Any groups or memberships worth joining or avoiding?

If you are old enough (62) the VERY BEST deal is the federal geezer pass ( aka America the Beautiful Senior Pass) for a one-time fee of $10, It gets you lifetime free admission into national parks, and 50% discounts on lots of other fees like camping costs, etc.

More info here: http://store.usgs.gov/pass/senior.html

If you are a new RVer it might pay to join a group that has others with the same make RV so you can help each other solve the inevitable problems that crop up from time to time.

Sams club is worth it as is KOA card, depending on your area you RV in.
Stay away from Thousand Trailers time shares.

tenbear wrote:

Good Sam has chapters that members can join. They are social clubs that hold regular campouts, or meetings during the winter. We enjoy our membership in our local chapter.

If social gatherings is what you're looking for, Escapees also has Chapters.

DutchmenSport mentioned the Good Sam Club, but didn't mention one of the best reasons for joining, IMHO.

Good Sam has chapters that members can join. They are social clubs that hold regular campouts, or meetings during the winter. We enjoy our membership in our local chapter.

Thank you again for all the great replies. I didn't know that I was talking about 2 different categories. One of the reasons why I posted in the forums.

I did get a great deal on the RV. The PO could have gotten more money in my opinion. The RV has 7 brand new tires, a rebuilt transmission, and only 52,xxx Mike's on the big block 460 motor.

While I am not looking for the most expensive camping membership, it's more important for me not to waste money on something I don't need or won't use.
Being new to things means that there is a learning curve. I'm just trying to shorten mine.

Thank you again for all the replies. Much to research and think about.

Bill

TT and their ilk are sold on the same model as a time share. Very expensive to get "brand new", sometimes hard to sell when you are done, and, unless you full time fairly expensive yearly dues.

That said for some one who full times they may be a boon.

I'm more about boondocking than about commercial campgrounds, so TT would not be a good "fit" for me.

bukhrn wrote:

myredracer wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Avoid timeshares such as "Thousand Trails".

Curious why you would say that? I wouldn't exactly call them a timeshare.

We recently bought a top of the line T/T membership and are quite happy with it. It is good for all T/T CGs across the US. We used to have membership in another CG org. based in Wa. and the T/T is far better. We bought a pre-owned membership for a huge discount over new and it's paid for itself in just 1/2 a season now. Except for the annual dues, it's free camping from now on. Some T/T CGs may have some negatives like outdated electrical, low water pressure and lack of sewer hookups, but if you are aware of that going in, you can get some pretty low cost camping.

If looking at a CG network membership, look for a pre-owned one and save thousands of $$. There are many levels of memberships with many different features and benefits. Some versions of memberships are no longer available and can be very desirable. You can buy a membership from anyone in the US. We bought our T/T from some in Arizona. Always get a seller's membership number and phone head office to confirm all of the contract details. With T/T, you could buy a zone pass that is good for one year and try it out.

Take a look at RVparkreviews.com to get an idea what users think of specific CGs. Expectations and satisfaction can vary a lot between RV-ers.

I am assuming that pianotuna made that statement because the OP has a $300 modified RV, so I also assume that he isnt looking for the most expensive club, but one that actuallt is cheap to get into, plus saves him some money on the sites. Plus, PA has almost 2000 campgrounds, vs the relatively few that TT has.

You asked about memberships such as .... One you addressed is a campground membership, the other is a parts and repair service organization.

However, Good Sam does have more to offer than just a web site, or stick and brick store with a repair shop and a parts store. Membership to Good Sam also gives you discounts at Good Sam campgrounds and a few other discounts for various services. We have a Good Sam membership and found that the discounts in campground fees have more than paid for the cost of membership. But here again, in order to get the discount, you need to stay at one of the Good Sam affiliated campgrounds. If none are available in your area, you've wasted your money.

This is true of any campground membership organization. Memberships into organizations like Thousand Trails cost a lot! If you are an occasional camper (2 week vacation a year and an occasional week-end), you will never get your money's worth for the cost of membership and re-occurring fees. You are much better off to pay as you go, wherever you go, whenever you go. For someone who is full timing RVing, memberships like these work and work well. For the average 2 week vacationer a year, you're loosing money big time!

KOA is a good one, but here again, KOA's are not everywhere either. Although their membership fees are trivial compared to Thousand Trails, it's still a nice one to have if you travel.

We have Good Sam and KOA. We camp mostly State or county parks. Very seldom do we camp private parks, but when traveling, Good Sam and KOA's are fantastic. This year we did not renew KOA. We've found Good Sam campgrounds have been in locations more convenient for us (more in out-of-the-way locations where KOA's are mostly along interstates).

So, basically, it really depends upon your needs and wants.

We also have an annual pass for Indiana DNR parks (State Parks and Recreational areas). $50 a year, but when you consider each time you enter a State Park it's costing you $7.00 for in-state residence, it's worth it to have the card if you enter the Indiana State parks more than 7 times a year (which we do, when camping or not camping, we enjoy the State Parks.)

Here again, it all depends upon what type of camping you are planning on. Before jumping into something like Thousand Trails, I strongly suggest you try camping (free lance style) for a year and see how it goes before forking over a few thousand dollars for memberships.

You may perfer State Park over Private park, and you may perfer the "time share" type of parks over regular private parks, and you may end end visiting grandma and just park in her driveway too! That's why I suggest you get a year experience with your RV so you will know how you are actually using it. "Theory" is one thing, actual "practice" is quite different. Laid out intentions VERY often get changed. Give it some time before jumping in.

But, you can't go too wrong with Good Sam, KOA, or your state DNR program, as these are usually 1 year memberships and usually pretty cheap. No long term commitments and they don't come back with mandatory payments every year. You don't have to get a membership for next year if you find you're not using it. No problems, you have no contractual agreement, like with Thousand Trail type memberships.

Passport America

Escapees RV Club

These are good for finding reasonable camping.

Many communities have city and county parks.

If you're 62+ get the Federal Senior Pass which will give you free entrance into the national parks, national forests, Corp of Engineers, Nat'l Wildlife Refuges and will also give you 1/2 off on camping.

We used all of the above during our 16 years of full-timing. Those, along with boondocking on national forest and BLM lands in the West.

Good luck!

If you are using a motorhome (and you are), please look into FMCA in great depth. It has a lot to offer for not much money.

The very least of these is the free FHU campground in Cincinnati. We are 5 hours from there and we use it as a first and last stop going north or south.

Then there are the tire programs, the as stated medical recovery program, there used to be a fuel program that I have not looked into again because we have another that works better for us, and get to a rally at some point. Those are not cheap until you look at what you can get and learn in just a few days.

Matt