We just returned from a 61 day/60 night cross country trip across 22 states totaling 7,360 miles. We carry all three discounts and were able to utilize all three to one degree or another.
The Golden age Pass has several different names but “Geezer Card” pretty much sums it up. You must be 62 and the cost is a one time fee of $10, it is good for life. This will get you free admission to all of the national parks and 50% off of all campgrounds in any national forrest or USFS CG. Some states also give a discount in their state park CG’s. We were able to utilize our Geezer card 7 times paying on average $7 to $10 a night, typically in very nice CG’s but usually without hook ups. Many did have hot showers and flush toilets with dump stations and these were our favorites. Net savings $60.
Passport America is a private firm that provides a 50% discount, typically in small to medium sized RV parks throughout the country. They are not the fancy upscale RV parks but all had full hookups and we found them all to be clean and safe though often a ways off the beaten path. We never encountered one where we had the slightest hesitation in staying. The card costs $44 (often on sale for $39 at Camping World), and they usually toss in 3 free months for a total of 15. The discounts are generally good Sunday through Thursday (no holidays), but some parks honor them 7 days a week. The typical savings was $15 to $20 a night. We used PA 10 times and were very pleased with every park. Net savings $150 (including the original $39).
Good Sam member camping discounts are available to all GS members (membership is around $25 a year), and the discount is 10% off of the standard rate. Many of the upscale parks do offer the GS discount but be aware a lot of very disreputable “RVParks” (this term is often a joke), are listed in various directories. We encountered many a rathole 1950’s trailer park with a couple of sites for travelers masquerading as an RV Park. There were far more GS “Parks” that we would never stay in than nice ones where we were comfortable. We used our GS discount 6 times, net savings $25.
The fourth discount I like to call the “Friends and Family RV Park” which as the name implies is merely staying with those you visit. To be able to utilize the FFRVP you generally will need to be in a somewhat smaller RV. Large Class A’s, Super C’s, fivers and most TT’s will be limited by the space available. Class B’s, B+’s and smaller C’s (as in 26’ or less), are ideal if you don’t have a toad. We found our 24’ C was a perfect fit everywhere we went.
We spent a total of 31 of our 60 nights on the road at various FFRVP’s; 10 nights in MA (2 different locations), 13 nights in Michigan (3 different spots), 2 free nights at the Nexus factory in Elkhart, one at my cousins place also in Indiana and 6 nights in Missouri (2 spots). All of our sites were on beautiful lakes and rivers usually with lots of wooded acreage (except the Nexus factory), and yep they were all free.
Our total costs for 60 nights came in at just under $600.
Here is a shot of the view from our "site" (my cousins lake house), at Pine Lake Michigan (near Plainwell), where we stayed for 8 nights:
:B
The Golden age Pass has several different names but “Geezer Card” pretty much sums it up. You must be 62 and the cost is a one time fee of $10, it is good for life. This will get you free admission to all of the national parks and 50% off of all campgrounds in any national forrest or USFS CG. Some states also give a discount in their state park CG’s. We were able to utilize our Geezer card 7 times paying on average $7 to $10 a night, typically in very nice CG’s but usually without hook ups. Many did have hot showers and flush toilets with dump stations and these were our favorites. Net savings $60.
Passport America is a private firm that provides a 50% discount, typically in small to medium sized RV parks throughout the country. They are not the fancy upscale RV parks but all had full hookups and we found them all to be clean and safe though often a ways off the beaten path. We never encountered one where we had the slightest hesitation in staying. The card costs $44 (often on sale for $39 at Camping World), and they usually toss in 3 free months for a total of 15. The discounts are generally good Sunday through Thursday (no holidays), but some parks honor them 7 days a week. The typical savings was $15 to $20 a night. We used PA 10 times and were very pleased with every park. Net savings $150 (including the original $39).
Good Sam member camping discounts are available to all GS members (membership is around $25 a year), and the discount is 10% off of the standard rate. Many of the upscale parks do offer the GS discount but be aware a lot of very disreputable “RVParks” (this term is often a joke), are listed in various directories. We encountered many a rathole 1950’s trailer park with a couple of sites for travelers masquerading as an RV Park. There were far more GS “Parks” that we would never stay in than nice ones where we were comfortable. We used our GS discount 6 times, net savings $25.
The fourth discount I like to call the “Friends and Family RV Park” which as the name implies is merely staying with those you visit. To be able to utilize the FFRVP you generally will need to be in a somewhat smaller RV. Large Class A’s, Super C’s, fivers and most TT’s will be limited by the space available. Class B’s, B+’s and smaller C’s (as in 26’ or less), are ideal if you don’t have a toad. We found our 24’ C was a perfect fit everywhere we went.
We spent a total of 31 of our 60 nights on the road at various FFRVP’s; 10 nights in MA (2 different locations), 13 nights in Michigan (3 different spots), 2 free nights at the Nexus factory in Elkhart, one at my cousins place also in Indiana and 6 nights in Missouri (2 spots). All of our sites were on beautiful lakes and rivers usually with lots of wooded acreage (except the Nexus factory), and yep they were all free.
Our total costs for 60 nights came in at just under $600.
Here is a shot of the view from our "site" (my cousins lake house), at Pine Lake Michigan (near Plainwell), where we stayed for 8 nights:
:B
