campimg membership for a newbie

I am a life member of Passport American and have never used it. What a waste. When we first joined the RV world, we became KOA members but didn't use them enough to make it worth our while. I would certainly join Good Sam, but lots of parts also take AARP. Before you join any of them, see what kind of RVing you are going to do. If you are a park in the woods kind of campers and like National, State or County Parks, get yourself a National Park Pass and any State Passes that your state might offer. If you like Resort private kind of parks, but are on a budget, avoid KOA as while they are nice, they are a bit pricey It might turn out that you guys will like to boondock and dry camp and if that is the case, don't get any.

Hi Everyone! Passport America offers their members a 50% discount on nightly campsite fees.

Nearly 1,900 campgrounds across the US, Canada, and Mexico are currently participating in the Passport America Program, with new parks joining daily.

With the Passport America membership members also receive a FREE subscription to RV America magazine. This magazine provides a fresh look within the RV Industry and provides our members with many great features such as Product Highlights, and Recipes from the Road. You will also receive the current edition of the Passport America International Camping Directory.

As a Good Sam Club member you can join Passport America today at CampingWorld.com/passport or any Camping World SuperCenter for only $39.95, a $5 savings off the regular 1 YR rate. Plus, you will receive an additional 3 months FREE when you join through Camping World.

To summarize some of the stuff above and my experience.

Before starting - realize that most organizations will sign up almost any RV park for membership. The quality/ amenities/ features are going to vary greatly. Not only are our individual definitions of 'quality' different, so are the definitions of the various organizations.

Only groups like the US Federal government or Thousand Trails actually own the campgrounds/ RV parks. Even then the 'quality' and features vary tremendously between different locations.

1) The absolutely most important single option is a US Federal Senior Pass if you, or the spouse if over age 62. You won't get 1/2 price camping at all US Federal campgrounds. There is a tendancy to contract out campgrounds with electrical hookups. On those you might get 30-35% cheaper rates (you get 1/2 off the base/ dry camping rate, but have to pay the full utility fee).

2) Clubs aren't memberships in the camping sense. Belonging to Good Sam, Escapees, etc is about the group and the benefits of belonging to the group. Getting a discount on camping is a side benefit. Not a primary reason to join. Most places that offer discounts for those and similar groups also offer discounts for AAA, or AARP. It takes a lot of detailed work to pay for your yearly membership with campground savings at 10%. If you have a motorhome - most strongly recommend you seriously look at FMCA - Family Motor Coach Association - it is the only group owned by the members. Good Sam is owned by the company which owns Camping World. Escapees is owned by a family. Both are very good - but both are for profit businesses.

3) Deep discount programs like Passport America - do pay for themselves in savings quickly - IF YOU USE THEM. PPA and simlar deep discounters (40-50% off camping) are not for long term stays. They are for when you are traveling distances and looking for a cheap(er) place to stay. Sometimes their associated parks are in the right locations, some times they are not. Just 10 days ago, I drove past a Passport America Park with a rate of $20 per night to stay at another park with a rate of $35 per night. Why - because it was 200 miles down the road, and I was making very good time that day. Tonight, I'm at my first night of four nights at a PPA park. While the PPA rate of $19.50 per night is good (+ 10.45% tax) - I could have got the same spot for $26.50 with Good Sam, $25.25 with Escapee's. Yes, I've stayed at some which only honor PPA, and some which honor everything.

4) Free 'camping' - Walmart has a national policy to allow RVs to overnight in their parking lots. Most truck stop companies also allow RVs to overnight. Some other companies do also. (All of these can be stopped from allowing RVs by local city ordinances.) Some general rules. This is a overnight only stop. Don't put out slideouts unless they overhang the curb, or you can block them with a tow vehicle/ toad.

5) Membership Camping - in the RV sense this usually refers to a group which either owns a series of campgrounds - Thousand Trails, Ocean Canyon Properites, Colorado River Adventures. There is a cost for the membership which can be quite high. Again the key is that you need to use the membership full to get a benefit. Most are not about saving money on camping, they are about having access at a set lower than the public cost to the facilities. They can be used to greatly lower total yearly camping costs - if you use the membership facilities extensively. Many 'Resort' camping companies/ facilities also sell memberships - these are very much like timeshares.

6) Reciprocal Membership Programs - Coast2Coast, RPI, AOR - these have a key provision that your must belong to a resort in their group (i.e. a Membership), and you get privileges for reduced rate camping at other resorts that belong to that program/ group. Some 'home' memberships can be relatively cheap - $180 per year or so. Some can be quite high - $4-8,000 annually.

We are full-timers. We travel when and where we wish, and we belong to several programs.

We are both over age 62, have US Senior Passes - and enjoy staying at Corps of Engineers parks when available. We just spent seven nights dry camping in National Parks in Utah at 1/2 price.

We are Good Sam Life Members because we enjoy our home Good Sam group, enjoy Good Sam state rally's, and occasionally stay at an RV park with a Good Sam discount. Once or twice a year.

We are Escapees because we use their home bases as our residence / domicile, their mail service, support their advocacy for RVers. I think I've stayed at three parks in three years for a total of four nights - and received a better discount with Escapees than Good Sam or AARP (Twice I've gotten a better discount for AARP than Good Sam or Escapees).

I'm retired US Military - so I can and occasionally do - stay at campgrounds on US military bases. Sometimes these can be very much cheaper than other campgrounds - $20 per night at Newport, Rhode Island (30/W - no sewer, no facilities except a place to park the trailer).

When looking for discounts - our primary source/ option is Passport America - again - life members. In 2016 we've stayed 9 nights at PPA parks for $181.15 - avg $20.13 per night. For 2015 it was 8 nights for $169.96 - avg $21.25. For 2014 it was 2 nights for $43.91.

We also have a full membership in Thousand Trails. Which we have used for 57 nights this year, and have 37 nights reserved for the last two months of 2016. Using TT that much will lower our average per night paid camping cost from $20 per night to $15 per night.

Finding 'cheap' or 'better priced' camping take some work. There is no 'one answer'. You have to look at what options are available along your route, and make your choices.

As an example - when we departed Capitol Reef NP for Arches NP a few days ago, I had two options for fuel - paying $2.699 per gallon along the shorter route, or $2.529 per gallon along another route.

The fuel savings for the cheaper fuel would have been about $5.10. The route was 40 miles longer for the cheaper fuel. That would have cost me 4 to 5 gallons extra fuel usage. So the 'cheaper' fuel would have actually cost me about $5 more.

Those are the kind of numbers you have to be able to look at if you want to 'save' money while traveling.

I try to cover a bunch of options here. I try to describe each and give a couple of pros/cons for each:

Various Memberships for the Weekender and Fulltimer

We belong to Passport America. I'd rate them at 2 1/2 stars, but they are perfect for an overnight stop rather than a Wal-Mart or a rest area. When we're on the road, we look for them exclusively ... hard to beat at $18 - $25. Two nights at one of their campgrounds, and it's paid for. After that you're saving 50% of the campground's regular nightly rate.

We have both PassPort America and the Interagency Pass for National Parks. I get the National Parks pass for free as a disabled vet, but even paying for it you will get your money back. You will get half off camping and entrance into most parks for free. Our PPA paid for itself ($112 for 3 years) in our first trip to the Florida Keys. When I retire and travel much more extensively (about 4 years) we will use both to save money on camping across the country. PPA is also good in Canada as well.

Plus 5 on just Passport America for those under 62 and not full timing.

Passport America, KOA, Good Sam, FMCA, Federal Pass, TT Zone Passes, and Escapees are the ones we have. If you want/ need a larger discount, look at weekly or monthly rates.

If you join a membership organization like Thousand Trails, you have to stay at the parks in their system, which can be very limiting, if you like to travel.

You've received suggestions on some of the best ways to save. Make a list of these ways and use them as you travel. Costly RV parks are not the only way to stay. Don't be afraid of dry camping (usually in public parks - national parks, national forests, Corp of Engineers, county and city parks). You definitely don't need hookups every night.

For your Canada/Alaska trip get Mike and Terri Church's book 'Alaskan Camping'. It includes Canada and the Yukon, too. They list just about every place along the way to stay from RV parks down to boondocking in awesome free spots with great views of the mountains, lakes and streams. The Canadian and Yukon Provincial parks are great places to stay some are expensive but others very reasonable.

With your traveling plans I would definitely not advise a membership other than Passport America. If your traveling isn't structured like a working family with only 2 weeks vacation, you can make great use out of it. There are restrictions but often times it will work for you. Staying 2-3 nights a year and using it will pay for the membership.

Definitely get the Federal Senior Pass if you're 62+. It will give you 1/2 price camping in many places - even Denali National Park in Alaska. :)

We love staying in national forest campgrounds. We like the large sites and private spacing amidst nature. Casinos are great for an overnight - better than WalMarts. Also, fairgrounds have reasonable campgrounds but you have to check them out first to see if anything is going on... like the fair! We toured San Francisco and stayed at a nearby fairgrounds....a LOT cheaper than a RV park in that area.

Mix up your ways of stays and you can save a lot of money.

The senior national parks pass is a good one to have from what I hear. Are you a military veteran? Lots of bases have campgrounds for free to vets. Other places like casinos and Walmarts can be noisy but free too. Get the RVPARKY app for your phones. Its very useful for locating parks near you no matter where you are on the road. Join Passport America. It will suit your needs and pay for itself.