Passport America, worth it or not?

[Buckeye_Chuck]

Thinking about joining Passport America. Does anyone have any input? What are the good and the bad opinions?

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Passport America pays for itself quickly of you travel. It has for us.,

It is not useful for destination stays.

We use it four or five times a year, almost always for one night stops.

I guess stopping at Walmart would be cheaper, but with travel trailer with a need to open slides on both sides, I prefer an RV park.

Often we find CGs that offer several discounts and PPA is almost always the cheapest.

[IDman]

We used it for one year and did not renew. Most of the time it seemed that we were "one week too early" or "just missed the discount season." Weekends were always out of discount time. We did use it twice, once in a shabby RV park that we used ONLY because it was 1/2 price and another because it was the only place around for 75 miles.
I won't buy it again.

[Quick_trip]

We had two different cards.
Passport America & Happy Camper.
With these we had over 2,000 camp grounds! About 50% were the same CG's.
But it still gave us a lot to choose from.
Only one in 10 years was about 15 miles off the main highway, we were in for a real nice surprise!
It was on a small lake and our site was on the second row up the hill. Good views all around!
Getting to and from the CG was on a two lane road and was very pretty.
Good Luck & Drive Safe!

[SDcampowneroper]

A word of education. Deep discount parks have a motive to somehow profit, on your stay, whether it is days, site type or service, a miriad of reasons parks choose to join or not PA.
For 'you' the same applies. You may get substantial savings if you are willing to fit into the box those camps define. Look closely at what the camp will provide for that 1/2 price fee. Could be limited to difficult backins , or such as 20a electric only sites. Then when you arrive, you need 'more' PA. no longer applies.
Its a Bait and Switch game for both parties.
No business can survive on 50% Thats a less than cost for us.
There has to be a catch.

[Busskipper]

YES!

[2gypsies1]

Look at their web site to view all the parks that are members then decide if those are places you might be passing through or staying.

As full-timers we used it a few times a year and it paid for itself. We're not RV park folks anyway but once in a while we'd have occasion to use one.

We never made a reservation... just pulled in and got a site. A few times they let us stay more days for the same rate. The ones we used were very flexible.

I'd advise you to try it a year. You're not out a lot of money.

[Bob___Ann]

We took a two week trip in January and more then paid for the yearly fee. We were able to use it in three parks which were all very nice. It saved us a good bit on money in New Orleans as we used it for six nights in a very nice location.

[mgirardo]

It is worth it if you use it a couple times a year. Just make sure the campgrounds you want to stay at accept it. We've never been to a campground that accepts Passport America, so we aren't members.

-Michael

[Gene_Ginny]

We purchased a PA membership last Summer because we were looking for a place near Wells ME on our way back from Acadia the week after Columbus day. There is a decent but WAY overpriced camground we had stayed in a few years earlier that would be open after Columbus day and is on the PA list. Including the cost of membership, it made a 3 night stay a reasonable price for the area.

The downside: The PA book says "advanced reservations required". That process was a nightmare. The person at the PA 800 number said there was only 1 site for 1 night available but we knew the campground was normally only half full that week. We booked it and hoped we would be able to add to it when we got to the campground. When we got there the young lady at the registration desk said "no problem", We got 3 nights at the PA rate. 🙂

[Trackrig]

guidry wrote:
If you use it more than twice, it pays for itself. I would recommend it if you are retired or travel during the week, that's when most of the discounts are. Weekends typically don't apply. Take a look at their website and map. I would recommend it.

X2 - we certainly got our money out of it just going up the Oregon coast last winter. At one place when we checked in mid week, they said we could stay on that rate since they weren't over half full.

Bill

[agesilaus]

Ditto on that. The parks are not top end parks but we don't really care since we don't travel to hang around a campground. And they can be thin on the ground near major attractions, don't expect to find one outside Yellowstone or Yosemite for example.

[Dutch_12078]

We have Passport America in our arsenal of discount cards, and it more than pays for itself each year. The various park restrictions and locations may not fit your travel "style" though, so make sure you check them for your typical trips before joining. PA parks are typically either in non-destination areas or only discount in the off-season or on off-days, etc., since the purpose for them is to fill otherwise empty sites and make some money rather than none for those sites.

[guidry]

If you use it more than twice, it pays for itself. I would recommend it if you are retired or travel during the week, that's when most of the discounts are. Weekends typically don't apply. Take a look at their website and map. I would recommend it.