Asking in general about memberships is like asking which is better ford or chev. You will get opinions, misinformations, and statements of fact based on personal feelings (which actually may or may not be fact at all).
Campground membership is not for everyone and yet is a great deal for others. Some like the idea of having a single place to go and knowing they can always go there. Others like a system of parks to have access to. Still others wouldn't even consider going to the same place twice and want to be able to travel all over and not have their dollars tied to one system.
There are all kinds of valid reasons for joining or not joining. Just because one situation doesn't fit you doesn’t mean it isn't any good. You will hear alot of bad mouthing all memberships due to the fact that something just doesn’t fit the responders personal needs. This doesn’t make it bad for everyone is just makes it bad for the responders needs.
You need to look at how you like to camp (lots of amenities or boondock), the types of parks you like (forest, beach, metropolitan), the area you are most likely to use it in (close to home or travel across the country). How long and how often (per year) do you plan to RV? Then you can decide if a membership will benefit you or not. You are the only one that will know if the dollars are worth it.
Personal experience --- is that we joined Thousand Trails (Western Region) and have approx 15 parks within a 4 hour drive of our home (a couple within about 1 ½ hours). The parks are clean, secure and well kept. The NW area has just about everything we want to do, we can go to different parks, we enjoy their amenities soooo the dollars were worth it to us. If there was only one or two parks available in this same range then I doubt that we would have joined. We don't want to feel obligated to go to the same place, over and over, just because we already spent the dollars to be there.
READ THE CONTRACT! Then read it again and make sure you understand it. Don't read it with the salesperson, take it back to your site and look it over. If they don't want you to do this then I would have to question their motives. A good salesperson will even encourage you to do so and then came back to have your questions answered. Talk with some other members at the park. Some of them will be brutally honest, but don’t forget they are still members and still using the system.
Once you have decided that maybe a membership is for you and you have some specific questions feel free to ask them here. Just be sure that you separate the "don't have one...BUT", from the actual ones that have some first hand experience with what you are asking about.
Good Luck with your search and be sure to do what works for you!
We are all good at something.....
I just happen to be a good bad example.
Lots of interesting things to talk about. This is just the tip of the iceberg to think about. DW is not retired as a police officer and I am still flying as a pilot. I can commute to work from anywhere. Does not mean full time, but I think we will spend 8-12 week out the rest of this year and push 6 months from now on. we will still have a stick house and so on. My wife loves our 08 Discovery..... LOVES it. //// I to enjoy the travel.
We will continue to research this and will use Passport for the time being (I think). Anymore information is always appreciated.
I used to be a Thousand Trails member (lost it due to divorce 25+ years ago) and generally agree with the praises given in previous posts. But, the quality of the individual locations can vary quite a bit. For example: In 1999 I took advantage of the 90 day trial and went to 4 different preserves (I've been to 5 in total). One really appealed to us since the sites were generally back in amoung the trees and well separated (and only about 40 miles from home), one (I think it was a Naco affiliate) was simply a parking lot with the rigs quite close and butt to butt with no fire pits.
Even with that observation, if anyone has membership # 2232 and wants to get rid of it I'll take it off your hands. At least as long as it continues to have the same benefits: nationwide, all current & future preserves, dues frozen at about $250, etc.
TomW2 wrote: I used to be a Thousand Trails member (lost it due to divorce 25+ years ago) and generally agree with the praises given in previous posts. But, the quality of the individual locations can vary quite a bit. For example: In 1999 I took advantage of the 90 day trial and went to 4 different preserves (I've been to 5 in total). One really appealed to us since the sites were generally back in amoung the trees and well separated (and only about 40 miles from home), one (I think it was a Naco affiliate) was simply a parking lot with the rigs quite close and butt to butt with no fire pits.
Even with that observation, if anyone has membership # 2232 and wants to get rid of it I'll take it off your hands. At least as long as it continues to have the same benefits: nationwide, all current & future preserves, dues frozen at about $250, etc.
I agree that not all the preserves are great and I think I know which preserve you are talking about in Long Beach, Washington. It is a NACO preserve and I agree that it is not for me either. But the greater percentage of the Thousand Trails preserves are pretty good and the thing is that you call for reservations and you can go spend some time in the area you want to go to and you don't pay a cent. I figured out that if I paid average $39.00 per day at any camp ground, in one month alone it would cost me around $1209.00 per month. That would be too much for me. When I bought my first coach, I told my wife we got to join something because this is getting expensive. So we joined Thousand Trails and they threw in RPI, Liesure Times and Naco with the deal. I have never regretted it. Best thing I could have ever done to save me money. We went all around the country and stayed either at TT or RPI, Naco or Liesure time which ever was in the area we were traveling. Folks it works if you want to save money and stay out of the parking lots of Wal Mart.
From my experience so far after 1 year of TT membership is that as long as you use it then it makes economic sense.
The preserves as has been said, vary a lot and the older NACO ones are in real need of modernization - some have no sewer, and nearly all of them only have 30amp. That's pretty much all of them up through Nor Cal, Oregon and Washington, with a couple of exceptions.
Having said that, they are all in nice locations, nestled in the trees or alongside a river or beach and have always been very friendly and well managed (to date).
So these types of campgrounds need to appeal to you - if you want concrete, level pads, wifi at your site, 50amps and guaranteed full hookups, all the time then TT is not really for you as you will disappointed. If you can handle roughing it a little, then it works out just fine.
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Fulltimers
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DH,DW,Jake and Indie
We bought a used Coast to Coast membership four years ago. It cost us about $400.00 total for the first year. We pay $59.00 to our home park and $89.00 to C2C every year. We can quit any time and are free and clear. The cost to camp was $8.00 a day, but was raised to $10.00 this year. Some campgrounds are not very good, but others are very very nice. This is an excellent deal for anyone that goes out for two or more months a year. It works out to abut $13.00 a night to camp.
George & Linda
1999 Pinnacle F53 6.8L V10
Banks Transcommand
I have Thousand Trails, Outdoor World and Mid Atlantic memberships, all under the ELS umbrella. Through Thousand Trails we have an affiliate membership in ROD. I also have RPI privileges through a single membership park in New York State. Iam also allowed to use some parks in the Encore system, through our memberships in the ELS system.
With so many parks to use without any further out lay of fees other than the yearly dues, we only return to the best parks of the lot. We have dropped C2C and Passport America. We travel all year and rarely use any other parks outside our memberships.
I do like the security features of the membership parks and know what to expect and who to consult with if I need an answer or have a complaint that needs attention. I will be the first to agree that memberships are not for everyone. We could not be happier, unless the cost of fuel was less.
decan9 wrote: I assumed he was talking about things like Coast to Coast or Thousand trails. You can join them, and PAY DUES for years and then when you want out....they CAN sue you! I'm not sure they do it much but I have heard of it!
ABSOLUTELY FALSE INFORMATION.... Don't believe everything you hear.
Any membership if you want out, you send a registered letter to them, to tell them you will no longer be using it, and you pay NO DUES again. What you claim, would be a violation of the law in most all states.
But, why do that, you can give it away to a relative, and they save thousands or you can ...sell... the membership on eBay, and make a profit....
We bought ours years ago on eBay, and today they are selling for two or three times what we paid... Thousand Trails memberships sell for about $9-12,000 depending on what it includes. You can buy them on eBay for $300-3500 depending on what they include.
ALWAYS get the membership number, before bidding, and check with Member Service, to find out what it includes. As others said, they are worth it, if you USE them. Use a membership two weeks on vacation, and several weekends a year, and you can save more than the yearly membership.
We are full time, and saved more than $14,000 the first year over and above what it cost on eBay and what it cost for campsites the previous year. Since then, we saved more than that each year.
Our yearly dues are $450 (others will vary to $575) as we have frozen dues from day one. That includes Electricity. Western Horizon has about one third the campgrounds Thousand Trails has.
Western Horizon charges extra for things like electricity. At $2-3 a night for 30-50 amps, it cost more just for electric in WHR, than for yearly dues in Thousand Trails.
BUT, check both, for Western Horizon has parks in different areas, Thousand trails has them in a lot of areas. TT members with ROD membership $139 a year, can also stay in Western Horizon parks FREE... and they do not have to pay for electricity. We pay nothing per night in WHR, and many other campground memberships with our ROD membership. If you use ROD for two weeks a year, it pays for the membership, and all other stays are then free.
Thousand Trails parks tend to be larger, at least they are much larger than the 11 Western Horizons we have been in. TT parks run from about 200 acres to 1000 acres. Though many of the sites are the same size, it means a lot more space for activities, more like many state or National Parks, with all the amenities of a top of the line commercial park.
There is a lot to learn about memberships, if you sort out the myths to find the realities from those who are actually MEMBERS in the various associations. Especially those who have been using them full time for a decade or more.
Bob & Nadine 1984 Allegro 23 feet, always at home!
Living Life With a "Golden Age Passport"
and Thousand Trails VIP Membership, Priceless!.
happy Trails, if I were close to our storage facility and paper work, I would send you a copy of the "law suit" filed against us for doing just what you said. "you send a registered letter to them, to tell them you will no longer be using it, and you pay NO DUES again. What you claim, would be a violation of the law in most all states." This was a well known C2C campground in GA, our home park and they sued many people with mixed results. Ours was dismissed with prejudice for improper notification and they have not refiled, so far. So don't make a blanket statement of all contracts, as it is contract language and state law dependant. Our cost for representation has exceeded the original cost and 12 years worth of dues.
Bob & Betsy - USN Ret'd '78 & FL LEO Ret'd '03 FMCA #F203528 '05 HR Endeavor, 40PRQ w/400 Cummins - With -'05 GMC Sierra SLT, CC Z-71, the pusher '07 Arctic Cat 500A & Wilderness Kayak, riding in the pusher - Our Current Location
Texan,
Obviously, you must adhere to the terms of the contract that YOU signed. I assume that YOUR contract required you to pay dues for a specific number of years or perhaps forever. Otherwise, there would have been no grounds for them to sue you. I don't know the specifics of the contract that YOU agreed to. Perhaps reading before signing should be recommended to all who are looking at memberships.
2001 Monaco Knight
2004 Dutchmen Dorado
1999 Jeep Wrangler
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