Thousand Trails

[msmith1199]

Been RVing for a long time but coming up on retirement (I'm already retired, but wife will retire at the end of the year) and looking to get out in the motorhome a lot more. Probably won't full time, but we'll go out for a few months at a time. So I started looking at Thousand Trails. I did a search and there are a few posts on here but not a lot. I read a really good article written by a couple on a RV blog that explained a lot. So I started looking for memberships on the resale market and prices are all over the place. I do have some specific questions.

Different memberships have all kinds of different benefit levels. I'd like to get one with the 21 day stay and no break in between. How important is the "reservation window" option? I see it appears to vary from 90 days out to 210 days out. I know the zone pass they sell is limited to 60 days out so all the real membership owners can beat out the zone holders, but is there any real issue in getting reservations? I haven't seen any on line complaints about making reservations at the parks. Obviously I'd like to have the 210 day option, but I don't know if that would be a deal breaker or not over a 120 option. And isn't there a limit to the number of reservations you can make? For example, say I wanted to spend an entire winter in Florida, could I make five 21 day reservations at five different parks all 120 days or 210 days out?

I think I saw where you may be limited to only two reservations at a time. So you could reserve two three week stays, but couldn't go loner until you are done with the first stay?? Is that correct?

Let me see the response I get to this and I may have more questions.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Sorry - it is Mid-Atlantic Resorts - not Mid-America

TT history goes back to building their first park, still in use, at Chehalis, WA in 1969. However, much of their growth over the years has been from purchasing other multi-park companies.

In 1991 they merged with NACO - a group of west coast campgrounds - we were at Yosemite Lakes last week - originally a NACO campground. In 1999 they purchased the Leisure Time Resorts group of 10 campgrounds.

Their purchase of Outdoor World and Mid-America campgrounds occured after that.

Access to all the campgrounds works the same, if the membership was purchased at the time those campgrounds were part of the TT system.

The count is

TT: 32
NACO: 21
Leisure Time: 7

Those 60 resorts are in most resale memberships available

In the mid-late 2000's they purchased Outdoor World and Mid-Atlantic camping resorts

OW: 15
MA: 7

That 82 resorts is included in most newer memberships for resale. There is usually a 500-700 dollar price difference between the 60 cg and 81/82 cg resale membership contracts.

If you look at the Zone Pass program - you see 86 campgrounds promoted. That is because they are having trouble with the Midwest Zone - and have to include some Encore resorts to have enough campgrounds to give value to the Zone Pass. The four resorts in Wisconsin and Twin Mills in Indiana included in the Zone Pass - but are not included in many/most resale contracts currently available.

Back in 2013 I talked to a TT salesman, and that was the first time I've heard of Encore Resorts being included in a member contract.

The contract we purchased includes four Encore resorts in Florida - three in the Daytona area and one on the east coast - which we can use under the same rules/ costs as a TT resort. I would have preferred one in the RGV of Texas, one in Arizona, one in Florida and one in Wisconsin, but a person buying a resale membership contract doesn't get to make any modifications.

New contracts can choose their Encore resorts from a list of approx. 21 which participate in the program, or if upgrading to Odyssey, all 21 are included.

Now here is the critical thing to remember.

Since almost the beginning - Thousand Trails, NACO, Leisure Time, Outdoor World, Mid-Atlantic - have all been selling similar 'lifetime' memberships. Over the years those contracts have evolved, and everyone of those contracts is still valid if the dues are current.

General rule - a Thousand Trails Alliance Membership is not worth the paper it is written upon. Do not buy one. Often there are several thousand dollars of back yearly due which have to be paid before it can be used.

Certain memberships (Outdoor World I think) - have a one year reservation window, but for only two reservations at a time.

The Thousand Trails company is currently owned by Equity Lifestyle - the third holding company to own TT since 2000. Equity's main business is their mobile/ manufactured home communities across the country. They also own Encore Resorts and Thousand Trails. So TT is part of a big company, and not everything send down to be done really makes a lot of sense for a campground.

Now a couple other things - some people have mentioned upgrading their resale purchased contract to a more current contract. TT is promoting this. It can be a cheaper way than a new purchase for a person to get the latest/ greatest options available to in the TT system. But it takes some work to compare and understand the differences. You should purchase the best resale contract you can afford, use it for a while, and then consider if your usage merits an upgrade. You will be contacted by the salesman at almost every TT you visit, suggesting that you need to upgrade NOW before the new benefits go away. BS - TT is ALWAYS offering new incentives for new contracts and upgrades.

Personally, I recommend a Zone Pass for a while, realizing that if you like TT campgrounds - you will quickly decide to purchase a membership. The $425 or so for a Zone Pass is just an entry fee for your first 30 nights of so of camping to see if you like the program.

TT campgrounds are NOT pristine high end resorts. They are family campgrounds. Many times large, older campgrounds, which can show signs of inadequate maintenance over the years - though I must say in the past couple years, I've seen an effort to fix things at many campgrounds, and improve appearance. Some issues such as the activity center and pool at Las Vegas being closed for several months were due to arguments with the insurance company about storm damage repairs. Others such as Verde Valley in Arizona are due to a major power upgrade, same with part of Soledad Canyon in California.

We have only been unable to get into a desired TT resort when we wanted a few times. Once was due to flooding putting 1/2 of the camping spots at Colorado River CG in Texas under water, the other two times were weekends at resorts near large cities.

There are three or four parks currently closed in California - due to damage from spring flooding. They hope to have all the parks open by mid summer.

Another note - operation of TT campgrounds: When you make a reservation you do not get a site assigned. When you arrive at a campground (with one or two exceptions) - you get told - drive around and choose your site. If a CG has limited 50 amp sites, or sewer sites, you might not get one. Some CGs it can be difficult to find a spot that can hold my 36 ft long TT.

Seasonal/Annual/Personal Sites: Several TT campgrounds, especially in the warmer winter areas - can sell sites for a 'season'. Lake Conroe has almost 1/2 of their sites in the Oct-Apr time frame occupied by people down for the winter.

Almost all TT campgrounds can sell Annual/Personal Sites. These programs give a site to a member for an entire year. They can only stay 210 nights per year in their camper on those sites - but I wonder how closely the rule is enforce. Some people leave their camper on the site all year, some leave it there some months, and leave the site empty other times. Still - no one can camp on that site.

These programs require that the site be 'purchased' by a person with a valid, paid up membership (either ZP or regular membership) and an additional fee for the term of the site paid upfront. And that electricity be metered and paid monthly. It is a great program for a working person who wants to come out on the weekend and doesn't want to have to hook-up and pull the trailer after work on Friday, and take it back home and store it on Sunday evening.

But they take prime sites away from the traveling TT members possible usage.

TT is a good value for us as full-timers who travel from coast to coast. It is a good value for my son in Texas, who can't travel much - but goes to a nearby TT campground many times a year.

TT is not a good value for a person who wants full resort amenities, who demands 50 amp power and sewer connections all the time.

I know this is a long post. TT is a complicated subject. It is the only somewhat nationwide membership camping program available. There are other regional campground companies which work great for folks who spend their time in those regions.

[md_procouple]

Depends on the type of membership, we have the 2nd below the top of the line membership, and it includes them. Other plans you get a reduced rate for them.
Good Luck and Happy Camping !!

[msmith1199]

Thanks for the info. On those other parks like Outdoor World and Mid-America, when you have those included, do you get to use them free just like the TT parks?

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Practically every TT membership sold has some differences from every other TT membership. You need to know the details of the specific membership you are buying, and you need to ask TT member services questions about which parks are included, which are not, which restrictions can be overridden, which cannot.

You will need the name and member number of the person selling the membership to ask those questions.

Otherwise, you will almost certainly be surprised that somethings are not as you expected.

The membership we purchased has a 21 day stay limit, but four times a year, we can purchase an additional week for $29. We stayed 28 days at Las Vegas in November/ December when the wife needed some medical treatment.

Getting into some parks can be a concern. Actually, I think currently / this past winter - Valley Verde in Arizona was the hardest park to get into. It is pretty ovbious which are the parks and seasons where longer stays may be difficult to book not far before arrival.

Such as Palm Springs. Only part of the winter is it difficult to get into that park. But the sites are limited by palm trees at the end of the picnic table, along with trees at both side of the site at the edge of the road, and a narrow road.

We needed to get the folks on the other side of the road to move their tow truck before we could get our trailer into the spot, and leave room for the slides on both sides of the TT to open.

A friend with a 41 foot Class A DP, could not get it into a standard Palm Springs spot at all. Palm Springs gets very crowed on weekends when it is open.

All the pull-thrus were occupied with long-term seasonal renters.

Seasonals or Personal sites are the biggest issue in TT parks at this time in my opinion. They take choice sites, leaving those who travel to back to back sites (one pedestal with two 30 amp hookups, two water spigots, and two sewer connections).

You end up with 5 to 8 feet between the service side of your rig and your neighbor, and usually not room for both you and the neighbor on the other side to each have a picnic table.

We bought our used membership through a broker, and it was a good decision to use them because they helped us ask several questions of TT member services, and we turned down the first two cheaper contracts to a slightly more expensive one with the parks we wanted to visit included.

Most common item is that the east coast Outdoor World or Mid-America parks are not included in most contracts which originated before the past 10 years.

Another item is that most of the resale contracts will not allow you to will the membership to your children, or to freeze your dues at age 62. Those provisions only apply to the original contract holder.

TT is currently offering to upgrade some memberships to Odyssey Unlimited - which is 28 day stays, 180 day booking window, includes 21 Encore Resorts which can be used under the same rules/ costs as TT parks, and a bit more. They told me that my membership could be upgraded to $6,800 and they would take payments.

[chiefneon]

msmith1199 wrote:

chiefneon wrote:
Howdy!

We fulltime and several years ago we purchased a TT's Platimum membership on Craig's List for penny's on the dollar. 21 days in, park to park. Last year we upgraded our membership to Elite Connection to add more parks. If your going to use the membership as stated look for a resale. I just saw on the TT's e-mail site someone was selling their Elite membership. When buying one make sure you get their membership number and call TT's. They will give you all the information regarding the membership connected to the number over the phone. We get our monies worth out of our TT's membership along with RPI we get with it.

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

What is the "TT's e-mail site?"

Howdy!

Try this link I beleive it a yahoo group.

Yahoo Thousands Trails number group

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

[msmith1199]

chiefneon wrote:
Howdy!

We fulltime and several years ago we purchased a TT's Platimum membership on Craig's List for penny's on the dollar. 21 days in, park to park. Last year we upgraded our membership to Elite Connection to add more parks. If your going to use the membership as stated look for a resale. I just saw on the TT's e-mail site someone was selling their Elite membership. When buying one make sure you get their membership number and call TT's. They will give you all the information regarding the membership connected to the number over the phone. We get our monies worth out of our TT's membership along with RPI we get with it.

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

What is the "TT's e-mail site?"

[chiefneon]

Howdy!

We fulltime and several years ago we purchased a TT's Platimum membership on Craig's List for penny's on the dollar. 21 days in, park to park. Last year we upgraded our membership to Elite Connection to add more parks. If your going to use the membership as stated look for a resale. I just saw on the TT's e-mail site someone was selling their Elite membership. When buying one make sure you get their membership number and call TT's. They will give you all the information regarding the membership connected to the number over the phone. We get our monies worth out of our TT's membership along with RPI we get with it.

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

[msmith1199]

So it sounds like as long as I can get a membership with a 120 day reservation window I'd probably do pretty good. I haven't seen any on the resale market that said they had the 210 day window. And on the zone pass, it costs $3000 a year if you want to cover all the zones for a year and our plan is to travel the entire country so the zone passes don't make sense right now.

[rv2go]

"If you have a membership that allows for 21 day stays, can that be overridden by a park having a 14 day limit?"

Some parks limit you to 14 nights during prime time. Some then will require you to be out for 28 nights before coming back to the same park.

[msmith1199]

gafidler wrote:
I am a TT member , and there are many different types of memberships with different rules depending on how old the membership is, I would recommend a resale. when you call about the membership on the resale site get the membership number and call TT , they will tell you about what is included with that number, and you can make numerous reservations , but in High periods the most parks are limited to 14 days. Some parks are nice and some not so nice . TT bought different chains of parks over the years and there is no standard over the system . If you buy and use the parks it is a good deal, if you don't use the parks it is a lot of money. My coast over a 5 year period runs about $9 a night. We camp 150 - 200 nights a year. hope this is helpful in making a decision.

If you have a membership that allows for 21 day stays, can that be overridden by a park having a 14 day limit?

[aslakson]

We fulltime and get a lot of value from 1000 Trails. Big thing is they have parks in places we want to be. Last year, we spent 247 days in TT parks. So far this year, we've used or are reserved at 165 days. If it matters where you go and if you need to be there, make the reservations. It doesn't cost anything and you can always change them. We have an "Elite" membership - 120day reservation window at most parks, stay up to 21 days, no time out. Our dues are frozen at $555 a year (or about $1.52 a day).

We've noticed a BIG change in RV park access the last two years - lots more RVs on the road, not any more RV sites being built. Right now, we're at 1000 Trails Palm Springs, and the place is 2/3 empty - but the temps are also around 100 degrees. We'll move to cooler this week. 🙂

al

[gafidler]

I am a TT member , and there are many different types of memberships with different rules depending on how old the membership is, I would recommend a resale. when you call about the membership on the resale site get the membership number and call TT , they will tell you about what is included with that number, and you can make numerous reservations , but in High periods the most parks are limited to 14 days. Some parks are nice and some not so nice . TT bought different chains of parks over the years and there is no standard over the system . If you buy and use the parks it is a good deal, if you don't use the parks it is a lot of money. My coast over a 5 year period runs about $9 a night. We camp 150 - 200 nights a year. hope this is helpful in making a decision.

[TenOC]

Buy a used (RESALE) membership to C2C ARO and or RPI. Do a Google search or a CraigList or eBay. My membership at a park in Crossville TN only cost about $400 initial fee plus $40 per year fixed maintenance fee. To add the above three membership is about $100 per year each.

I think you will have more flexibility with these membership than TT.

Since I full time, I never use my home park -- so cheap is best.

[md_procouple]

Like others have stated, get the Zone passes and check them out before spending the bigger bucks for membership. Check out private dealers before buying TT membership, it can save you $$$. There is also another outfit out there called Coast to Coast, but they do not have a zone type pass, its all or nothing. But may be worth checking out. We have both TT and CC for over 15 yrs, and have been happy. Good Luck and Happy Camping !!!

[SCVJeff]

Palm Springs is a completely different anminal I'm told.