Thoughts Experiences with KOA Workamper Program

We have worked two KOA's and have chosen to do our workcamping with Amazon now. Our reasons for switching: 1. We got tired of working during the prime time for visiting places. For example, we were in the Boston area for the famous Boston 4th of July, but we were working a KOA and watched it on TV because we couldn't get off that night since it was a huge holiday for that campground. With Amazon we are working from September to December when many of the main tourist attractions are closed for the season. 2. Amazon pretty much guarantees you a 40 or more hour week so you can count on a reliable income. The KOA's are notorious for cutting hours at the beginning of the season and toward the end when fewer campers are coming in. There were times that although we were supposed to get 30 to 35 hours, we got only 15 to 20. 3. KOA's come in two types, corporate and franchise. We worked at one of each. One we had a manager who micromanaged every minute of our shift, the other expected us to find work to do that needed doing. Neither of these campground stuck to the job description we thought we had hired on for. "Some housekeeping" meant cleaning the toilets at least twice a day every day. "Light maintenance" meant weed eating and mowing much of the time. 4. Amazon provides a free site with full hookup utilities in some places and all but electric in others. KOA's charge you a reduced but still significant rate for your site. At times we were concerned that our hours wouldn't be sufficient to even cover our site much less provide any income over and above that. KOA gave us an opportunity to get into the workcamping world and for that we will be eternally grateful. Now, however, we have found a better situation to meet our needs.