Community Forums

Kdufour · 03-27-2023, 04:54 AM

Just starting out with camping. Waiting for our 24' TT to come in. Is there an RV membership I should join? I realize it depends on our camping plans but is there one or two that are standouts?

Thanks

mrboyer · 03-27-2023, 06:48 AM

As you said, it depends on where and how often you will travel. I recommend FMCA, because of their FMCAssist repatriation benefit included with dues of $50/year. Also, Passport America offers discounts at many campgrounds across America. Many of the campgrounds are a little off the beaten path and may be older. We have stayed at several each year if we were not in a hurry in our travels. The discounts we received more than paid for the membership fee. Also, a couple times a year with your FMCA membership, Passport will offer a multi year discount.

Bill 3rd · 03-27-2023, 07:00 AM

I recommend FMCA also. They have a Roadside Rescue plan $129.00 a year for towables. Also they have Tech Connect +, 59.99 a month for unlimited AT&T hotspot (initial one time rental fee for the hotspot 39.99). Plus other discounts.

Rhody_Chris · 03-27-2023, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kdufour

Just starting out with camping. Waiting for our 24' TT to come in. Is there an RV membership I should join? I realize it depends on our camping plans but is there one or two that are standouts?

Thanks

Harvest Hosts / Boondockers Welcome is a great option for finding one night stops while traveling longer distances.

**hamm2018** · 03-27-2023, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kdufour

Just starting out with camping. Waiting for our 24' TT to come in. Is there an RV membership I should join? I realize it depends on our camping plans but is there one or two that are standouts?

Thanks

Several different out there.
We are full time and we have different memberships. We have:
Thousand Trails Elite Connection
Passport America Lifetime membership
Coast 2 Coast
KOA
Good Sam for discounts
Harvest Host/BoonDockers Welcome
National Park Pass for Seniors (Wife)
National Park Pass for Disabled Vet (me)
and we can use military bases since I am a disabled vet.

Hoya97 · 03-27-2023, 09:20 AM

Something a lot of folks don't consider - National Park Passes.

If you're a military retiree or disabled vet and/or a senior citizen, you can easily get a Lifetime National Park Pass for free.

In February, we went to the Everglades National Park. Entry fee was $30. When we showed the ranger our Pass, he smiled and waived us through, no charge.

However the Pass only allows you entry into the park. It doesn't waive camping fees, but I think it does provide a discount (we stayed at a private facility in the Park).

Sherpa Vern · 03-27-2023, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhody_Chris

Harvest Hosts / Boondockers Welcome is a great option for finding one night stops while traveling longer distances.

Boondocks Welcome locations are available for 1 - 5 nights. Harvest Host locations are for 1 night.

Isaac-1 · 03-27-2023, 01:40 PM

A lot depends on where and how, and how much you travel, for us we travel about 60-75 nights per year in the motorhome almost never less than 100 miles from home, with a 3000+ mile, 30ish day trip every other year.

For us the ones that make sense are FMCA, with the extra cost FMCA roadside assistance plan (though thankfully we have never needed to use it), one big plus for FMCA is the Assist plan if you have a medical emergency while far from home, this will help cover non-emergency medical transport to your home or suitable longer term care facility, as well as assistance getting your RV home if you are unable to drive it, mainly this comes in the form of transportation for a driver you designate to get to the RV. Note you must be at least 50 miles from home for the roadside assistance plan to kick in, so if you just travel back and forth to your local lake, etc. it may not be helpful for you.

Beyond that we have used Good Sams, though currently our plan has lapsed, it is about $26 per year if you sign up for 3 years, and is honored for 10% off the nightly rate at a large number of commercial and even a few public campgrounds. I might go far as to say good at the majority of commercial campgrounds as we rarely find one that does not accept it excluding KOA which does not. This puts your break even point at about 5-6 nights per year assuming $45-$55 per night standard rate.

Though probably the best deal out there is Passport America, not only do they often have promo rates for their plans, ie buy 3 years and get an extra 18 months free, etc, they also have a lifetime plan option for $300. Standard rate is $44 per year, but with frequent promos there is no reason to pay that much, so call it around $30 if you buy in during a promo at the 3 year + bonus rate. The good thing about PPA is they are a 50% off rate, though each RV park puts their own limitations on the discount, some are off season only, some are weeknights only, some are only good on premium pull through sites, some are only if you have reservations, some are only if you pull in with no reservations, some are valid first night only, some allow up to 2-3 nights at the PPA rate. The benefit here is that it typically pays for itself after only 2 nights. The downside is all of those limitations you have to look up at each participating park, and that there are typically not all that many PPA parks, typically 30-40 per state in most states, but some states have far fewer, Arkansas for example only has I think 5 or 6. Texas by contrast has over 200, California has 54, but Wyoming only has 4

twogypsies · 03-27-2023, 01:52 PM

Welcome to RVing! I just looked at your Profile and see you're in Massachusetts. How you plan to use your RV makes a difference.

Are you going to use it mainly on a few weekends in the summer or possibly a 2-week vacation? Or are you retired and can stay out and touring the country as long as you want?

Try some camping on your own and see how it goes. You don't really need to pay for any kind of membership. I would guess, from people we've met, that very few overall use a membership.

If still working and not much traveling I'd recommend just using public parks for the best value. There are national parks, Corp of Engineer parks, state parks, national forest campgrounds, county and city parks.

When you use RV parks you will, most likely, be getting into higher costs.

Old-Biscuit · 03-27-2023, 01:57 PM

Passport America.....$44/yr 50% off daily Rate restrictions apply
https://passportamerica.com/campgrou...ns/new-england

Kdufour · 03-28-2023, 05:32 AM

I guess I have a lot of research to do!

Another few weeks until we go on our first adventure. Time to do some reading.

boiledowl · 03-28-2023, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoya97

Something a lot of folks don't consider - National Park Passes.

If you're a military retiree or disabled vet and/or a senior citizen, you can easily get a Lifetime National Park Pass for free.

In February, we went to the Everglades National Park. Entry fee was $30. When we showed the ranger our Pass, he smiled and waived us through, no charge.

However the Pass only allows you entry into the park. It doesn't waive camping fees, but I think it does provide a discount (we stayed at a private facility in the Park).

our national park pass for seniors cost $80.00 bucks how did you swing a free one?

Isaac-1 · 03-28-2023, 10:42 AM

I think the $80 charge started 3-4 years ago.

Gary RVRoamer · 03-28-2023, 02:15 PM

I wouldn't recommend any camping membership until you get a year or so under your belt. Then decide what may be useful to you. But roadside assist insurance is probably valuable no matter what you do. Peace of mind, if nothing else.

We used various clubs and memberships over 20 years of RVing, buying in or dropping out as our traveling needs changed.