Community Forums

maverik/gypsy · 02-08-2008, 05:18 PM

Charles, Many thanks---Your comments have me back at the drawing board. Also, I will do as you suggest and continue to look at PA. This is what I truly appreciate with IVR2---informative and helpful especially on issues related to safety. Maverik

Rachel01 · 02-09-2008, 06:01 AM

Hello Maverik

Don't forget that if you have any questions about Passport-America, please feel free to ask! That's what I'm for! Happy travels!

Rachel

chiefneon · 02-09-2008, 06:57 AM

Howdy!

We purchased a three year PA membership last year when we began fulltiming. It paid for itself in no time. My daughter and her husband began RVing also last year so I called PA and purchased them a membership. To my surprise when I purchased their membership I received a free year added on to ours. Not a bad deal buy someone a year get a year free onto you membership.

"Happy Trails"
chiefneon

Rachel01 · 02-09-2008, 11:00 AM

Hello and welcome Chiefneon!

That's great! I'm happy to hear that you were able to take advantage of that special

That was during the whole year of 2007 to celebrate Passport-America's 15th year anniversary! The referral commission has since gone back to what it was before which is if someone renews under your membership number, you receive $10.00 off your next renewal! Have a great one!

Rachel

read & learn · 05-11-2008, 02:02 AM

Rachel my biggest problem I have been finding is when the CG nickel and dimes me. I plan where I will stop ahead of time and try to call at least a week ahead of time that way I know the real cost of a nights stay. Not the following
$5.00 for 50 amp but I don't need it as I am not heating or cooling the rig.
$3.00 because I have a washer/dryer, but I'm not doing wash
$3/5.00 to dump, but if I pay full price N/C
What you have a goldfish that's $2.00 more you may change the water, just joking, but they do want more money if I have a dog.
This is just crazy what some of the CG do so you still pay full price or more.
So you know, I been a member for awhile and have recommend PA to friends.
I stayed at Cassidy's in La Porte, IN last week and he said his prices went up over last year and would be $4.00 more. All I said was the web pages hadn't been changed, his response was OK I can only charge you last years price. That's what you have to get other CG to do charge what they say on PA web site.

MtManLee · 05-11-2008, 07:36 AM

Question to you owners of pa, how many of you have figured what you pay a year staying at pa and how much you pay driving out of your way to stay at pa sites as compared to staying at other sites.

I payed 2655 a year last year just staying at parks along the highways and byways I was traveling.

Ann n Gene · 05-11-2008, 09:11 AM

Is it just me or is it getting harder to get value with PA? seems more and more parks are putting more and more restrictions and limitations on the PA price. only half off for one day, mandatory 2 night stay, extra charges like mentioned above, not applicable during any holidays, not applicable during whole seasons of the year, all of our PA spaces are taken for tonight, all just a few of the things we have heard in the last couple of years that we did not hear before. Making us wonder if it is worth it to renew. just our experience. Gene

Lindsay Richards · 05-11-2008, 10:21 AM

I think some of the problems mentioned here can happen at any campground. Good Sam and KOA have to take away memberships due to problems. Passport America is always my wife's first choice. We check them and then the other books. Many of the PA's are in Trailer Life and the other books and on the internet. We used them about ½ the time on our recent 3 month trip. We love them because of the savings. Everything that can be good or bad about any campground also applies to them. As far as them being generally cheap places, that's not my experience. We saw some with an $80 rate and $40 for Passport America. The $40 is way out of my league. Being in the lodging business myself for 10 years before retirement, I tried to make it a point to talk to the owner about how we found out about them and why we stayed. Most seem to look at Passport America as a way to fill in the empty slots and reduce overhead. It is money they wouldn't have had if not for Passport America. They think of the $13 they got, not the $13 they didn't get because they figure they wouldn't have gotten the $26 anyway. We would be down the street at the other Passport America or at Wal-Mart. As far as the restrictions for certain dates or season, that is just part of doing business. They would be stupid to do it for the Tulip Festival, the NASCAR race, or whatever. We have to understand these things and think of it from both sides; camper and owner. Now that I have said so many nice things, I do have a complaint and that is the book can be out of date. I can figure it s printed yearly so that I understand, but we has owners tell us it took them several years to get out of the book. May have been BS (can I say that here), but I think each campground should be called before printing. We did see several campground owners that had signs posted in the office that they no longer accepted Passport America. I must admit that I enjoyed whipping out the book and finding another Passport America nearby as he stood there with his campground vacancy rate of 85%. I always compared the lodging business to the produce business. Don't sell it today and the profit is lost forever. If you don't see a refrigerator today for ½ price, you can sell it tomorrow. Not so in the lodging business. Fixed cost like mortgage and help are more than the expenses like water and electric. Better to get ½ than nothing during the slow periods.

LD · 05-11-2008, 12:06 PM

Rachel, I'd like to know the reason(s) for one organization having two websites??? www.passportamerica.com and http://www.passport-america.com/ have entirely different home page interfaces, but they appear to be for the same organization, i.e., Passport America. What's up with this?

Lindsay Richards · 05-11-2008, 01:48 PM

WOW, I sure like the new site better. Much more info and easier to find. I would suggest as lots of people are going to have the old one bookmarked, you switch the old one over to a redirect page that will flip over to the new one.

Digital Boy · 05-11-2008, 04:47 PM

As fulltimers, we look at P.A. CGs as waypoints along our route of travel. Our workcamping destinations are usually not PA parks.

Having said that, we spending 7 months at a PA park in Pigeon Forge, TN.

We have been members since '99 and have always paid for our annual fee in discounts received, early in the year.

With regard to their 2 websites, my guess is that after they built the new improved site, the company decided to keep the old site live.

LD · 05-11-2008, 06:40 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">With regard to their 2 websites, my guess is that after they built the new improved site, the company decided to keep the old site live. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Perhaps you're right, but WHY? It makes no sense not to "migrate" the old site content to the new location and integrate it under one URL. Maybe "Rachel" will answer....

Lindsay Richards · 05-12-2008, 02:59 AM

Doing this must make sense as they have done it. When we had our business, I left the old website up for four years as a redirect site and it was amazing how much business we still got from it. I would suspect that as page views fall off on the old one, they will drop it. They have had the 1/2 price market pretty well secured until Camping World started theirs and then PA moderized theier site and probalby did all sort of other things bhind the sence.

Rachel01 · 05-12-2008, 06:17 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by LD:
Rachel, I'd like to know the reason(s) for one organization having two websites??? www.passportamerica.com and http://www.passport-america.com/ have entirely different home page interfaces, but they appear to be for the same organization, i.e., Passport America. What's up with this? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hello LD

,

Passport America does have 2 different websites. It is not because one is old and the other is new, it is actually because we have 2 different owners. I know it can be confusing and I apologize for that;however, it is more beneficial to go to www.passport-america.com b/c that website it updated every week which makes it more current than the other website. Hope this helps!