Community Forums

Mike&Chris · 05-28-2016, 08:52 PM

We have recently heard about 1,000 Trails. It sounds like it may save a lot of money if you are out like us 250 plus nights annually. We are currently Escapees members and of course Good Sam. Does anyone have any personal experience with thousand trails or any other club they feel has a good program that works while saving money on CGs?

brobox · 05-29-2016, 05:10 AM

My neighbor has Thousand Trails and plans his trips around their parks. Just my opinion, the parks he has stayed at are not resorts by any means and too restrictive to where we want to travel. We passed for those reason, but I would like to hear others experiences.

Hayman · 05-29-2016, 06:08 AM

We save on campground fees by using GOOD SAM, FMCA, KOA , PASSPORT AMERICA and MILITARY ( veteran not retiree ) discounts if and when available.

We have on a couple of occasions used TT promotional stays and most recently stayed 2 weeks free at Sunshine Key RV Resort . Every time there has been an issue ie: 30 amp instead of 50 amp , site too small for coach, site ok but not in area requested and the resort/campground blames the call center for not getting the information correct. We have usually payed an upcharge to get a better site and had to do that at Sunshine. Our experience has never been that good that we wanted to pay the initial fee, yearly fee and abide by the time limits to make the system work to be most cost effective as frequently the resorts ( not really true resorts ) are not located in prime areas.

This is our opinion but we have friends that utilize TT and are very happy but also don't really care where they stay as long as it is cost effective.

brobox · 05-29-2016, 06:29 AM

I did forget to mention Passport America. One or two nights park stays and its paid for. We don't plan stops around PPA, but is is amazing how many you ask that take PPA at 1/2 price. As luck would have it, our destination park in No. CA last year was PPA. We stayed two weeks for the price of one. Our favorite park in Myrtle Beach is PPA, which makes it nice for a resort area.

We have also found if there are a few highway RV parks all together, one normally take PPA to beat his competition out for over night stays.

docsdock · 05-29-2016, 07:10 AM

I had Coast to Coast - dropped it as soon as it ran out - what a rip off- The parks we did find (not many) were not the five star advertised and they put us in the worst sight in the places. Now I have Passport America and it has paid for itself in a month. I use good sam for travel planning and passport for park discounts - FMCA I also like to meet and greet

Marcosdad · 05-29-2016, 07:55 AM

What Brobox said. PPA paid for itself our first trip.

We don't plan around it, but it pops up fairly regularly on our routes.

Gary.Jones · 05-29-2016, 08:50 AM

We never joined because our analysis is that there are a lot of parks in some parts of the country and darn few, relatively, in others and you either join for a specific geographical area, or the whole nation for a steep fee. Further, the parks in TT are often not near where we have wanted to be. We have made it a point to tour TT parks when we are near them and we have found them to be fairly old and "C" quality parks. Third.... A number of my friends have been members of TT, and they have soon sold their membership to someone else and use other resources. I think it depends on how many days you find yourself on the road, and how you approach "camping". It is unlikely we will ever join. As Gene says, "JMHO"

Gary

Tonyd51 · 05-29-2016, 09:23 AM

We are TT members. Knowing now what I didn't now then, I would never join. Most parks are old and cannot fit big rigs. Evan though they say they can. You have to call the park and ask if you can fit in. After joining as a member only club, they opened it to the public. They sell seasonal sites which means members are left with what no one else wants. Usually crappy, uneven sites. In Orlando it's not unusual to see pop up campers in pull through sites while members struggle to get into tight undersized sites. While pulling into Sturbridge, I was impressed with the road and the fancy sign. That was all smoke and mirrors. The park was small, with pot holes so deep you could swim in them. Buses/RV with window a/c units held in place with 2x4's. The list goes on and on. There are a few parks that are acceptable but few and far between. On the bright side, there a lot of encore parks that are nicer and you do get a good discount. If you have a smaller rig and don't mind older parks, buy a TT membership on eBay. Most members are trying to sell them for ten cents on the dollar, if that.

Tony
2014 Anthem 44B
2011 Honda CRV

vsheetz · 05-29-2016, 09:32 AM

We are TT member. If they are where you will use them, and if the quality and amenities work for you, and you use them- then it's a good deal. IMHO

Gary.Jones · 05-30-2016, 02:09 PM

Vince

Quite a few "ifs"....

dexters · 05-30-2016, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike&Chris

We have recently heard about 1,000 Trails. It sounds like it may save a lot of money if you are out like us 250 plus nights annually. We are currently Escapees members and of course Good Sam. Does anyone have any personal experience with thousand trails or any other club they feel has a good program that works while saving money on CGs?

This question has come up before.

You will find people who hate TT and those who love them.

From what I've read, the people who hate them usually mention that they are TT is not in every state. The map for TT shows where the parks are. They also compare the TT parks to resorts which is wrong. The TT parks are more like state parks then resorts.

Those who love them are usually full timers who can make the park and location work for them. The cost also works for them.

Look into the buying a plan on the re-sale market - less then 3,000.

jestal · 05-30-2016, 08:08 PM

We also found the Coast-to-coast program to be pretty useless and plan on letting it expire so I certainly would not recommend them.

wmpbauer · 05-30-2016, 10:21 PM

TT members. Some of our travels have benefitted from membership, but when we went west into Oregon, we found that parks don't manage their resources....if you own a membership, you can camp on any available site. So in Bend, OR, they have a very limited number of 50 amp sites, and even fewer 30 amps that could accommodate a big rig.

We saw tent campers on 50 amp sites, class C and B's on 50 amp sites, with a bunch of 30 amp sites that were open but too small. Then we should talk about the Quality of electrical service, the potholes, and don't forget overgrown trees that leave nice scratches because they haven't been trimmed. Finally, in recent years, they have further reduced big rig inventory by putting rental park models on them.

Not a great choice for Entegra Coaches.

Pat Bauer, President
Entegra Coach Owners Association
www.entegraowners.com
2017 Anthem DEQ/Ford Edge

Mr_D · 05-30-2016, 10:41 PM

We did the Coast to Coast sales pitch years ago when I had a TT (before 1988 in fact) . Got done with the pitch and asked about the "free" sleeping bags. They eventually got them and the salesman said "I'll put these in the trunk so they aren't in your way" He was driving a huge Cad so there was lots of room. Got to our site and he tried to drive away with the bags still in his trunk. I knew right then it was nothing we wanted to buy into