Passport America

[horton333]

Hi:

Looking to be doing a lot more traveling next year, and I am considering getting a Passport America card. My intent is to make a decent $ reduction for my average site cost, while still having access to good quality serviced sites without too much compromise on locations and hassle with booking. I am used to reserving in advance when practical. Looking at their maps the choice seems fine and half price is great, but various comments on some posts, and some cautions on the 10 or so participating campground websites I surveyed indicate this may be more limited than it first appears.

I saw "no discounts with on-line reservations" on 2 websites, with one saying "cash only"?? I see comments from posters on RV.NET that they basically take what they get at the last minute. I think the $44 is a no brainer and I expect there to be some hassle for all that reduced cost, but for planning purposes I was wondering if some people with personal experience would please pipe in with some comments on their experiences, or recommendations for other clubs they feel may be better. I like to stay at least a week at sites, maybe two if I like it. I am guessing this may be a problem too. Should I expect to only use this for short stays, and not expect to do much planning traveling with it?

I've used Good Sam for some years, and will continue to use them as I see them as a different niche.
John

[tpi]

For the first time the other day I got the feeling I was given an inferior site using PA. It was at Lakeside Casino, Pahrump NV. The person in front of me was back at the office saying they didn't want the assigned site. He was in large class A. They gave me the site he didn't want, it was a diagonal pull thru but the diagonal was backwards to the traffic flow. With my small C I had no problems with it. He was relocated on that row of sites-a row which was completely full at dusk, while much more desirable sites near the lake were empty. I was fine with the whole thing at $16. per night. I do wonder if they would have given PA rate if I had requested a lakefront site.

At Pechanga, they have always given me a choice of sites under PA. I've had what I thought were some of the most desirable-such as backing up to the creek on the south side of the park.

Most of the time, the parks I've used PA were so empty due to off season midweek that it looked like they were happy to just have a live one in there.

[sdianel_-acct_c]

Passport America has always paid for itself each year for us. You are correct that the availability of half price sites are limited. Each campground sets their own limitations. Some even don't offer half price sites at all during their peak season. We also look for city, county and state parks, Corps of Engineers campgrounds, state parks and KOA's. KOA has 10% off with their card and you earn points for discounted or free camping.
We choose 2 or 3 campgrounds in a location and compare the amenities to the cost per night. We also use weekly and monthly rates to save money.
we use www.woodalls.com to search for campgrounds and then check them on www.rvparkreviews.com

[SDcampowneroper]

PPA works hard to recruit member parks as well. The benefit to parks is in enticing travelers to stay longer than they honor the PPA discount for, thus reducing the overall discounted rate. In business lingo, its called a lost leader.
For the traveler without a set plan savings can be made for short stays when the park has availibility.
Think about parks who offer PPA discount for more than short term, or who restrict discounted sites to a section. Oft times, you get what you pay for, or cannot fit into spefic sites they offer at 1/2 price.
Its a gimmick for both parties. If it was a very good one, you would see more members on both sides. We choose not to be one.
Max

[tpi]

I've had it for years. All it has to do is save about $40. per year. There are several local places I like which take it-Pechanga and Riverside County Parks. Anything else is just icing on the cake-I will not drive substantially out of the way for PA park. As retiree it works best for people like myself who can go on off peak times. It is also good for summer travel through desert areas for overnight stops-as summer in the desert snowbird parks can be off peak and likely to have PA discount.

[soos]

We have also had it for years. even in AZ in the winter we can find places to use it. The place we are staying at mow in Tucson accepted it for 3 nights, and we booked an entire week at a resort in Mesa in January at the PPA rate.
I do find the notes section to be reasonably accurate but I have also found some flexibility depending on how full the park is.
Sue

[owenssailor]

We have had PPA for the 4 years we have been winter travelling. each yer it has more than paid for itself. We told friends about it this winter. They more than saved the 44 dollars the next week.

[2gypsies1]

We found that once you're at the park and then ask to stay longer or to pay with a credit card, etc. they sometimes bend the 'rules'. It doesn't hurt to ask. We've always gotten our membership money back fast by only 2-3 stays. Also, we don't care about amenities including pools so the parks suit us just fine.

[Veebyes]

For the CGs it is better to get 50% than nothing at all so if you can jump through the hoops PA is a good thing. No problem doing that here. I would not plan a trip around PA CGs but if one can be used along the way, great.

We have never made reservations for a PA CG & never had a problem on weekdays with the price. Have had some extend a 2 day only price to a 3 day when asked & they understand that if not given we are moving on. Another PA CG is usually not too far away.

[marieb]

With the price being so reasonable we always have it. We do not go out of our way to seek a PA park out( the cost of gas can eat up the savings) but certainly use it if it's convinient.We have been to parks that allow us to use at any time just to fill spaces. We have been to parks that will strickly stick to the rules even if they are not busy. We were able to use it on weekends. It seems that the rules are not always enforced. We have stayed at some parks I've thought were shabby but I've stayed at non PA parks that were shaby and paid full price. In the time we've had it I know we have gotten our money back many times over( having said that there were years we never used it).Shorthly after we got it we attended a PA Rally and was treated so generously at such a low cost I feel I should patronize them for life. Great people to deal with.

[mockturtle]

I joined last fall and have already saved enough to pay for it, even though I usually avoid private RV parks. However, if you're interested in the desert in winter or Alaska in summer, you are pretty much out of luck, as the PA discounts don't apply during the popular seasons.

[Rice]

horton333 wrote:
I was trying to compare the notes section (which often seems to try to explain the specific terms for each camp) of the PA site to the camp websites, unfortunately the camp websites seem to say fairly little about the discounts.

Have users found the notes section on the PA site to be generally accurate in describing the extent of the discount at each place? This would at least allow me to have a general idea of what to expect.

I don't use the RV parks' own websites for anything related to PA, except to try to figure out what their normal rate is to see if it matches what's on the PA page.

I've never noticed the details on the PA website about the availability of the PA discount to be wildly inaccurate, and that's the information I rely on for deciding whether to look into staying at a particular place using PA.

horton333 wrote:
I was amazed at how many are only good for like 2 or 3 days, I saw one that was one day in off season only???

Yep. Availability only very short stays is the norm among PA parks, which is why a lot of people use it only for overnight stopovers en route to somewhere else (and the PA parks generally aren't in popular destinations). If you really are looking at week-long stays, then PA probably won't be a very good fit.

And I'll echo others' warnings--some of the RV parks are pretty nice, but there are plenty of dogs in there, and some that I think have to get the majority of their income from monthly residents and PA members because no way would people be paying $35 for the sites there.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

I didn't think much of PPA but signed up on the advice of some friends.

The first time I used it I had just had some work done on the trailer, and went to a relatively expensive park in the DFW area just for two nights to check on the repairs. Paid for a year in two nights.

We only use it a few nights a year, and when traveling down the road without a set destination.

We've going to do a week at a Thousand Trails park in late January because they are close to where we want to go, and offer PPA for up to 7 days in winter. A little more than the COE parks in the area with the Senior Pass discount - but they have full hookups, which the COE doesn't.

If you are someone who only takes their RV on trips planned around vacations, etc - PPA probably isn't for you.

If you have the time to wander without a schedule - PPA can pay for itself in just a couple nights a year.

PS - We're at Fort Davis, TX now - been park hosts at the Davis Mountains State Park since late October. I would never recommend or attempt to use the PA park in the town. Way too many negatives are obvious. The ranch outside town is nice.

[agesilaus]

A lot of small parks will have a weekly rate exclusive of the PPA discount. Ask when you talk to them.

[horton333]

Thanks for all the comments, its all still sinkin' in (other than the general agreement it will pay for itself even if it may not be 'great')
I was trying to compare the notes section (which often seems to try to explain the specific terms for each camp) of the PA site to the camp websites, unfortunately the camp websites seem to say fairly little about the discounts.
Have users found the notes section on the PA site to be generally accurate in describing the extent of the discount at each place? This would at least allow me to have a general idea of what to expect. I was amazed at how many are only good for like 2 or 3 days, I saw one that was one day in off season only???
Also playing with their application is seems they assume you are going to phone, their website has all the URLs for the camps so why no links in the app?!? Am I missing something?
John

[Robin1953]

I have the lifetime PPA card and have used it frequently over the years. I generally use it as an over night park. I used to try to make the PPA parks my destination parks but that doesn't always work out. For example I am going to stop in Myrtle Beach (MB) for 5 nights on the way home in April. Five nights at the PPA park there works out to $245 sans taxes taking all the restrictions into consideration. For the same number of nights at one of the south MB parks it is $240 sans taxes. Since I have retired and snowbird I still use it for over night stays when I can but I don't make it a point to always seek out a PPA park. When I get tired and decide to stop if there is a PPA park handy...great. If not...still not a problem. Since I bought the card many years ago when they ran a special I have probably recovered the original outlay a long time ago. I have not tracked it because it makes no difference since I paid for the card and there are no refunds. But I can tell you that I have been in PPA parks and I have asked for the discount during the black out periods and have received it. Other times I have not. Anyway in your case I would buy it for one year and see if it works out for you. If not don't renew...simple as that. HTH