When we purchased out TT they gave us a 3N 4D stay at Thousand trails. Upon looking at some blog, we found its like a time share except a really expensive timeshare. The maintance fees are like 500 bucks a year and the actual membership can run in excess of 10000. Is this correct info?
Yes it is. welcome to the world of free camping trips. Just A bit of advice if you aren't interested in these sales pitches DONT fill out any of those enter to when contests at Camping World or RV shows that's how you get on their mailing lists, These type of memberships are great for some folks and bad for others, We belonged to Outdoor World years ago, Not our cup of tea.
Happy Camping!!!
I agree with kirk37r. We bought a membership with a different organization and it was great at first. They kept buying campgrounds and refurbishing them, and it was very pleasant going from one to the next. After a while, however, they stopped buying the parks and invested most of the money in one "showplace" park for prospective buyers to stay at. Then they signed up so many members that all of the campgrounds were packed, and it was hard to get a reservation. The other problem with these memberships is that you hesitate to go anywhere else, because you feel that you're "wasting money" since you can camp "free" (actually, not free, but pre-paid) at your membership park. As he said, it works for some, but I found that it got real old, real quick, and we sold ours.
I bought a resale membership, which included the transfer fee, and yes, the dues run around $500/year. I've been very pleased with my membership, and have enjoyed several of the east coast preserves. By being a member, there are 'specials' available at times that are very cost effective for snowbirders, full timers, etc.
A membership is only cost effective if you use it. Assess your current camping style/frequency, and compare campground nightly rates to determine if membership would be a benefit to you. I would also suggest you consider purchasing a resale membership - Campground Membership Outlet, E-bay, various camping magazines.
My understanding was if you choose to stay a month in a certain CG, you had to leave after 2 weeks and stay out for a week and return if space available to continue your stay. To me that seems like extra work and unfair if your own a membership.
We fell into that trap also. We went for our free stay at a park somewhere near San Diego and it was so bad that we did not even park the rig! Think about it....how many people leave a place that was for free for 2 or 3 days?
2006 32' Keystone Everest
2001 Ford F-250 Super Duty 7.3 Power Stroke Diesel
1971 Camaro in storage Keep A Light On, We're On Our Way
If you don't fulltime then it's probably not worth it.
We paid $7000 for our package, pay $550 a year in fees and stayed at their parks a total of 168 days last year - is it worth it to us, yes. If you only camp 30 days a year then it's not worth it.
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There are several different levels of TT memberships, including Alliance, Gold and Platinum, all with different perks. Our Alliance membership allows us to stay up to 2 weeks at one location before having to leave, but we can go straight to another TT park. Some will let you stay up to 4 nights before you would need to be "out of the system" for 7 nights.
I got our memembership off eBay for $300 plus $1000 transfer fee plus $560 dues for 50 nights camping. The transfer fee will vary the most depending on how the original contract was written. Some "second buyer" may only pay a few hundred bucks if it's an older membership, but most of the newer ones are set at $1000. Dues can also vary the same way. A friend of mine has an old membership and his dues are fixed for life at around $250, but he paid full price (around $8K) for his many years ago.
If you find a good deal, make sure you check with the TT membership office as to what it really contains for benefits. If you go to one of their sales pitches, you can't pick up a resale membership for at least a year after the visit (or that's what they say anyway).
Like any membership, it's only as good as the company that stands behind it and how much you use it. If you camp enough and like going where their parks are, it can be worth it.
I personally dont think in Va it is worth anything. Unless you like going to the same places over and over. And for the money, you could buy a lot of land.
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