Passport America and its ilk

The numbers and using your noodle case for something other than a hat rack:

During the last 3 years in Michigan there has been 4 PPA CG's drop/cancel out of the PPA system but 8 more new CG's have joined. 2 of the cancelled out CG's that I know of were because the owners had sold and retired and the new owners did not continue with PPA. PPA CG's in Michigan is quite stable for many years.

In Florida during the last 2-1/2 years there has been 14 CG's drop out of PPA but 35 new CG's have joined. 3 that I know of dropped out because the CG was sold and the land was going to become part of a new housing or commercial development. Don't know for sure why the other 11 dropped out.

PPA continues to grow year after year and has since it's beginning so many years ago. The newly added CG's have continued to outnumber the dropouts and that means GROWTH!

I totally disagree with westernrvparkowner with his comment and bashing PPA as our family still owns 6 CG's in the S.E. USA which I will not name and they all are and have been PPA for years now and have said it's a money maker for them. PPA revenue contributes very well to the yearly fixed costs of the CG and the CG's bottom line! Why? Blocking out the 3 very high season full occupancy months and offering PPA discounts the other 9 months works very well! Fixed costs of a CG go on even when the CG is closed during the winter months up north or the summer months down south. A CG's property taxes, insurance, utilities, loan payments, etc, so many other costs do not disappear when the CG is closed or during the low occupancy months! Even the costs associated with having had employees during the year has costs associated as any accountant knows so well.

As a successful very long time business owner now retired, I can assure you this is factual and I have yet to hear any accountant or intelligent business owner claim different! Very few geographical locations are remotely exempt from high and low tourist or RV seasonal effects. I can assure you that many including myself will never grace the CG of an owner with the thinking displayed by westernrvparkowner! He will in time feel the negative effects on his bottom line bigtime as more and more CG's near him offer PPA discounts and he doesn't! Shallow thinking!

Simply put, the fixed costs continue all 12 months and getting 50% of the base rate from PPA members alone before options is so much better getting than no money at all from a site!

Using one's head, nearly all CG's offer weekly and/or monthly/seasonal reduced rates of about 25% to even 50%+ for their sites even during the peak months and the same sites will bring in next to nothing on average during the off peak months as many are left vacant. So, what does weekly or monthly or seasonal stay reduced rates VS PPA rates really mean to the CG's bottom line? 6 of one half a dozen of the other except at a 50% base discount PPA rate, there's more money coming in all year around.

Us out West wrote:

GoPackGo wrote:
"I don't know if PA is similar at all to Thousand Trails or how many CGs they have or where."

They are not the same thing. PPA does not 'own' any CGs. CGs can sign up with them to offer discounts to people who are members of PPA. It works just like the Good Sam discount many people get.

You got it!!!

And like most other half off gimmicks they are for new places that are attempting to build a clientele, or average and less then average places that can't draw business from the local RV'ers. Of course there is the off season where you might get a good one at half off.

So the advice you're getting on how great PA is be careful. If they're retired or FT'ing they got nothing but time on their hand to seek out the off season nice ones.

If on the other hand you're spending your hard earn vacation hours and dollars on a two week trip expecting nice campgrounds at half off by cracking open your PA campground book, good luck with that.

GoPackGo wrote:
"I don't know if PA is similar at all to Thousand Trails or how many CGs they have or where."

They are not the same thing. PPA does not 'own' any CGs. CGs can sign up with them to offer discounts to people who are members of PPA. It works just like the Good Sam discount many people get.

You got it!!!

"I don't know if PA is similar at all to Thousand Trails or how many CGs they have or where."

They are not the same thing. PPA does not 'own' any CGs. CGs can sign up with them to offer discounts to people who are members of PPA. It works just like the Good Sam discount many people get.

rich85704 wrote:
In general, do people think they got their money's worth from PA or other clubs?

Well, if you want to know about other "clubs", we're Thousand Trails members. We had a one-year membership last year to try them out. Bought a pre-owned top of the line membership early this year for only $750 of CL in Arizona. You can buy one of their memberships from anyone in the US. Each membership can have different features and benefits so you need to get the sellers membership no. and call head office.

We've now been to most of the T/T CGs in Wa., Or. and Ca. and for us, they've been great. If you buy a brand new membership directly from T/T, expect to pay thousands of $$. Finding a pre-owned one can definitely save big bucks. We've already paid for the cost of our membership 3-4 times over so far this year (excluding annual dues). Like most CGs in the summer, you need to book sufficiently in advance otherwise they can be fully booked.

We're currently in a T/T CG in Pacific City in Oregon for 5 nights. Probably one of the best CGs we've been to and for sure, the best site we've ever had - for the a cost of under $15 a night based on the number of nights we've camped so far this year. That cost will go way down over time too. T/T is a "club" that we really like, but if you want FHU, a concrete pad and manicured grass, forget about them.

We used to have a membership in a CG org. based in Wa. state. Not very well managed and they oversold memberships so was very hard to get in to some CGs in the summer unless you booked as far out as possible. We paid around 4K for their membership and only got a fraction back when we sold it. Finding a used membership in any CG org. is the way to go.

I don't know if PA is similar at all to Thousand Trails or how many CGs they have or where.

I've used PPA for 3 years now (full timer). When I plot out my destinations, I usually check the local PPA places in RVPARKREVIEWS and if they get good reviews, I may very well choose one. If the reviews are bad, then I look elsewhere. I have saved well over my membership cost each year.

And - One of the very nicest places I've found anywhere is a PPA park - Cochise Terrace RV Resort in Benson, AZ.

Right..or even the off season. Like lower elevation AZ in the summer. While it may not be a destination in the summer, there are still people en route through the area and need a spot to spend the night. And there is a ton of extra capacity in RV parks geared toward winter stays. Some are very nice and some offer PA discounts off season.

westernrvparkowner wrote:
I am always skeptical of the savings people claim. Yes, they may be offering 50 percent of their posted rate, but is the posted rate fair compared to the neighboring parks? Half off of $50.00 when another park offers 10 percent off a $35.00 rate means you really are only saving $6.50. If the Passport park is either a lesser park or is further off the beaten path (which seems to be a common issue with Passport America), you are either giving up amenities of trading site fees for fuel expense.

I have seen your opinion of PA before.. just because it is an option that does not appeal to you is no reason to run down parks that do offer it. I have stayed in quite a few very nice parks that have made a business decision to offer Pa to help fill vacant sites during shoulder seasons. If you don't have a need for it, good for you but I don't think bad mouthing your competition is a good business decision either.

Look over the campground list which is online, and see if any of the campgrounds are someplace you go, or are on your routes. Check reviews of the potential campgrounds. If you have a firm base of usable campgrounds (at least enough savings to pay the yearly membership), it doesn't matter much if you hit others on your travels or not. Here in southern CA Pechanga and Riverside County Parks are on the list. I go to those enough to pay for the membership. On the road, I'll check if my route goes by any other PA campgrounds-then check the reviews of them. Some middling rated ones are good enough for an overnight stay. But like others said with driving costs it doesn't pay to drive much out of the way for a bargain campground.

Some of the PA campgrounds are very nice first tier campgrounds. Some aren't. They can't be broad brushed in this regard. I have never had problems getting the discount listed as long as I followed the campground notes (offering dates the discount valid). No grumpy/reluctant personnel due to Passport customer.

I'm not going to diss because a couple people do. PPA may not be for everyone but giving very questionable info is not fair.

First..We have had PPA for years and use when enroute to a monthly destination place (like for the Winter) and/or for Summer extended stays North into OR and WA or to the Mid-West.

Our 'Main Route' when leaving Reno for S.AZ. for example is traveling through CA to S. AZ. a distance of just under 1100 miles. As you will see by the PPA campground maps for CA & AZ there are plenty of choices where to stay on the 'Main Routes'.

PPA CA.

PPA AZ.

PPA OR

PPA WA

As far as this statement is concerned

JJ wrote:
Reason they're PA is because unless they were half off you wouldn't pick them

hardly true and very misleading grouping 'all' PPA CG's into that statement. Ever been to a non-PPA CG that you wouldn't go to again? Sure you have.

PPA works for us and if you are interested in saving some money on campground stays it may be good for you. Do the math on how quickly the PPA Membership will pay for itself for your situation and not someone else's.

Safe travels.