Familiar with free offer from Thousand Trails camping?

[precioustime]

I received a free offer to camp free for one year in several zones in the US. I was interested in the Southeast zone but not clear if there are any hidden charges I am not aware of. I must activate an account first then I get 30 nights free. After those are used each other night is only $3.00. The second year will be $525 if I desire to continue. Any suggestions

[tahiti16]

Look at where the campgrounds are that would be in your zone, will you use those? Are they in areas you want to go to? If yes then could be a great deal.

We have one of the first zone passes they did when there were only 2 zones west or east, we have west. No 30 day limit and as far as the 90 day reservation limit hasn't been a problem so far and wer finishing up our 4th year this spring.

Just like anything else like this if you use it a good value, if you don't waste of money. Now one of the best things for you as a consumer if you don't use and/or it doesn't seem to work for you tell them don't want to renew when renewal time comes around, do not wait until AFTER your membership expires to tell them, and you are done no huge outlay.

For the park system you paid for some camping time vs them giving you a weekend and some goodies to come listen to a spiel and them having to pay sales people to sit around. Good for all and no pressure.

[lfcjasp]

We had to pay for our first year's pass, but it was on sale. When we did the math, it looked like a good deal for us as we're hoping and planning to do a lot of camping in '14. The TT/Elite campsites in the SE area are in areas we would like to visit and there are two within less than an hour's drive from home:) There are more CGs here in this zone BTW. Don't know about the auto renewal...should check on that. But if we use it a lot and decide it's working well for us, we may keep it.

[calewjohnson]

We received a free zone pass when we purchased our new TT this year. We have used it several times. If there is a requirement for auto-renew, I have not seen it…since it went through the RV dealer, they have no billing info to even charge me. The few we have been to here in CA actually have member rates for long term if you desire. Their magazine shows many monthly rates for FL snowbirds….something like $300/month from 1 JAN to 1 APR….I think there is a catch for those, but I have not delved into it.

TT has partnered with Encore and another company which has opened up a lot of parks. As I said, we enjoy it, mainly b/c we did not pay for it, would we knowingly purchase it? Not sure.

Cale

[Dick_A]

Moved from General RV'ing forum.

[noplace2]

Wondering from whom you received the offer. Just checked TT's website and there is no mention of such.

[ependydad]

wa8yxm wrote:
That sounds like a free zone pass... There is only one "Hidden charge" I am aware of... 50 amp sites cost an additional fee (usually 3.00 a night) your "Free" 30 nights and the 3.00/night after that are 30 amp only.

Other charges can be things like cable TV hookups. The 50amp charge is a park-by-park thing. I've been to some where all sites were 50amp and thus no extra charge (Circle M and Sea Pines). I've been to others where they don't charge extra for 50amp (Orlando). BUT- I've also been to one that did charge the extra fee (Kenisee Lake). And, most places (but not all) are- if you're on the 50amp site, you get charged the fee regardless if you use it or not.

wa8yxm wrote:
The other thing is you can only spend 2 weeks at a time in a TT/Encore park. Then you have to get out for a week.. HOWEVER if you weekend, and spend only 2 or 3 nights in the park,, You can come back next weekend no problem as I understand it. (And I've done that on occasion).

The 7 days out is triggered once you are somewhere for 4 nights or more. You can do back to back 3-night reservations all year long but once you hit that 4th night, you have to be out of the system for a week for most TT memberships (except for those who upgraded to the Elite level).

[dieharder]

Usually the free zone for one year offer requires you to buy one year of another zone first. Be sure to read the entire offer.

[wa8yxm]

That sounds like a free zone pass... There is only one "Hidden charge" I am aware of... 50 amp sites cost an additional fee (usually 3.00 a night) your "Free" 30 nights and the 3.00/night after that are 30 amp only.

The other thing is you can only spend 2 weeks at a time in a TT/Encore park. Then you have to get out for a week.. HOWEVER if you weekend, and spend only 2 or 3 nights in the park,, You can come back next weekend no problem as I understand it. (And I've done that on occasion).

But the suggestion you "Read the fine print" is a very good one.

I have been told that they will auto-renew the pass if you do not specifically tell them not to at the end of the year.. Since I have an older, national, lifetime membership.. I have not read the fine print on the Zone pass.

But I'll check into a Thousand Trails park... Sunday.

[Passin__Through]

coolbreeze01 wrote:
Seems like they used to give away TV's or radios......

Thirty years ago they offered us an electric cooler to come and check them out. We decided their program wasn't for us but got a nice cooler out of the deal. It still works too.:)

[coolbreeze01]

Seems like they used to give away TV's or radios......

[hershey]

Make sure that the second year is not an automatic enrollment that obligates you to either one or several years.
TT's is a well run operation but like any new car dealer, they have to seek ways to lure in new members. 🙂

[rv2go]

Sounds like a Zone Pass. 30 nights free. 7 nights between a visit to another TT Park. Then $3 per night. Some Parks may charge for 50 amp service. I know several that have a Zone Pass and love it. The only draw back that I see is the 90 day reservation window. Most TT members get 120 or 150 days, depending on TT plan. The 90 days may cause a problem getting into a high use park during prime time.

Sometimes TT offers 2 Zones for the price on the one. Check their website. Zone Pass

[Mandalay_Parr]

I would check the fine print and any restrictions.