Community Forums

johnboy2 · 04-01-2010, 07:41 PM

I would like ideas on fmca or good sam or ? or none ??????
every year this time this question gets into my head and am just not sure. what to do what to do

john

TXiceman · 04-01-2010, 07:48 PM

It is up to you and what kind of RV activities you likr. Some clubs are very organized and have lots of rules...I prefer the more laid back and loosely organized groups like the Texas Boomers.

You can visit a few rallies and see if you feel comfortable with them.'

Ken

AFChap · 04-01-2010, 08:04 PM

Good Sam will generate PILES of junk mail. We left them (as have many others) primarily for that reason ...they say they will stop the junk, but for too many of us it just doesn't happen. There are campgrounds that provide a 10% discount for Good Sam membership, but most of them provide the same discount for pretty much any other club membership too...

We are members of FMCA for the magazine and for the free MedEx coverage(emergency air/ground medical evacuation). They do have good rallies, but we haven't made it to one for a few years now. FMCA has local & special interest chapters you can be active in. Many campgrounds give a 10% discount for FMCA membership.

We are members of Escapees for the magazine and mail service. They provide ID theft protection to mail service members, and also have very good rallies/"Escapades" that we have made a few times. Escapees has local & special interest chapters you can be active in. Many campgrounds give 10% and some give 15% for SKP membership, AND there are SKP RV parks around the country that have very good rates.

We are members of SMART (Special Military Active Retired Travel Club) for the magazine and for national, regional and chapter fellowship. We make more SMART events than we do any other. There are some campgrounds that give discounts for SMART members, but not a whole lot.

We are members of WIT (Winnebago Itasca Travelers) for the magazine and annual rally ...most mfg'ers have their own brand club that normally has some benefit for their owners. WIT has local & special interest chapters you can be active in. We have our ERS through Coach-Net as WIT members. Many other clubs have arrangements with Coach-Net for discount membership also.

Not really a "club" as such, but we are Passport America members for discount campground prices between places of longer stays. Though we don't use them all that much, we more than make back the annual membership cost, so continue to be members.

We re-consider each one when renewal time comes, and choose to renew or not depending on the value we feel we are receiving at the time ...obviously, different people have different experiences and make different decisions...

Barbara S. · 04-01-2010, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnboy2

I would like ideas on fmca or good sam or ? or none ?????? john

I am a member of both Good Sam and FMCA....and about a half a dozen more groups. There are good things about each club. It depends on what you are looking for in a club. I would be glad to share with you what I have experienced. If you want more information send me a PM and I will try to answer your questions.

Gadget Man · 04-01-2010, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AFChap

Good Sam will generate PILES of junk mail.....
We are members of FMCA for the magazine and for the free MedEx coverage(emergency air/ground medical evacuation).

I couldn't agree more on both statements.

FMCA has great rallies. I love gadgets and attend my regional rally every year. The DW & I still work, so we have never attended one in our RV. Our regional Rally is 100 miles away, so we go every year on a Saturday and make a day of it.

I get two RV related magazines; Motorhome and the FMCA Members Magazine. The FMCA rag is usually thicker and lately has had better articles than Motorhome.

FMCA members also get a discount with Coach-Net Roadside Service and some RV insurance carriers.

Craig

Izzyblueye · 04-02-2010, 03:49 AM

I have belonged to the Good Sam club and never was contacted by any chapter to join or did I ever hear from any of them, just lots of junk mail. I joined FMCA and have been invited to join several of their chapters. I have been invited to outings, great magazine and I can first hand tell you they have one really good mail forwarding service. When you call in to ask a question of FMCA you get an answer.

MuckSavage · 04-02-2010, 06:06 AM

FMCA for us! Used to belong to Good Sams when we had pop-ups & travel trailers, then figured we'd get a little more MH specific (and save a few trees by leaving Good Sam & the junk mail!)

paz · 04-02-2010, 06:16 AM

We belong to FMCA for the magazine; Escapees for the fellowship, magazine and access to their campgrounds; Passport America (only 2 or 3 half-price nights pays for the membership); and Good Sam for the campground discounts. I have heard about junk mail from Good Sam, but we never got that much several years ago when we still had a stick house, and now our mail-forwarding service sorts out and destroys all the junk mail for us.

Wayne M · 04-02-2010, 08:50 AM

Don't leave out KOA. I to am a member of FMCA, GS, PA, TACO, and KOA. They all server there purpose, and as others stated have their good and bad points.

I mentioned don't leave out KOA because, even though they are pricey at their campgrounds they have an on-line reservations system that is good. Over the past 4th of July weekend we wanted to travel. We did not have Cell Service so I could not try to find anything for the 4th weekend. I was able to use the CG's WIFI and got a KOA site on our route. I keep it for that purpose. My most used is Passport America. With 50% discount at CG's it is great for overnights, and in some cases, longer.

JoeandMarcia · 04-02-2010, 11:05 AM

After full-timing for 1 year we dropped several "clubs", we became life members for Pass Port America, and Escapees. We will join FMCA and all the veterans clubs we can one day.

GoneFishin · 04-02-2010, 12:22 PM

FMCA for mail forwarding service, good rallies, discounts & many other member benefits (parents were members way-back-when); Thousand Trails for 30+ years because it fits our needs & we've paid for it for so long; Passport America to fill in the gaps; Good Sam because it was practically given to us and the junk mail gets filtered out.

Most of the time these memberships or renewals offer an incentive like sign up for a year & get 3 extra months added on. Sometimes you have to ask for offers & incentives. Memberships are usually only worth it if they meet your needs.

RickO · 04-04-2010, 07:52 AM

We full time now and are members of Escapees, Good Sam, Passport America, and Campclub USA.

bigd42 · 05-13-2010, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barbara S.

I am a member of both Good Sam and FMCA....and about a half a dozen more groups. There are good things about each club. It depends on what you are looking for in a club. I would be glad to share with you what I have experienced. If you want more information send me a PM and I will try to answer your questions.

Would like info. on your personal experiences on clubs. We are new at RVing. Joined Good Sam club but there catalog is really to hard to follow on campgrounds. And it seem they only promote high dollars sites. Ran into something that confuses us about rv parks. There are a lot of trailer camps that says resort but the only thing we find is a way to try and get really inflated prices. One was 89.00 dollar per night for a dreve way smaller than my at home. And they put you so close together you hear your camper next door and they hear us. I know this is not where to get these answer but maybe we are looking at the wrong site and way. Any help would be appreciated. Doyle

for a slab of concrete

RickO · 05-13-2010, 07:48 AM

bigd42... if your question is "what qualifies a park to be a "resort""... it's a good question. That word is thrown around with no real rhyme or reason. I think of it as a place which is really a destination in and of itself with pools, clubhouse, maybe even a golf course.

Man, $89 is a lot. I've paid rates close to that but only at Outdoor Resorts in Indio, French Quarter in New Orleans, and Newport Beach in Calif. Location was the key in Newport and NOLA but in Indio is was a remarkable resort.

In popular locations you'll most likely find you are jammed into close quarters in most parks. We've never seen it this bad but have heard about places so narrow that there's no room to put all your slides out.