Community Forums

edge68474 · 10-11-2021, 11:05 AM

Hello Friends.
We are planning on a trip south for the warmer weather soon.
I was thinking maybe of getting a membership or two from the various RV Resorts, like, Thousand Trails, KOA etc. Just for drill I looked into TT to see whats what. I see they have regions, 5 of them. With original membership, one region is included. Add another for $65, not bad. Only one resort in AZ, north part.
We live in Western Washington and will head to AZ via Las Vegas to visit a friend then on to AZ.
My question. Who do you recommend and why?? Tell me your experience.
We will Boondock as well
Thank you for your responses, very much appreciated.

PS. Just looking and wondering where my irv2 support logo went.

AudiDudi · 10-11-2021, 11:19 AM

We have Passport America and Good Sam. We paid $114 for a 5 yr membership in PPA 18 months ago - saved $140+ last Sept on our trip from MT to AZ and over $250 this Sept on the way down. I'd say it has paid for itself already and the next 3 1/2 yrs are "free". One needs to be aware of the restrictions with PPA parks. Some are 2 nights max, some are 14 nights max. Some are not available year round (like the Oregon coast parks in the summer).

swduns · 10-11-2021, 12:15 PM

I did a deep dive on memberships the past few months to see what fit our plans
Attached is a spreadsheet I compiled
I don't suggest that it is perfect, but it may be of help to you
We decided on a used TT VIP/elite level membership
We will be fulltime for a few years with no home base and we wanted to minimize the nightly/utilities line in our budget
We figured we would breakeven and get ahead within the first year and be making money on the arrangement in the subsequent years
Then when we're done we can resell it
We will also sign up for the trails collection add-on and RPI
Likely we'll sign up for passport america
Between those we should keep our nightly/utilities cost to a minimum
A Coast to Coast membership was a consideration & might be a good choice for some.
It depends on your circumstances: are you full time or part time, do your plans require that you are close to specific locations, do you care about expenses, etc
For us we believe it will pay off
I hope this helps

twogypsies · 10-11-2021, 01:00 PM

If this is your first time traveling like this and you also plan to boondock, I suggest you wait on getting memberships..... and the parks are not all 'resorts' even though they use the name.

If you want to get something..... start out with Passport America. Since your time seems flexible it may work for you.

For a first time being a 'snowbirder', try out different areas of the states and move around. Then you'll get a feel for what you'll like on a return trip. Don't commit to staying in one place for a long time without experiencing the park or the area.

Also, Arizona's state parks and Maricopa county's regional parks (greater Phoenix area) are awesome! Much better than 'resorts'. Make reservations NOW!

edge68474 · 10-11-2021, 06:06 PM

Thank you for your replies.
We did make a trip 3 years ago for about a month, too short. This time we want to spend 2 to 4 months. Some boon docking to be frugal and at times in a park or resort. We are flexible being retired. We stayed in Why AZ a few nights. Nice and quiet, clean and comfortable, reasonable rates. No pool. We also stayed in Lake Havasu City and Quartzite. Other places on the road and a couple friend visits.
You folks are great and we appreciate all of your responses.

edge68474 · 10-11-2021, 06:23 PM

https://thousandtrails.com/membershi...8aArQMEALw_wcB

What do you think about this. Is it a one time deal? Looks pretty good to me. Just looking.

**hamm2018** · 10-13-2021, 07:27 AM

What you are looking at is the "Zone Pass". As you said it is good for one zone, and you need to purchase the other zones to access that area.

Also it is only good for a period of 14 days then you must be out of the system for 7 days. Also you only can make reservations 60 days out, and some have been having issues getting reservations with the small window.

https://thousandtrails.com/member-upgrade

To access the Encore parks you will need to purchase the Trails Collection which has the same restrictions as the Zone Pass.

Our Thousand Trails membership is the Elite Connection. We have the ability to go park to park (TT to TT parks) and stay for up to 21 days. Unless the park is high usage then it is limited to 14 days. We can also make our reservations 180 days out. Then we also have the Trails Collection that we use to supplement our travels.

BrokeDown · 10-13-2021, 06:42 PM

I just purchased an elite membership on the used market. https://www.campgroundmembershipoutlet.com/

My membership number became available today so I don't have any experience using TT. By this time next year, I should know if it is a good investment or not. That said, I spoke to a friend of a friend that stayed in FL for the winter and didn't pay a dime.

We spend 7 months traveling and on average, spend $1,000 a month for a monthly lot. Sometimes electric is on top of that. If I can stay 3 months in various TT parks, it will have paid for itself in 2 years.

-B

Hurricane-TX · 10-13-2021, 06:58 PM

We've been members of Thousand Trails since the 90s. If we had to do it all again, we would not. The 'preserves' have gone down hill as the focus of the ownership has changed. Most of the facilities in Texas are sub-par. Old run down campgrounds with poor power and just a general lack of maintenance. The company has focused it's attention on a limited number of parks were they can sell both memberships and park model homes. The rest of the parks are terrible. I used to keep a spreadsheet that tracked my membership costs and annual dues. On that spreadsheet the cost per night of camping never got below $60.00. It was disheartening to see other places we could have stayed that were nicer, more convenient and less expensive. I quit keeping track about 15 years ago and now we only stay in one of the Texas preserves. We do try to use them when out of state, but in the heartland, TT is few and far between.

TJFogelberg · 10-13-2021, 07:13 PM

Be sure to check out rvlove.com which blogs about TT (they are FTers). Also
D & D World Travel Under articles Don has an excellent TT page.
We love TT. Started on the zone pass and bought a used Elite membership in the Fall of 2019. We add the Trails Collection. You have to try it for yourself to find out if you like it, start with a Zone pass, add a zone or two, and add the Trails Collection. (This is the best way to try TT on for size). (You will have to be out the system inbetween stays but that is the whole idea, allowing you to try other options).

edge68474 · 10-16-2021, 02:26 PM

Thank you all.

Teamfoxy · 10-24-2021, 09:17 AM

We were given a 1 year TT zone pass with trails collection when we bought our motorhome 3 years ago. The problem with the. Zone pass is the 60 day reservation window and the time you must be out of the system between your stays. It does not work at all for winters in FL because everything is booked up by the higher membership types.
We found the TT parks that we did stay at to be barely acceptable and we checked out of a couple of them early.
If you know that you will be staying in one area each winter, consider buying an RV lot in a nice park. You are guaranteed a spot and if you do want to try another state, you can rent your lot out or trade place with a lot owner in another place. We actually own two lots in our FL park an one in VA as a summer base. Rental fees can more than cover your ownership costs and can go a long way towards your travel expenses when you are not there. Nobody that I know has had any trouble selling their lots when they want out. Best of all, we get to stay at very nice resorts and not some place that packs us in like sardines.