I've been reading about campground memberships that you can purchase, anywhere from $1000-$5000 where you can travel the country, stay at grounds in their netowrk for free, or a few dollard a night.
My question is, what's the catch? I've heard they sock it to you with annual maint. fees, but didn't know if it would be a good idea for full timing? Are they a rip off?
If you add up the purchase price, the yearly dues, the nightly fees and the network yearly fees you will not save much if anything. We dropped our membership and Coast to Coast when the yearly dues got to $550 C to C is about $70 and nightly fees are $13 or so. It meant we had to use the network about 3 months a year to break even.
I would suggest to take advantage of their free offer to stay for 3days,and listen to their pitch . then decide weather its worth it for you. I belong to one and use it alot. For me its works. You have to decide that for yourself. good luck...
I've been reading about campground memberships that you can purchase, anywhere from $1000-$5000 where you can travel the country, stay at grounds in their netowrk for free, or a few dollard a night.
My question is, what's the catch? I've heard they sock it to you with annual maint. fees, but didn't know if it would be a good idea for full timing? Are they a rip off?
Any info would be greatly appreciated!
Cindy
It works like Time Shares a money hole you can not fill or get rite of easily.You have no control over the fees and can not just walk away from them as you can if you get to a camp ground and do not like it.I say stay a way from them or go on the specials and don`t buy.
We looked at them. For starters, you can buy existing memberships for pennies on the dollars on Ebay and in the classifieds in Good Sams mag, etc. There are variations on contracts, home parks, etc so read carefully and ask lots of questions. If your not retired or fulltiming I wouldn't even consider it. Also look at the locations carefully. Many parks are somewhat remote of somewhere I didn't really want to go for a vacation. Now if you were fulltiming it or traveling months per year and didn't really care where you were going, fine. They can definitely save money but only if you use them. The suggestion of going and doing the 3 free nights special and listening to the sales pitch is a good suggestion (don't take your checkbook) but my twist on that would be after you listen, walk around the park and talk to people who are staying there and ask them how they like both the park and their membership. We did that and it was very enlightening. Thats where we found out you could buy used memberships really cheap.
We have Thousand Trails Membership and love it ! Cost me less than $2,000 over 24 years ago. I can stay 14 days then move on to another for another 14 days every day of the year for my dues of $380.00 a year. We stay about 150 days a year in a TT Preserve would stay more but we spend the winter in Yuma AZ. So for less than $2.55 a night or if I used every day I could stay for much less.
The preserves are very well run, bath rooms are cleaned several times a day,
Guards at the gate to check you in. Never lock any thing up. Elect and water to all sites, some preserves have full hook ups. We also belong to Resorts of Diction, Home Park located at Duncan Mills Ca , 4 miles from the Ocean. Dues are
$425 a year. We love our Home Park but not so much the rest of Resorts of Dict Parks. To me they do not compare to TTs.
bldrbuck wrote: If you add up the purchase price, the yearly dues, the nightly fees and the network yearly fees you will not save much if anything. We dropped our membership and Coast to Coast when the yearly dues got to $550 C to C is about $70 and nightly fees are $13 or so. It meant we had to use the network about 3 months a year to break even.
I agree. We had one, and basically you are paying IN ADVANCE for all your camping. Nothing is "free". Also, you feel that you should always use their facilities, because you're "throwing away your money" if you go somewhere else, so you keep going to the same places over and over. We sold our after a few years, and we're glad we did.
price it out. original cost, annual fees, etc. do not buy new, buy resale, some resales are limited to 3 so beware, you may be stuck with a lifetime of annual fees. don't go to their free night, sales gimmicks unless you can resist temptation. get passport america, etc. instead.
bumpy
Thanks everyone or your reply, I was needing advice from expert RV'rs and came to the right place.
I would guess the general consensus regarding purchasing a campground membership would be ....don't! Or at least "Beware"
But I would like to explain my situation. I'm still working but will be able to retire in about 5 years. With my current job I am able to take extended periods of time off, and would like to spend Jan and Feb someplace warm. Was thinking about Texas, the Brownsville area, RGV. Other places I'm considering are AZ or Caliornia.
I've heard that these places can get rather crowded and reservations are hard to come by during the peak months,and was wanting something secured (membership wise) I also didn't know i it was a good idea to purchase some sort of membership while I am still working as income will no doubt go down upon retiring. Perhaps I'd be better off to orget the membership idea and make reservations ahead o time and see what happens. I have heard some parks aren't doing as well resulting rom the high price of gas, people aren't traveling like they used to.
I've already purchased a 2005 Jayco Featherlite and will be pulling it with my 3.0 Ford Ranger (hope it has enough power!)
Anyway, me and the dog look orward to traveling in it this year.
When you look at a membership, examine the part that says how long you can stay for free, then move, then come back, etc. If you plan on staying for more than 2 weeks, you will run into difficulty. If you dont mind moving every two weeks and there are member grounds in the immediate area that you wish to stay in, it could work for you.
I liken it to the O.J. trial. If it dont fit, you must acquit! After all, money can be replaced or earned, but good times are hard to find.
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