut of park quality, just like with Good Sam, AARP, and Escapees discount parks. We've had some very, very nice parks that take Passport America. Most do have restrictions but the 50% off makes it worth checking the PA directory, for us. We get our annual membership dues back within the first month of each year. We've had some parks where there were no restrictions at all and others that limit you to one night, three nights, not on holiday weekends, etc. But that's all spelled out in the PA directory for each park. We stayed near Yosemite at a park we liked for two weeks, at 50% off for the entire time.

Escapees is our next choice as we get 15% off the daily rate. Some parks discount for AARP membership. Good Sam is 10% off the daily rate. All of these are off the daily rate only and some restrict you to one night, etc.

We use whichever gets us the best deal. Keep in mind these discount programs are usually discounts off the daily rate. If you are staying for a week, many parks will give you the 7th night free. If staying a month, you get a much better discount, usually around 40%, although the parks vary on this.

We've also seen some real pits with each of the discount programs and non-discount parks. We generally look in the PA and Escapee directories, then check the Trailer Life ratings for those parks.

dsprik · 08-22-2005, 12:20 PM

I agree with you Rich. I may want to try dry camping once in a great while (have done this previously on our 51 acres we have in N. Mich), but that's not the lifestyle we want either with a hi $ camper.

Thanks, Steve, for the info. I'm saving it to my files.

rames14 · 08-22-2005, 01:40 PM

Dsprik -

Although I enjoy both, dry camping with a generator in the mountains of Colorado and other states, away from the crowds, can be awesome. We spent five days in a campground outside of Steamboat Springs and another five nights on our own property in the mountains this year. We enjoyed the solitude and find a mix of dry camping and campgrounds works well. We have found several great areas near natural hot springs that you would miss if not dry camping. The added benefit of some of these areas is the weather. This summer while everyone was sweltering, we enjoyed overnight temps in the upper 30's. Just another side of the coin.

dsprik · 08-22-2005, 02:17 PM

I'm starting to get fired up for dry camping now, rames14! I do love the solitude of the wide open spaces, probably a little more than Cheryl. We'll see.

padredw · 08-22-2005, 02:20 PM

Ron, I'd be interested to know where you stayed near Steamboat Springs? We were through there in July. Spent only one night before moving on to Wyoming and Yellowstone.

dsprik · 08-22-2005, 02:47 PM

Sorry to interrupt, David, but I just remembered something I was going to check on. When I went on the National Parks website and on Reserve America, I could not find any mention of Yellowstone National Park. What am I missing?

richfaa · 08-22-2005, 03:02 PM

We did our share of dry camping.Did tents and back packs, did the Allegheny national forest, The Appalachian trail.But we got older and older and our campers got better and better and dry camping and chopping wood and cooking over a Sterno stove although great fun at the time, got old`. Now we have , heat/air, oven/ microwave, am/fm/stereo/Cd/TV /satellite and other goodies to numerous to mention..AND...we want ..to use them ALL the time. Do we get spolied or what???

rames14 · 08-22-2005, 03:55 PM

PadreDW -

We went up through town on the road to Strawberry Hot Springs. You then take the road to Buffalo Pass. Just before the road gets really nasty, there is a campground with (8) campsites. They were great. The book said that they were good for units to 16' but we got our 3400 into site #2. It took (3) people with radios walking beside the truck to guide me out, but we had five great nights there. We also went to the hot springs a few times. Also did the Fish Creek Falls trail.

Richfaa -

Dry camping only means you're not connected to a park outlet. You are in the boonies. With a good generator, you still get to enjoy all of your goodies and still have the solitude. Our Honda 2000 powers everything but the A/C (below 5,000 feet). We were at 8,000, so we had to rough it - couldn't run the microwave. At 8,000 feet you seldom need the A/C, if ever. Got down to 37 one night. We watched Meet the Foeckers on DVD, then went out and had a nice campfire.

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