Campground costs

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
Thousand Trails is in our plan if we choose to stop volunteering.

A quick followup for anyone who is considering TT - while I suggested getting a used membership I don't recommend that for anyone who has never stayed in a TT. They have an annual Zone Pass that gives you access to parks in one particular area. I say get a ZP first, try it out to be sure it's your cup of tea and then get a membership from someone after that. You'll not only know more about TT after a year but you will also be more on the inside track for finding a used membership.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

There seem to be lots of complaints about the Thousand Trails. I'd be careful and start with something such as Passport America.

Check out the reviews on rvparksreviews.com for a lot of the PPA parks - lots are rated very low, which is ok for a one night stop, but not for a couple of weeks. And as has been said, people who are happy don't tend to post that they are happy, but unhappy people will complain. I'm always surprised at what they complain about - like the fact that it rained during their stay - as if the park has any control over the rain, especially when you are in the Pacific Northwest!

A lot of people pass along tales of what happened to someone's aunt's cousin's nephew 20-30 yrs ago at a membership park. Things change. The great thing about the TT Zone Pass is that it is purchased one year at a time. Great way to try out and if you don't like it, don't renew next year.

Barb

pianotuna wrote:
There seem to be lots of complaints about the Thousand Trails. I'd be careful and start with something such as Passport America.

Thousand Trails is in our plan if we choose to stop volunteering.

Why, because we have children / family in New England, Oregon and Florida - along with Texas - all places with several TT parks available.

I even have a few friends who spend their summers in the Rocky Mountain states where TT has no campgrounds, but they say their TT membership is worthwile for their winter stays. One couple has stayed at Medina Lake in Texas every winter for the past 12 years. Another spends one winter in Florida, one in Texas, one in California. Both couples have Platinum memberships which allow them 21 days in a park and no out time before going to the next park.

Many TT parks allow full winter stays for a tiny additional fee.

But TT is like any other option. You need to research the details, where the parks are located, does that meet with our plans, etc.

Passport America IMHO is worth the cost with two nights usage a year. In general I find PA parks to be a better than Wally Docking option, for a lowish cost.

Another option is Escapees. We use it for residence, though we were already Texas residents, just changed counties - and got a 10% cut in auto/RV insurance rates.

Their park and co-op network are mainly focused on warmer climates, but many times I've gone into a Good Sam park while on the road, and found their Escapee discount was more than their GS discount.

We will be on the road from Jan 9 until April 15 in 2015. We will cross 15 states - about 4,900 miles, an estimated $2,300 in campground costs for an average just over $24 per night (includes 7 nights at no cost staying with family).

The trip also includes 12 nights at county parks in southern Florida at an average of $44.00 per night.

We will have 30 amp power five nights, and 50 amp all the other nights. The only 'dry' camping might be part of the week in Key West.

We will stay 21 nights at COE parks in Texas at the start of the trip.

We will stay 32 nights at military base campgrounds (I'm a retired USN SCPO).

Anyone can work the trips for savings and to meet a budget target. It just takes planning and research.

Hi,

I full time and do a lot of urban docking. I only go to campgrounds that cost money when weather conditions require air conditioning or electric heating. My favorite site for lowering costs is:

http://freecampsites.net/

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

There seem to be lots of complaints about the Thousand Trails. I'd be careful and start with something such as Passport America.

I'm active on the unofficial TT Facebook group and it seemed that there were lots of complaints there. That was a bit confusing to me because we've stayed at a lot of TT's over the past couple of years and while, like most campgrounds, there were some things we liked and some things we didn't like, that we felt TT was a good deal for us and we were generally pleased with our membership.

I decided to do a survey asking if people were glad they were members. The results were very positive. Over 90% of those responding were positive about their memberships.

I decided that like most any business, when people are satisfied they don't say much about it but when they are unhappy they tell everyone why they are unhappy.

By the way, the worse experiences we had were at Passport America campgrounds. Some of them are good but we've been at some that were real dumps. Last summer we paid for two nights at one, but after the first night we got out of there!

Hi,

There seem to be lots of complaints about the Thousand Trails. I'd be careful and start with something such as Passport America.

If one is going to spend a significant amount of time on the West Coast I would suggest looking at a TT Zone pass for a year to try the system. $500/yr for 30 nights of camping then each night after that is $3/night, 2 weeks in, 1 week out. We have both Southwest and Northwest Zones (got them during a special which they run seem to run each yr) and usually use them for ~60 nights during the spring/summer.

Barb

tsetsaf wrote:
As of Dec 1 we spent $9k this last year on rv parks. We spent 5 months of the year in a monthly site and the remainder a few days to a few weeks while travelling to these sites. We budget for $900/ month. In reality if $45 breaks your bank you need to rethink your retirement plans.

9 years of doing this, never, ever have we had a budget of $900/month for parks. We budget $600/month ($20/night) and have money left over - and we don't boondock. Between memberships, longer stays, PPA for point A-B moving, COE parks and the like, it really isn't hard to keep costs down.

And we know lots of people who do it on much less than we do.

Barb

nazpaz has the right idea.

We're fulltimers in our 14th year and belong to a remaining 3 of 6 original CG membership programs which we bought into 12 years ago at a serious discount. TT was not considered at the time nor would we consider it now. Far more expensive buy-in than necessary, even on the aftermarket. We still only use our memberships about 1/2 the time, using monthly rates at serious discounts otherwise.

I just calculated what we've spent in YTD 2014 in nightly fees, membership dues, and even included amortization of the original buy-ins over 12 years. A whopping $3.57/night. Not a misprint and that includes electric when we've had to pay for it additionally , which has been rarely. Although we used to do a fair amount of boodocking, we have only done a handful of nights in '14.

You have to do a lot of homework to save money, but you can do it significantly.
We're currently in a county park in N. central FL right on the Suwanee river. (Think state park setting). In the center of a 650 acre forested preserve, we are among 150 sites, roughly 20 of them occupied as it's off season, don't ya' know. 75 today and low 70's predicted for the next 10 days. Around 40 for the nights. So quiet here you can hear the proverbial pin drop even during the day.

All this including typical amenities plus an indoor heated pool, included wi-fi, at least 10 miles of hiking trails and including electric. $375/month. At $12.10/night, this is the most expensive we will have done all year. We're not complaining. :)

To be sure, this isn't for everyone. If you are the go-go-go, social, on-site "activities" sort, this type of place is not for you and you'll probably pay way more for the "thrill" of available bingo. We hike an average of 5 miles/day but otherwise really enjoy life in the slow lane.

Good luck to you whichever route you choose to take and remember that nothing is graven in stone.

There's lots of good information here but I don't think anyone has mentioned Thousand Trails. There's no telling how much money our membership has saved us but it's a lot.

Try to pick up a used membership - one that gives you park-to-park and at least 2 week stays. This last year we traveled to the northwest and worked our way down the coast, basically moving from one TT to another. Some of them are great, most are average, and a few something less.

You can't beat the price. Once you have the membership you pay annual dues that differ in amount based on the membership you get. Our dues are around $600 a year and we get the first 50 nights at no extra charge (some campgrounds charge an extra $3-5 for 50 amp hookups). After our 50 "free" nights we move to paying $5 a night for the rest of the year.

There are many different contracts out there, so someone is bound to give you different numbers - but all in all, it's a great deal for touring fulltimers.

Last year we averaged around $11.33 a night including all campground membership fees and overnight stays. I think our 2014 numbers will be the same or a little less. I'll be posting my 2014 expenses in my blog (linked below) after the first of the year.

Good luck in your planning.