Passport America good deal?

[brianlori]

My wife and I will be retiring next summer and hitting the road. We are members of Camping World and they advertise Passport America. For the people who have bought into this campground club, what do you think? What is the average cost of nights stay at these campgrounds? Do they have enough member campgrounds around the country so you dont have to go too far out of your way to get to one as you travel? Quality? Thanks everybody!

[pcurt23]

The way to do it is to join, on the internet, just before you get to a park that accepts Passport. That way you get your savings upfront. Then if you find another Passport park you are ahead. We found that the restrictions of PA did not match our travel plans.

[FLman2]

The amount we saved the first two times using it paid for a years membership. We were lucky to find places we could use it when we took our trip last summer. The parks were nothing fancy, but fine for one night. Will buy again when our membership is due.

[BevRedmond]

Originally Posted by brianlori

My wife and I will be retiring next summer and hitting the road. We are members of Camping World and they advertise Passport America. For the people who have bought into this campground club, what do you think? What is the average cost of nights stay at these campgrounds? Do they have enough member campgrounds around the country so you dont have to go too far out of your way to get to one as you travel? Quality? Thanks everybody!

We've never been able to depend totally on them during our travels because of the routes we take. Not the fault of PA; it simply hasn't worked out that way for us. Having said that, I will say that we've always recovered our annual fee in savings. They usually offer 50% off for members. That doesn't mean you'll never pay more than 50% with them. They sometimes have stipulations, such as "doesn't apply on holidays and weekends" or "only one discounted night per stay", etc.

We've found that most member CGs are nice enough, but nothing extraordinary, and occasionally you'll run into one that's less than desirable. We stayed in one in New England that was quite clean, nice big pull-through sites, but you had to be in the CG and IN YOUR RIG by 10 p.m. They had a park-wide PA system that they used to announce the time when it was getting close. I was surprised they didn't announce "lights out". We thought the whole thing was funny, but not funny enough for us to stay more than one night.

[osok]

I have found Passport America to be a big saver. Have never had a problem finding a member park to stay in, but they are not everywhere we travel each night. Many do not provide the fine amenities that you will find in the newer parks. However some parks are very nice with full amenities. We tend to use them mostly for single overnight stays when I do not need any amenities. I believe you will get a full return on your investment after only 2-3 nights. Some of the parks have restrictions for number of nights available or not available on weekends. But some have zero restrictions such as where I stay in Branson, Mo., and saved $330 for 15 total nights with full amenities. I've saved many hundreds of dollars for very little investment.

[poppopc]

We belong to Good SAMs, Passport America,KOA.
Use them all, as we fulltime, and are homeless.
Pay for them selves. Best one is America the Beautiful!
Best $10.00 we ever spent, national parks pass, also!
Used them all. DW is great at the research.

[RayJr]

Used it two years, 05 when we went cross country it payed for itself the first 2 nights, and then again in 12 another cross country trip. Worked for us and the best thing they don't hold a gun to your head for the $44 if you don't think you'll use it for the year don't send in the fee, no big deal.

[sfrantz]

Ditto on the other comments. We paid for the membership in two nights. To see where the campgrounds are go to Passport America The original 50% Discount Camping Club - Passport America Discount Camping Club and look at the map.

[vsheetz]

Use it a couple three times and it has paid for itself. We use it whenever possible. The web site is good for finding participating CG and their terms. If your stay desires are outside a CG's published conditions, ask them anyway. I have found often they will honor anyway if they have an available space. Half money is better than no money.

[BillL]

We try to use PA's campgrounds when going from one destination to another. We'll use it for 2 of the 3 nights we'll be on the road on our next trip. Some campgrounds are better than others, and some have restrictions on how many nights you can use the PA rates, but so far we've able to make it fit most of our travel plans. It does save us money.

[go4dsnow]

Best investment I made. Paid for it self in two days of camping

[troutslayer]

Ditto what everyone else has said. We paid for one year then they offered a super 3 and/or 5 year deal after the end of our subscription to get us to come back.

[Ray,IN]

We have enjoyed PPA's 1/2 pricing for a few years now. It does pay for itself quickly.You do have to remember each CG/RV park sets its own rules and stipulations for getting the 50% price, not PPA. For instance, nearly all Florida member parks do not offer the discount during the peak winter season.
If you are young enough to deem it profitable, PPA now has a lifetime membership for $399-I think. That could pay for itself the first year if you travel a lot.

[myshaggydog]

We have used for about a year now and just renewed because of an additional 6 months free. Regardless, we have used about 6/7 times and love it. Of course you basically only get the discounts Sunday thru Thursday but that has been fine for us. Instead of Walmart camping overnight we use Passport America and it has worked out great. Even if you use a couple of times you will have more than paid for the yearly membership. Best of luck and Happy RV'ing.