Camping Passes worth the money or waste of time?

[Ronald Hiemann]

Being a Prevost newbie, I have no idea where we will be travelling. However, having sold our business earlier this year, we intend to become full-timers in January and travel around the country for several months of every year. That, and go sailing... :-)
I just now got junk mail from Thousand Trails. Buy one, get one free. On paper, this offer sounds good (and there are similar offers from others) but, is it really worth spending the money on such passes and or memberships?
Who did and why and how much do you get out of it? All comments will be appreciated!
Cheers,
Ronald

[Jamie Bradford]

Hi Ron,

One thing you may want to think about is the fact that many of the places that offer these "deals" are places that are not going to be able accommodate your bus. It is good to look at the park's webpage pictures and that will help tell you if they can fit you or not.

[merle&louise]

Ronald,

Welcome to POG. I would think that the Thousand Trails pass is a good deal IF you like their RV parks. I have only seen one "discount RV park" in Hershey, PA. We drove to it by mistake, and when we pulled up to the office I realized my error. We had to drive thru the park to turn around and exit the park so we got a good look at it. It looked like every other RV park in the world; nice and clean, pull-thrus, 50 FHU.

I prefer staying in an Outdoor Resorts of American type park, a premium park if you will. I am not trying to be a snob, I just like the flowers, fountains, and manicured lawns in a premium park. So I guess it depends on what kind of park you are looking for. Occasionally, I like to stay in a Lowe's or Walmart parking lot overnight; so I guess it just depends.

I am sure you will save a great deal of money by staying in the Thousand Trails parks, but it's a trade off.


Just my .02

[rahangman]

We joined Coast 2 Coast and have not regretted it. We are in Monument Co, as our "home" park which puts us within about 15 miles of 2 of 3 kids and 7 of 9 grandkids. The cost for a 5 week stay is minimal and we have not regretted it. Not all of their parks are equal but a call ahead and the fact that they are aligned with several other parks does not limit us to just the SW portion of USA or any other. Some areas have no representation, but I think that is possibly true with some other plans

[BoaterAl]

Ronald,
Here is IMHO one of the best campground directories around "BIG RIGS BEST BETS".... www.Big-Rigs-RV.com This directory has been around for some time with excellent information. All listings have been visited by the authors. Geared to Big Rigs 40 Ft and over. They list the sites to ask for by site number for your 45 footer. Included in each copy are deal cards, example; pay for 2 nights get 3 ad free. If you do several of these the book will be free. Recently they began restaurant tips which at least give you a better chance on a good meal.
I prefer the book style they still offer.

[garyde]

Some of these parks are off the beaten path. Meaning, they arent close to anything. Many RV parks won't take some of the discount memberships like 'Coast 2 Coast' or they only take them in the off season. Most Parks accept FMCA membership and Good Sams . A little discount, not much.
KOA offers a membership for all of their parks, which may be reasonable since some charge $28.00 a night and others charge $65.00 a night.
Also, City and County Fair grounds have gotten into the racket in the last few years, and they are very reasonable.
Several members belong to The Elks and they have RV parking in many cities as well.

[Sid Tuls]

I'm with Al I just use Big Rigs Best. I haven't been disappointed yet.

[Ronald Hiemann]

Thanks for recommending Big Rigs. I bought a copy this past Spring, already. Together with the web site, it is very useful.

[phorner]

In addition to the Big Rigs publication, which for us became our "Bible" , we maintained a Passport America membership, which pays for itself with only a couple of stays a year. Only issue we found was that there tended to be quite a turnover of participating campgrounds, so you had to pay attention to the updates.... but the 50% savings on a nights stay was worth the effort.

Then again, we have also found that any convenient, empty strip mall was also a reasonable accommodation for the night....

[Gary Carmichael]

Paul, When you stay a a strip mall or such do you take extra precautions to make sure you are safe in the area. There are so many people looking for a fast buck. A million dollar coach parked at night seems to be a likely target. For that reason I have been hesitant to park in those places, I have found you can park in some rest area's in some states and they have 24hr security. Gary

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Depending on the town and our "feeling" about such we will stay in a Walmart, one night.

Similarily with Cracker Barrel and if the parking suits my criteria.

Lock and load,
JIM
:cool:

[phorner]

Paul, When you stay a a strip mall or such do you take extra precautions to make sure you are safe in the area. There are so many people looking for a fast buck. A million dollar coach parked at night seems to be a likely target. For that reason I have been hesitant to park in those places, I have found you can park in some rest area's in some states and they have 24hr security. Gary

We have also enjoyed the hospitality of many a rest area. On a few occasions, we have opted to travel some of the older US highways, many of which don't have many rest areas, if any at all. Those were the times we selected an overnight spot in strip malls. Unfortunately, some of these appeared to be new.... just never occupied. They all "appeared" to be in a decent part of town... although there are never any guarantees.

We try to be well aware of our surroundings and not take any unnecessary chances. I never feared for our personal safety at any of the places we have stopped for the night. I have only been approached once by a stranger, and he was looking for work instead of a handout... at least that was his claim. We try to park in a well-lighted area, with an easy and direct exit path if needed in a hurry. And, if you leave the parking/clearance lights on, no one knows for sure if you're awake, asleep, or getting ready to depart at any moment.

Also, I made the decision many years ago to obtain my concealed carry permit and take some serious firearms training (I trained at Front Sight in Pahrump, Nevada) and I still get to the range at least a couple of times a month. Using a firearm is, of course, a very last resort and carrying firearms is certainly not for everyone.

I worried more about simple vandalism and/or mischief than anything serious. Luckily, since we bought our first motorhome in 1996 we have had only one instance of trouble.

Someone tried to remove our bicycles from the rack on the back of our Safari.... very late at night....in a driving rainstorm. We heard what we thought was a strange noise in the middle of the night but ignored it. Discovered the attempted theft the next morning which was not successful because I had used a bike cable lock to secure them to both the rack and the hitch.

And this did not happen at a rest area, WalMart or strip mall parking lot..... it was within a KOA just off of I-95.

Ya just never know....

[Gary Carmichael]

Good advice Paul, We both have our cc permits and live on a farm here in V.A. and we plink a lot. Like you this is a last resort, hope I am never put in that situation, but feel we are both as prepared as you can be, On a lighter note, we are leaving for Fla on Monday, Pearl Harbor Day. Hope the snow will hold up till then, safe travels, Gar y

[Pete]

All good comments from POG members. I belonged to Coast To Coast and found it to be a joke unless you have a trailer or fifth wheel rig. The CTC parks are normally "out in the boonies", most do not have 50a, and they are miserable at keeping up the directories. I once looked for 2 hours to find a park (which I did not find) only to find out the next morning that the park was no longer in business and had been demolished a couple of years before.
Would not advise any one to join CTC.
Florida has great roadside parks or rest areas, at least along the interstates with security, and you are welcome there.