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09-05-2017, 06:14 AM
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#1
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Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Carolina Campers
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Mortimer, NC (Ghost Town) in Pisgah Nat Forest
Posts: 91
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Camping memberships
I have been looking at several different memberships discount clubs etc. I have found it a little confusing? I would like to get some recommendations for a membership that is best for the southeastern US. I am leaning toward "Passport America" but would like to hear what others have and why it works well for you.
Thanks,
NC Camper
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1994 Fleetwood Coronado 30 foot
2016 Coachmen 17FQ Travel Trailer
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09-05-2017, 06:26 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Winnebago Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 2,760
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We have belonged to Good Sam and Passport America. It really depends how you use your membership. We use PPA for places to stay as overnights, usually on the way to somewhere else. Use of the membership pays for itself after 1 or 2 campground stops.
Good Sam usually offers 10% off, but so does AARP and others. I've never found much use for GS.
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Burns & Diane
2005 Winnebago Aspect 26A/2012 Subaru Impreza toad
Illinois! - Where the politicians make the license plates......
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09-05-2017, 06:36 AM
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#3
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Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Carolina Campers
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Mortimer, NC (Ghost Town) in Pisgah Nat Forest
Posts: 91
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In my research I have found that it really depends on your travel habits such as how long you stay at a campground and what part of the country you travel. We usually just stay a week at a time at one place and never travel on holidays and try to limit our travel on weekends.
NC Camper
__________________
1994 Fleetwood Coronado 30 foot
2016 Coachmen 17FQ Travel Trailer
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09-05-2017, 06:43 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,109
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We have PA and lifetime GS.
Generally look to use PA first but will not go out of the way to use either.
The GS is valuable because of the fuel discount at Pilot/FJ, which we use all the time.
__________________
2021 Newmar Ventana 3717 with 2019 Ford Ranger toad
Full timing since 2016
My life goal is to be as smart as the others on this forum.
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09-05-2017, 06:57 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Central Indiana
Posts: 1,422
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Probably Passport America and Good Sam have more locations than other memberships, but FMCA offers better benefits if you have a motor home. The have various discounts and FMCAssist which is repatriation insurance included in your dues of $50/yr. look on FMCA.com to see all their benefits.
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09-05-2017, 07:14 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 625
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Definitely Passport America; even though it won't save you much $$$, it will save you far more than it costs. I had a year of KOA with my new trailer, but IIRC it only got me 10% at KOA parks; that means you need to do a lot of KOA camping to get any value. Problem is, I also think that a lot of KOA locations are way overpriced. Consider something like Thousand Trails' "Camping Pass", especially if you can get it with an extra 'zone' when they have a BOGO sale. If their locations are good for you, camping averages out to $20/night up to 30 nights, and only $3/night beyond that. Lots of details you need to know, too many to cover here. The TT Camping Pass also gets you discounts at their Encore locations, but personally I don't see that as a big benefit.
Roger
__________________
TV 2010 Ford F-150 Supercab
TT 2016 Jay Feather 23RLSW
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09-05-2017, 07:16 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,580
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I find that the Pilot/FJ fuel discounts worthless since there is always a station nearby that will sell fuel for a much lower price even when considering the discount.
The PPA can be a money saver, check their campground listing and see if you would use any of them.
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09-05-2017, 07:55 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Pinellas Park, FL
Posts: 1,117
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We have Good Sam's, Passport America and bought a "used" Thousand Trails membership. Recently we added to our Thousand Trails membership by adding their "Trails Connection" which gives us access to about 100 additional parks (this we plan to use this winter.)
We are basically full-timing using these 3 with most stays in TT parks if we can since there is not an additional charge to stay there over our membership costs.
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Thom and Diane Boles
2010 Winnebago Vista 32K **2013 Mini Cooper S Roadster **
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09-05-2017, 08:16 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: SoCal
Posts: 15,749
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Passport America for sure. I check their website first when looking for campgrounds.
Good Sam gets 10% at many campgrounds.
AARP, if age eligble, will get 10% some places, as will AAA.
If age eligble be sure and pickup an America the Beautiful pass. Free entry to national parks, 50% off at COE campgrounds, and discounts at many state and other facilities.
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Vince and Susan
2011 Tiffin Phaeton 40QTH (Cummins ISC/Freightliner)
Flat towing a modified 2005 Jeep (Rubicon Wrangler)
Previously a 2002 Fleetwood Pace Arrow 37A and a 1995 Safari Trek 2830.
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09-05-2017, 08:17 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club Thor Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 761
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Purchased a five year Passport America card and traveled six times across the country using it. Learned that it is really important to call ahead of a planned overnight stop as campgrounds join and depart. We found PA to be an excellent purchase!!
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Thor ACE 2013 29.2
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09-05-2017, 08:18 AM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 676
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If you do a search this has been discussed many times before, lots of info. If you are just starting get Passport America and Good Sam only. After a year you can consider a membership in Coast to Coast or Thousand Trails. You really can't be sure if any of the more expensive memberships until you know how & where you may travel. And always buy a resale membership. If you spend $4k on a new membership, you may never break even or save any $$.
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Jan & Thomas
2019 Jayco Octane 32C
2012 Ford F350 Super Duty
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09-05-2017, 10:13 AM
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#12
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 19
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We had the zone pass with Thousand Trails, but am not doing it again due to run down campgrounds and no or very little rule enforcement. We heard many others complaining about the lack of rule enforcement. Am going to try Harvest Hosts for free boondocking.
Don't have new Roadtrek yet, but will report in.
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09-05-2017, 10:29 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 625
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Orson
We had the zone pass with Thousand Trails, but am not doing it again due to run down campgrounds and no or very little rule enforcement. We heard many others complaining about the lack of rule enforcement. Am going to try Harvest Hosts for free boondocking.
Don't have new Roadtrek yet, but will report in.
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Based on our experience with Thousand Trails, I would suggest that there are many good TT locations, and a few bad ones. In the last 3 years we have visited 8 TT campgrounds. Of those there's one I would only recommend to my worst enemy. One was just OK, and the remaining 6 were quite good.
Friends of ours are also TT members and have visited several other locations, and recommend them highly. Overall, our TT experience has been good. For us it's a fabulous value; not everyone will agree, and the value depends a lot on where you want to go.
FWIW, the really bad TT location I mentioned suffers from its location as much as anything. It's right in the middle of one of the biggest tourist areas in the east, but it's also very close to a small city. Unfortunately this results in a class of clientele you don't find in many other campgrounds, people who do not respect rules and have no idea of camping etiquette. On top of that, the park management does a very good job of shooting themselves in the foot with poor maintenance, and have created some local policies that offend experienced campers. This location would have these problems even if it were not Thousand Trails.
Roger
__________________
TV 2010 Ford F-150 Supercab
TT 2016 Jay Feather 23RLSW
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09-05-2017, 11:47 AM
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#14
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Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Carolina Campers
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Mortimer, NC (Ghost Town) in Pisgah Nat Forest
Posts: 91
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This is so helpful! Thank all of you for posting up with good information. We are retired, have the senior pass and been traveling 12 years. We travel 12 months a year. Most of our travels are with federal cgs that honored the pass. We just wanted to try something different and try some private cgs for awhile.
NC Camper
__________________
1994 Fleetwood Coronado 30 foot
2016 Coachmen 17FQ Travel Trailer
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