Forum Discussion

theclarkster's avatar
theclarkster
Explorer
Aug 22, 2014

Annual resort park pass. Is it worth it?

Hi

We are new to Rv'ing. Started with tent camping and now we're searching for a truck + truck camper combo. We have a very active 2 year old who loves to explore new places so we're very excited to bring him along on our new adventure. Our jobs are flexible and we can work while travelling as long as there are Wifi available. We plan to travel quite extensively, maybe a few weeks at a time. Especially in the winter we may just stay in the southern states or wherever it's sunny/warm.

While boondocking may be something we'd love to try out once in awhile, we're thinking we may stay in RV resort parks for the most part. With a 2 year old it's nice to have hookups and the free Wifi offered at most places is nice for when we're working.

We came across this RV resort park pass called 'zone camping pass' with Thousand Trails. Basically you pay an annual fee of $545 (for one zone) and pretty much stay for free all year round (with some restrictions like after 14 consecutive days you need a 7 day rest period before you stay there again. also after the first 30 stays it's $3/day.).

It seems like a pretty good deal to me especially in the winter if we decide to stay down in the southwest area, $545 isn't too bad at all considering most rv resorts are now charging $30-50/day. The thing is there are only 18 resorts in the southwest zone, which is kind of restrictive, and also we have not been to any of them.

Has anyone been to any of the Thousand Trails campground and/or owned a park pass like this and can provide some input?

Thanks!
  • FrankShore's avatar
    FrankShore
    Explorer
    Aug 22, 2014
    You will get all sorts of opinions on Thousand Trails. I won't give you an opinion on them.

    What I will say is that only you know your camping habits and long range plans, and if Thousand Trails fits well, into the picture. Go for it!
  • agesilaus's avatar
    agesilaus
    Explorer III
    Aug 22, 2014
    I don't think they are worth it unless you plan to:

    1) stay in the region
    2) camp only at their parks

    If you want to wander the country and stay when and where you feel like stopping for the night. Then you'll find 90% of the time there isn't a 1000 trail park near there.

    I rarely even find a Passport America park in the right place and they are only $30/year and have hundreds of parks across the country. Good Sam parks are quite common and you'll find many of them. I think the majority of parks we stayed at during our 6 week trip to TX, NM, CO and UT were GS.

    The other question is: at $30 night (in the summer we found most parks around $30 or less, these were parks not resorts) are you going to camp more than 18 times in the next year at one of their parks. That's what it would take to break even.

    BK
  • aslakson's avatar
    aslakson
    Explorer
    Aug 22, 2014
    Check the 1000 Trails location maps and see if they have parks in places you want to go and/or spend time. While you can buy zone passes for $500 a zone (or less depending on what they're offering this week), you can also buy a full 1000 Trails membership on the resale market for around $2000 - and that gets you access to parks all through the system, plus no 7 days out of the system, and up to 3 weeks in a park. If you choose a resale system, go for an Elite, VIP or Platinum level, and make sure it includes all of the 1000 Trails sub-systems - Outdoor World, Leisure Time, NACO and 1000 Trails. Your annual dues will probably be under $600 a year. Don't know what the annual dues on a zone pass are.

    That said, if there's a zone with parks you think you want to spend some time in, buy a zone pass and give it a whirl. 30 days free camping for $500 works out to around $17 a night, which ain't bad compared to the rack rate at most decent public parks.

    We're fulltimers, and we'll spend around 250 nights in 1000 Trails parks this year - started out in Calfornia, now in Pennsylvania, end the year in Florida. For us it's a no-brainer and makes this lifestyle affordable.

    Have fun!

    al
  • samsontdog's avatar
    samsontdog
    Explorer
    Aug 22, 2014
    A lot of time TT has two Zones for sale for the price of one. We have been members for over 34 years. It has been great for us. Try it for one year and if you don't like it walk away when the years is up
    We have a regular membership not a zone
  • rugermark2's avatar
    rugermark2
    Explorer
    Aug 22, 2014
    I have the northwest zone pass, I like it so far. There are some nice resorts on the Oregon coast. I also don't camp exclusively thru thousand trails I still use other campgrounds for shorter trips. I found that if I stay a week in a state park in Washington it will cost me half the price as the TT full year membership, it doesn't take very many trips to pay for the TT membership.
  • path1's avatar
    path1
    Explorer
    Aug 23, 2014
    theclarkster wrote:
    Hi


    Has anyone been to any of the Thousand Trails campground and/or owned a park pass like this and can provide some input?

    Thanks!


    Don't know what to add but.

    1. I wouldn't call them "resort" but they do have some pretty good pic's of their places.

    2. Search on this site for thousand trails or TT to get a feel about them.

    Etc... We've been members for many years and like them, but everyone is different. Try the zone pass first, if you don't like it don't renew. Biggest thing I can say is, to get your money back be sure to use them. And to save big time money use them a lot. Have meet many that live "with in the system" and love it. And have talked to others that don't like them. All depends on the person. Will say that all night, loud and drunk people are far and few in TT parks or maybe lucky timing? Mostly west coast (U.S.) parks where we get full hook ups. Last week or so somebody was saying they never had a full hook up in TT park? Only time we never had full hook up was when somebody KO'd elec panel and it was getting repaired and we don't do reservations. We call when we know we'll be there that day. If they have room fine if not that's fine to, we'll go somewhere else.
  • Bob___Ann's avatar
    Bob___Ann
    Explorer
    Aug 23, 2014
    BC
    I am not saying that doing it is right or wrong. Different programs are right for different people. I personally do not like the idea of being tied to a program. If I were to buy it I would feel that I needed to use it weather I like the place or not. Having an RV I like the freedom of staying where we want. One can work pretty good deals for extended stays at independent campgrounds unless it is in the middle of a major destination during prime time. We do like using Passport America as well as Good Sams. That way we are in control of where we stay.
  • washley1's avatar
    washley1
    Explorer
    Aug 23, 2014
    I'm gonna throw you another curve ball. You say you are new to camping, and it shows. Nothing wrong with being new, but I think you may need some more tutoring on what to expect. You seem to be talking about buying a pick up/camper combo, and camping for weeks and months at a time, with a 2 year old. Might be OK for short term trips, but it's awful tight for anything longer than a week. You will be much better off in a travel trailer for extended periods. Also, from bitter experience, the wifi you want to depend on for your lively hood while on the road may not be as reliable as you need it to be. We have been in many campgrounds and "RV resorts" that advertise wifi, but what they have is very limited, spotty, and many times broken to the point you can't do much more than send or get a couple of emails. At any rate, welcome to the road whatever you decide to try.
  • 1775's avatar
    1775
    Explorer
    Aug 23, 2014
    Look at their listings of campgrounds included and then go to the campground listings that you might possibly stay in and look for any restrictions on the use of the discount. When we looked the parks we might possibly stay in did not include on-season discounts or weekend discounts, etc. so Thousand Trails would have been useless to use. You may find the opposite but know where you are going before you buy in - and then look up reviews of those campgrounds and see if you would even want to stay there - discount or not.
  • tonyandkaren's avatar
    tonyandkaren
    Explorer
    Aug 23, 2014
    Most likely the WiFi will not be fast or strong enough for you to use it at your campsite. You may have to go to the clubhouse.

    We don't have a Thousand Trails pass but our friends who are fulltimers stay almost exclusively at TT campgrounds. They bought a membership from a resale company. They love the parks. We visited them at five or six different parks, mostly in snowbird locations. The parks have all had nice clubhouses and pools. The sites are close together so there's not a lot of privacy but they're very quiet. Most of the campers are retired so there are few children.

    I'd say try it. You don't have much to lose by buying a zone pass because it'll cost you that much to stay for just a few weeks in a private park with full hookups without the pass. Google Earth some of the parks so you can see what they look like

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