Best membership ... Good sam? Passport? KOA

[tangocil]

Couple of weeks away from starting our first big trip and wanting to know if we need some type of membership, and if so which would you suggest. as always really appreciate your help
Priscilla

[Iron Man]

Passport America

[bdaball]

Got all three. Why? I have no idea. Seems each has there advantages. The best answer is , "Depends" on what you need and where and when you go.

[Dixieray53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron Man Passport America

Yep...Lotsa great parks...D

[EDALLSAILS]

Passport America offers discount camping and cost 50 bucks a year. but, read the restrictions. Good Sam's has a list and their campgrounds usually offer 10% discount. Camp Club USA is like Passport America (pick one or the other). then there are "membership Clubs". 1000 trails (part of affinty group) has many different plans and costs. They (affinty) also own Coast to coast. There list of campground offer varying discounts, but if you are a member you pay an annual fee and then can camp for 10-12 bucks a night. And there are more. we don't make many advanced reservations as we just kinda meandor and don't want to have to be at a specific destation unless we are meeting up with others. If you are over 65 get a federal Passport (used to be called GOLDEN AGE) for 10 bucks. Gets you into fed Parks FREE, and discounted camping (good discount). Hope this helps a bit.

[mustang652]

We've got Good Sam and KOA. Up until the past year we have concentrated on GS parks, now we are more prone the go KOA first and if one is not in the area then look for GS. We are finding better quality parks by using KOA, On a couple of occations, we have stayed at dumps that carried the GS emblem. DW even sent emails complaining about the conditions. Want to give the Passport America a try next trip and see if it's a better deal and quality.

[NLOVNIT]

Even if you don't sign up for any, don't forget to ask if there's an AAA discount (if you're an AAA member). Since you're already paying "dues" to AAA, doesn't hurt to ask the CG if they'll give you the discount. I always ask & even if not advertised, sometimes I'll get the discount.

Lori-

[Dixieray53]

Funny thing happened today..Just did the the PA thing. Then Tracy checks out thier Website...Online special is $3 a night cheaper than PA...Gonna see if we get the better price. This is in Sandusky OH...on our way to the Rally....D

[GG1]

Good Sam, Koa, AAA, FMCA only give 10% unless you can work a deal with the owners. Passport America and the other one mentioned above gives 50% off. 10% amounts to a few bucks not that good when you figure what you pay for them, I would go for PA if I was looking an economic way to get to a destination but I have never seen a PA campground that I would want to spend a few weeks in but everyone has different priorities. We had PA for a few years but I could not find any of their campgrounds where we were traveling. We belong to 1000trails and use them frequently the more you use them the cheaper it gets to belong. There are many different 1000trls memberships you can buy an existing membership very reasonable.

[tangocil]

Thanks everyone for the input.

[IRVTrekin2]

Passport America is the best deal but only if one of their campgrounds are where you want to go. Good Sam has the most campgrounds but only has a 10% discount but better than nothing.

[Wayne M]

If you know the area you will be traveling in, check out the PA map to see if there is an abundance of campgrounds in that general area. We have almost all of the programs, and we have used them all when traveling. It is not always easy to find a specific discount program on the road you are traveling, so that is why we have them all, including GS, PA, FMCA, ESCAPEES, KOA, AARP, TEXAS CG, NP SENIOR Pass, TX Parks, Retired Military. So as you can see, I'm club poor. As I stated, I have used every one of them in my 30,000+ miles of travel. My best bang for the buck, excluding Military Fam Camps, is Passport America. KOA's are expensive, but if you travel over holidays, it is one of the easier on-line reservation systems that will show you exactly what is available at a KOA CG. Push the button, and your reservation is confirmed. If you do decide on PA, you will get a return on your investment in 3-4 nights of staying at a PA CG. The others taek a little while longer at their discount rates.

[Cat320]

Passport and GS are okay, KOA's prices are what you would expect to pay in a motel, not a camp ground...it is our last resort.

[rfhtlh]

we are full timers and have PA. we have used several of the campgrounds and there are good ones and ok ones. depending on the cost, if you stay at 2 or3 you have paid your annual fee. park memberships are not good for us at this time as we move around each month doing volunteer work.