RV Club membership
So, i am now pondering this question. What are the benefits of joining one or any RV clubs ? I can call out the obvious ones : - discounts - member meetings - shared information I know als...
Forum Discussion
One benefit that applies to all RVers from Escapees is their advocacy program.
They have staff members who follow national and states legislative and other regulatory bodies for new laws and regulations which might impact RVers. Their lobbying efforts don’t always win. At times they are fighting against some high dollar groups.
To my knowledge they are the only group which tries to look out for the individual RVer interest.
Another point, Good Sam, Escapees, Passport America, KOA, etc - all are privately or publicly owned corporations. Individual Good Sam Chapters and Escapees chapters are run by their members, but the national level is a business.
FMCA is the only ‘member owned’ group that I know of on a national level.
Groups with Chapters for social activity
Good Sam
Escapees
FMCA
Forest River Owners Group
Winnebago Owners
Casita Texas Owners
some other mfr groups
many, many local/ regional groups
Groups with national, state rallies - great social interaction
Escapees
Good Sam
FMCA
Passport America
Several owner groups
I always enjoy the late afternoon happy hour gathering whenever we stay at an Escapees owned RV park or Escapees co-op.
Escapees national HQ - at Rainbows End in Livingston, TX is host to Escapees Care Center, a licensed adult daycare with dedicated RV spots to help injured or older full time RVers recover from injury/ disease or deal with end of life illnesses. A separate charity which addresses an issue many full timers are not prepared to deal with.
We belong to
Good Sam - a Dallas area chapter and the Texas statewide military retirees chapter. We have attended 16 statewide rallies in 9 states in the past 5 years. We have attended 5 regional rallies in Texas. We have been on 33 GS group campouts. 106 nights at rallies, 107 nights at group campouts. We have stayed at 6 RV parks for 19 nights with GS discounts for a savings of $91.92
Escapees - we have attended 1 national rally and stayed at four Escapees parks and 2 co-ops and 2 RV Parks with Escapee discounts. 21 nights and $70 in discounted camping fees.
Passport America - 14 RV parks in 4 years, 34 nights and $ 532 in discounted rates.
We are also Thousands Trails members. We have stayed 362 nights in a bit less than 3 years at TT parks for a total cost including buying a zone pass and later a membership of $5,677.91. That averages out to $15.62 per night and the average decreases nightly since the big expense was paid in Aug 2016. To camp at commercial, PA, US govt, state/county/city parks, military bases or such for those nights would have cost about $9,700 - or about $26.80 per night.
However membership camping like Thousand Trails is not for everyone. A complete different subject. But many TT campgrounds have social events. We have stayed with, toured with many people from all over the country at TT parks.
I should also add that I am retired US Navy. In the past four years we have stayed at 22 military campgrounds for 77 nights and $1,702 - avg $22.10 per night. The base social events are always open to us. And of course retirees always get together, frequently that today’s soldier, sailor, airman or marine has it easy compared to us.
As mentioned above - if you or your spouse is over age 62 - the federal Senior Pass is the most important “discount” available to US citizens. We have stayed 310 nights at 40 federal campgrounds for a cost of $4,295.24 / $13.86 per night. That was a savings of $4,109.00 over the regular camping fee (the slightly less than half price amount includes non discounted “utility fees” at two contractor operated parks - 1 USFS & 1 NPS, and the USFS booking fees. I have not included $90.00 in cancellation/ change fees since Sep 2011.
We make our yearly travel plans based upon where we want to go, and then figure which parks we want to stay at for destination stays. We then plan routes, and look for any low cost campground options available.
They have staff members who follow national and states legislative and other regulatory bodies for new laws and regulations which might impact RVers. Their lobbying efforts don’t always win. At times they are fighting against some high dollar groups.
To my knowledge they are the only group which tries to look out for the individual RVer interest.
Another point, Good Sam, Escapees, Passport America, KOA, etc - all are privately or publicly owned corporations. Individual Good Sam Chapters and Escapees chapters are run by their members, but the national level is a business.
FMCA is the only ‘member owned’ group that I know of on a national level.
Groups with Chapters for social activity
Good Sam
Escapees
FMCA
Forest River Owners Group
Winnebago Owners
Casita Texas Owners
some other mfr groups
many, many local/ regional groups
Groups with national, state rallies - great social interaction
Escapees
Good Sam
FMCA
Passport America
Several owner groups
I always enjoy the late afternoon happy hour gathering whenever we stay at an Escapees owned RV park or Escapees co-op.
Escapees national HQ - at Rainbows End in Livingston, TX is host to Escapees Care Center, a licensed adult daycare with dedicated RV spots to help injured or older full time RVers recover from injury/ disease or deal with end of life illnesses. A separate charity which addresses an issue many full timers are not prepared to deal with.
We belong to
Good Sam - a Dallas area chapter and the Texas statewide military retirees chapter. We have attended 16 statewide rallies in 9 states in the past 5 years. We have attended 5 regional rallies in Texas. We have been on 33 GS group campouts. 106 nights at rallies, 107 nights at group campouts. We have stayed at 6 RV parks for 19 nights with GS discounts for a savings of $91.92
Escapees - we have attended 1 national rally and stayed at four Escapees parks and 2 co-ops and 2 RV Parks with Escapee discounts. 21 nights and $70 in discounted camping fees.
Passport America - 14 RV parks in 4 years, 34 nights and $ 532 in discounted rates.
We are also Thousands Trails members. We have stayed 362 nights in a bit less than 3 years at TT parks for a total cost including buying a zone pass and later a membership of $5,677.91. That averages out to $15.62 per night and the average decreases nightly since the big expense was paid in Aug 2016. To camp at commercial, PA, US govt, state/county/city parks, military bases or such for those nights would have cost about $9,700 - or about $26.80 per night.
However membership camping like Thousand Trails is not for everyone. A complete different subject. But many TT campgrounds have social events. We have stayed with, toured with many people from all over the country at TT parks.
I should also add that I am retired US Navy. In the past four years we have stayed at 22 military campgrounds for 77 nights and $1,702 - avg $22.10 per night. The base social events are always open to us. And of course retirees always get together, frequently that today’s soldier, sailor, airman or marine has it easy compared to us.
As mentioned above - if you or your spouse is over age 62 - the federal Senior Pass is the most important “discount” available to US citizens. We have stayed 310 nights at 40 federal campgrounds for a cost of $4,295.24 / $13.86 per night. That was a savings of $4,109.00 over the regular camping fee (the slightly less than half price amount includes non discounted “utility fees” at two contractor operated parks - 1 USFS & 1 NPS, and the USFS booking fees. I have not included $90.00 in cancellation/ change fees since Sep 2011.
We make our yearly travel plans based upon where we want to go, and then figure which parks we want to stay at for destination stays. We then plan routes, and look for any low cost campground options available.
