Thousand Trails?

[apatz]

I’ve looked around and haven’t found anything. I could call TT directly and ask but fear they’ll tell me anything over the phone to make a sale.

Is membership really worth it? I looked at their map of campgrounds and it appears the middle of the country is mainly one big blank area. How long can you stay at one place? What’re the pros and cons of membership? Is there an active resale market for memberships?

Thanks for any, and all, feedback on TT.

Al

[coachmanjay]

yes there is an active resale market, both by individuals and "brokers". The length of stay varies by type of membership and there are a lot of them. Best to talk to an individual seller and see what theirs includes, how far ahead can they make reservations, length of stay, are there required timeouts, number of campgrounds included. Lot of sites on West coast, Texas and Florida. Have 2 friends with memberships we all bought from individuals and we all have different conditions. PM with phone number if you would like to discuss.

[CampDaven]

If you don’t mind inferior campsites in deteriorating campgrounds, try it out.

[Jean n Steve]

We've been studying up on TT and others and we've decided that we will look for a used sale at a broker for the maximum discount. We will do this ONLY when we go FT. I just can't see it being worth it if you're weekending or vacationing.

Marc & Julie Bennett shared their research in a series of blogs and YouTube videos. This link should take you there: https://rvlove.com/start-here/campin...ousand-trails/

Steve

[kenautoone]

Apatz : I see you are from Las Vegas ,go over to the TT on Boulder highway .Go into main office and talk to Paula or Matt.They will give you the straight info.They are there Monday thru Friday ,8 to 4:30

[Smitty77]

TT can work well for some. It depends upon the parks that are in the regions you want to explore. As mentioned, some parks were rather 'distressed' from a combination of neglected maintenance, and IMO - overselling of the number of members using the available sites. We have a close family friend that took over her Mother's long term TT membership. Three of the parks they frequent the most, all happen to be in California, have over the last 5 or so years, started to have funds pumped back into maintain them. Heavy infrastructure repairs first, then cosmetic repairs and rebuilding of aged buildings and restrooms and pools, etc. And some have expanded and added more cabin spaces for rent.

The key, is getting one of the old grandfathered plans, that allows the furthest out reservations - in popular TT's, if you do not have one of the older plans with the ability to make reservations out ahead of the pack of the new planned members - well, it's a crap shoot to get a reservation!

Financially, if the parks are in a location that you will use them, it can pencil out to be a good bargain.

One thing I've seen some people do. Is sign up for the sort of 'pay as you go' regional plans, in areas that they want to check out. And get a feel for the parks themselves. Some people don't like TT's because they usually have packs of kids being kids (Having a blast! And that naturally can equate to loud voices and laughter and, etc. behavior!). As I recall, these regional type plans are something you can walk away from(?). But, you can also check out the parks, and see if you want to invest in buying a plan from someone. (Two people we knew, had to do this in the off season's, because they could not make reservations.).

We have not done TT. We've found that we seem to 'fit' in better with Escapee's Parks in the places we travel. We do visit TT as guests of the family friend, usually in the Yosemite and Tahoe areas, when multiple family members and friends all meet together every other year. But, that's just us, and we do boon dock and National/State/BLM/COE parks quite a bit - so we do not go 'park to park'.

Best of luck on your research,
Smitty