Passport America
Hi: Looking to be doing a lot more traveling next year, and I am considering getting a Passport America card. My intent is to make a decent $ reduction for my average site cost, while still having...
Forum Discussion
horton333 wrote:
I saw "no discounts with on-line reservations" on 2 websites, with one saying "cash only"?? ... I like to stay at least a week at sites, maybe two if I like it. I am guessing this may be a problem too. Should I expect to only use this for short stays, and not expect to do much planning traveling with it?
Yes. PA is generally incompatible with travel that includes making advance reservations and staying for a week or more (or even a few days--limits of one or two nights are not uncommon), especially during the high season.
What you found in your glance at the listings for 10 parks is pretty representative, except you didn't mention that a lot of parks are adding a fee of $3 to $5 for a 50-amp site.
I've discovered some RV parks play a little fast and loose with the concept of "50% off," like using their high season rate as the basis for what 50% constitutes, but offering PA only during the low season, when the regular rate is also lower but not adjusting the PA rate. We also had a terrible experience with a park in Fort Davis, Texas, and always worry whether as a PA holder, we'll be treated as second class citizens.
However, there's a participating RV park in Vancouver, Washington, that offered a great experience: mathematically supportable 50% off, accepted credit cards, unlimited stay, same sites as everybody else, and no whiff of PA discrimination. Unfortunately, PA is good only during the winter, so it wouldn't work for someone on a family summer vacation. But we were waiting out some weather, and kept extending our stay, eventually to two weeks, and the staff was just great.
Also, I've always found that if I don't have a current membership, I can buy a membership at a participating park when I get there, so it hasn't been necessary for me to make the PA plunge before I know for sure I'm going to use it. All the information is available to anyone on the web; you don't need the books they send out. The only reason to buy in advance is to have time to have a permanent card mailed to you, but maybe because we don't use PA that much, it's never been an issue not having one for a few weeks.
