What is the Passport America plan

gemsworld wrote:
The 1,450 campground owners that accept PA obviously disagree with the opinion expressed by some here that accepting PA is a bad business decision. As an old business associate used to say: "Half a loaf is better than no loaf."

So the other 11,500 or so parks that aren’t PPA are the stupid ones?

SDcampowneroperator wrote:

Michelle.S wrote:
It's better for the CG to get 50% for an empty site than $0.00

Good luck to you with a loss for a business plan

Dynamic pricing is the way of the future. You don't have to like it but it's reality. PPA is basically a crude version of dynamic pricing.

Mid week when demand goes down, Supply & Demand suggests the price needs to go down. If you follows your suggestion and your local competition joins PPA, much of the midweek/off season/etc. traffic will divert to your competition. That's money in their pocket and out of yours.

The incremental cost to rent a site vs leave it empty is negligible, so just about anything you get for it improves profitability.

It's also not uncommon for us to come in say Wednesday night and stay thru Sunday, getting the PPA rate the first 2 nights and pay full rate the last 2 nights. So the PPA park is still getting the prime rates during their busy periods but since we are already there, we aren't going to move next door to your park.

Horsedoc wrote:
One last question guys - These PA parks , do the commonly advertise or list their affiliation with PA or does one have to ask? Our common practice is to check the book for where we might be ending up at the end of the travel day. That might influence a choice at 50% off

The PPA website has a map option (probably have an app too but never checked). Pull up the state and you see pins where the parks are located.

Only thing I don't like is if you are near a state border, you have to pull up each state independently. With modern GIS, there is no reason it doesn't seamlessly, show sites just across the state border.

We usually check the PPA site first and then if nothing looks viable, we switch to Campendium and start looking. Traveling with short stays, we find a viable PPA site probably 50-75% of the time.

PS: They do have a book but we used it to start a campfire. Web is easier and it shows all the current info (ie: if a new park joins, the book won't have it).

Some will show on their website that they are PA, but it seems usually not.
When planning a stop, the first thing I do is look at the PA's map on their app, and if they have a location in the area I'm headed to, I click on it and read "Important Campground Notes". This will tell their restrictions. If I can't use it on that day, I might look at another location.
JK

One last question guys - These PA parks , do the commonly advertise or list their affiliation with PA or does one have to ask? Our common practice is to check the book for where we might be ending up at the end of the travel day. That might influence a choice at 50% off

we have been PA members for years. we have always been able to find nice places to use it. since we retired in 2014, it's been way worth the cost. so much that we have signed up for 5 year stretches.
but if you only can camp on weekends and holidays or the summer, it probably won't work for you.
we are big fans of PA.

I am a lifetime member, and use the CG whenever they are convinent. If you do not like the restrictions, move on.

I first heard about PA when I stayed at a golf course with a campground. One the weekend, a lot of very expensive Class A and large 5th wheels. most left on Sunday night, and during the week, more travel trailers, smaller class A and 5th wheels showed up. at 50% stay costs, they collected a lot of revenue they wouldn't have otherwise collected. It was fascinating to see the switch :) BTW, during the week, the golf course was mostly empty!

Scottiemom wrote:

Horsedoc wrote:
We found a sorta neat, new RV park in the edge of the N Georgia mtns yesterday. Nothing fancy just FHU 50 amp with a bath house. Small place, concrete pads, wide sites - some on a small river and others in the open. They say there regular price is 50 dollars, but with PA it is 25. I am not sure it is worth the 44 fee to join PA for a couple of times there per summer.
Tell me more about PA please

What is the name of this park?

Dale

Currahee RV Park (Remember the series "Band of Brother"? Almost in the shadow of Currahee Mountain where that outfit trained

We just used PA on our trip to Iowa and back to TN. Sometimes if the park is not full, they will allow you to extend your stay at the discounted price. We have done that occasionally. They are often off the main roads (interstates), which suits us fine as we avoid them as well and take red roads usually.