Sorry, A KOA I know wants about $42 a night over labor day weekend for 30 amp with water and "feel free to use our dump station on the way out"... I guess I feel thats a little high when I can pull up others and nobody wants more than $32 a night and some as little as $21. JMHO
Brad('67) and Valerie('68) Clements
Alyssa('95)
Samson and Toby
2008 Cherokee Grey Wolf 28BH
(NEW) 2005 Ford F350 SD Crew Cab Dually 6.8L V10
(OLD) 1999 Chevy Silverado 5.3 3.73 1500 Z71 Omaha, Nebraska
Camping Nights in 2008 - 31 Our Camping Adventures
I love to see all the KOA bashers! When we travel now the KOAs always have a space for us, most (at least in the west) have excellent management, very clean restrooms, all the amenities,etc. A couple of bucks more, but worth it IMHO. I admit there are one or two that I know of that are over the top pricewise, and I avoid them, but I avoid several upscale resorts for the same reason.
KOA's are usually more expensive, but they usually have a spot and are usually located close to an exit. I use them only when they are more convenient!
If you limit yourself to just Good Sam or KOA, you will miss a lot of nice campgrounds. There is no complete campground bible that lists each and every campground. And your idea of nice and mine may be completely different. Have fun.
La Rana wrote: Thank you for all your help. I became a Good Sams member last night. Now I have to wait for the member number to sign in on the website.
They seem to be having a lot of problems with new members this summer (not sure if that is normal or not). I signed up with them for the 1st time back in May and other then having my credit card billed I never heard anything from them until I called.
Call the customer service number on the WWW site and they will give you your member number over the phone.
Did you ever think there COULD be a very good reason for there always being openings at KOA's?? Shortly after getting into this rv'ing thing many years ago, we learned quickly that we should avoid them...for the most part. There are some decent ones however, but usually WAY overpriced comparatively speaking.
Larry & Ann w/Lucy the cocker
'00 Mountain Aire 350 Cummins/Spartan
Toad: '05 Jeep Liberty Ltd.
You first decide what is important to you as regards a campground. If WIFI is high on the list then that becomes a primary consideration. If you use the campground showers then those facilities must be checked out. Do you want or need a swimming pool? Groceries or RV supplies? Restaurant? Do you need it to be close to the highway? 30 or 50 amp? Sewer at the site? If you are just stopping overnight and are getting in rather late and leaving early then many of these things may not enter into the mix. I just finished 9,000 miles over 5 months. Most of this was in the height of the season and was done without reservations. The month we spent on Cape Cod we had reservations because of length of stay and location. We also made reservations for holiday weekends, the rest of the time we checked our books on the way or used the internet to find a couple of possible campgrounds in the general area we were going next. This is a very good source of possible places: http://www.rvparkreviews.com/. Before we left we joined KOA, Passport America, and Good Sam. We always had some discount and found over all that it was about 10%. Not huge but we looked at it as getting the 10th day free... somehow that made it seem better Passport is the best discount, you stay for half price and most of the campgrounds we used were more than adequate for our needs.
Both retired. 1 year until son finishes college, then financial freedom! We lost Max, the Schnoodle after 16 wonderful years but now enjoy Nicklaus Von Schnoodle (Nicky), who is a full time job. Our new Allegro Bay 34 XB is wonderful.
MoRambler wrote: Did you ever think there COULD be a very good reason for there always being openings at KOA's?? Shortly after getting into this rv'ing thing many years ago, we learned quickly that we should avoid them...for the most part. There are some decent ones however, but usually WAY overpriced comparatively speaking.
At the cost of beating this thing to death, I agree with this post and am happy with your attitude. After all, fuel, food, my TV, my TT, medication, dog food and a bunch of other things are ALL overpriced IMO, and we don't mind paying a little more from time to time. We don't go out of our way to stay in KOAs as there are many terrific unaffiliated CGs out there, but KOA has proven to be an excellent option more than once. Keep in mind that if you use them often enough, reward points are accumulated and can drop the price significantly. As you suggest there is a reason for KOA vacancies...and everything else.
We belong to Good Sam, KOA and Passport. We prefer to stay in Good Sam parks because they have already met certain standards (for instance, clean restrooms). We do not like to boondock and prefer all the nice amenities. Just our preference. Good Sam's are usually a good price for what you get. KOA's are more expensive. Passport has the best deal although the camps are limited and usually not as nice as Good Sam. Once in a while, a park will be both a Good Sam and a Passport. We like the KOA parks and will stay there if there is not a Good Sam, i.e., Barstow, CA. KOA's were the original RV parks years ago, I think, and are usually close to a highway. It just depends on what you like.
PS: We have been traveling since April and have only had to have reservations over holiday weekends. On most nights, the parks are not even close to being full. We are currently at Mt. Rushmore. The Good Sam park we are in has lots of spaces. And this is August?
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Passport is the best discount, you stay for half price and most of the campgrounds we used were more than adequate for our needs.
