Passport America Experience

[Capt_RonB]

We towed our travel trailer from Florida to Washington State this past summer logging 15,000 miles overall. We stayed in Passport America RV Parks a few times. Going into this trip we joined PA but I had my doubts about whether it was worth it. Now after the trip, I would say, definitely worth it.

We used both the PA website and the PA smartphone app to find camp grounds near our travel path. Both work quite well although the website map works better than the app. I would also qualify my comments by saying that we prefer camping on federal lands to staying in an RV Park but sometimes you need wifi or a laundry.

We stayed in a wide variety of parks, mostly in the north western parts of the country. The quality of the parks varied from marginal to excellent.

About the only negative thing we have to say is that some parks limit the PA discount to weekdays or not on holidays or limit the PA discount to 1 or 2 days only. These restrictions can be worked around and they're spelled out on the PA write-ups so you should know this going in.

Read the member reviews of the parks keeping in mind that there are a wide variety of expectations that color the reviews. Reviews by someone with a 40ft motor-home may not be meaningful to a camper with a 13ft Scamp and vice-versa.

All campgrounds have drawbacks, all have advantages but overall, Passport America paid for itself in the first 4 campgrounds we visited and we stayed in at least a dozen different PA RV Parks.

We'll renew our membership for next year's travels; easily worth it.

[Dutch_12078]

arnko37 wrote:
Somebody correct me if I am wrong but I believe you can use PA Florida address for mail forwarding and also as your home address if you are a full timer.

Passport America doesn't offer mail forwarding itself, but PA members do get a 10% discount at Florida based MyRVmail..

[Rancher_Will]

We became lifetime members of Passport America years ago when it first began. I don't even remember what the cost to join was then. I do know that we have saved well over a Thousand Dollars, I believe closer to three thousand, camping fees with Passport America.

We travel every month of the year almost always stay in more than one Passport park on each trip. We also try to stay in a Good Sam Park when a Passport Park is not available, so we have realized significant discounts with Good Sam too.

[arnko37]

Somebody correct me if I am wrong but I believe you can use PA Florida address for mail forwarding and also as your home address if you are a full timer.

[Allworth]

From the CG owner's point of view, it is better to get half price rent from a PA member than it is to have a space sit empty and bring in nothing. The empty space is called an "opportunity cost" and does nothing to offset fixed overhead.

PA keeps the entire $40 and advertises the CG to members.

Coast to Coast works the same way (albeit more expensively for members, but with a $10/night fixed rent.)

Park Service is the best deal of all.

[Empty_Nest__Soo]

bukhrn wrote:
CaptRon, the ONLY Rv'ing deal I've found better than PA, is the America the Beautiful Senior Pass, $10 for Lifetime, . . .

+1

America the Beautiful Senior Pass is good for 50% discount on camping at National Parks, National Forest, Corps of Engineers. I went to the nearest Forest Service office and bought mine within a day or two of my 62nd birthday. Saved the $10 (and lots more) within a week or so when I went camping at a National Forest campground.

It's also good for free admission to many Federal Parks, etc., not only for me but also for DW.

Many State Parks also offer discount camping for seniors. Ask!

Wayne

[bukhrn]

CaptRon, the ONLY Rv'ing deal I've found better than PA, is the America the Beautiful Senior Pass, $10 for Lifetime, but you are spot on about PA, we've been members for 8 years and have saved a lot of money using it.

"some parks limit the PA discount to weekdays or not on holidays or limit the PA discount to 1 or 2 days only. These restrictions can be worked around and they're spelled out on the PA write-ups so you should know this going in."

this part of your post seems to be the biggest gripe of nay sayers, but as you pointed out, IF you read the restrictions of each campground, (some have no restrictions) you should have NO surprises.

[huntram]

lanerd wrote:

huntram wrote:
And depending on your future plans and your age (lol) it might be worth looking into a lifetime pass. For $400.00 you'll never have to pay PA again. We did that when we were in our late 40s. We went full time in our mid 50s about 3.5 year's ago and have MORE then paid for the lifetime pass! It's not a destination usually for us, but it does keep costs down when getting there!

I guess I'm confused as to where the lifetime pass will be beneficial. If three or four stays will pay for the "yearly" dues, why would you put out 400 bucks all at once for a lifetime pass?

Personally, I don't see where Passport America can make a profit. Do they charge the participating rv parks for being one of their parks? Seems to me for them to make a profit, many of the people who purchase the yearly dues don't utilize it enough to pay for the pass. Is Passport America part of the Good Sam Enterprises?

Ron

$44 a year means in 9 years I would have paid $400 bucks. We bought a lifetime when I was 49. We have used it every year since. I will be 60 in November and the wife and I have been full timing for 3.5 years now. Just last year we saved more than the cost of the membership. But the main point I was making is that if you will use it more than 9 years buy the lifetime. We are on our 11th year and at 60 believe we have many more to come! 🙂
If you are in your 70s, mathematics would suggest not to buy the lifetime. And to hedge our bets I had them put both the wife and my name on the card. Lol!

[restlesswind]

We have stayed in one park 3 times for 2 weeks at a time. We saved enough to pay for 9 years of membership fees. The many other times we have stayed at PP parks over the past 9+ years have been icing on the cake.
Some parks do have some fairly tight restrictions, if the timing works out for us, fine. If not, that's just the way it goes.
.

[ReadyToGo]

How does PA make money?
It's easy. The membership fee is their money, not the parks. They don' t make or loose money if a member stays at parks 100 times or zero times.

[mockturtle]

Although I seldom use PA parks, it is often enough to pay for membership.

[edbehnke]

lenrd, Passport A. options, annual and lifetime just gives one flexiblity. As for us, we went with lifetime and we figure it is worth it for us.

As for wondering how Passport A. makes a profit, who cares?

[Dutch_12078]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

lanerd wrote:

huntram wrote:
And depending on your future plans and your age (lol) it might be worth looking into a lifetime pass. For $400.00 you'll never have to pay PA again. We did that when we were in our late 40s. We went full time in our mid 50s about 3.5 year's ago and have MORE then paid for the lifetime pass! It's not a destination usually for us, but it does keep costs down when getting there!

I guess I'm confused as to where the lifetime pass will be beneficial. If three or four stays will pay for the "yearly" dues, why would you put out 400 bucks all at once for a lifetime pass?

Personally, I don't see where Passport America can make a profit. Do they charge the participating rv parks for being one of their parks? Seems to me for them to make a profit, many of the people who purchase the yearly dues don't utilize it enough to pay for the pass. Is Passport America part of the Good Sam Enterprises?

Ron

Passport makes their money off your $40.00 a year membership. They don't pay any money to the parks. It is purely a marketing scheme.

And no, PA is not part of GSE. Good Sam tried to run a similar program some years ago, but it failed.

[westernrvparkow]

lanerd wrote:

huntram wrote:
And depending on your future plans and your age (lol) it might be worth looking into a lifetime pass. For $400.00 you'll never have to pay PA again. We did that when we were in our late 40s. We went full time in our mid 50s about 3.5 year's ago and have MORE then paid for the lifetime pass! It's not a destination usually for us, but it does keep costs down when getting there!

I guess I'm confused as to where the lifetime pass will be beneficial. If three or four stays will pay for the "yearly" dues, why would you put out 400 bucks all at once for a lifetime pass?

Personally, I don't see where Passport America can make a profit. Do they charge the participating rv parks for being one of their parks? Seems to me for them to make a profit, many of the people who purchase the yearly dues don't utilize it enough to pay for the pass. Is Passport America part of the Good Sam Enterprises?

Ron

Passport makes their money off your $40.00 a year membership. They don't pay any money to the parks. It is purely a marketing scheme.

[lanerd]

huntram wrote:
And depending on your future plans and your age (lol) it might be worth looking into a lifetime pass. For $400.00 you'll never have to pay PA again. We did that when we were in our late 40s. We went full time in our mid 50s about 3.5 year's ago and have MORE then paid for the lifetime pass! It's not a destination usually for us, but it does keep costs down when getting there!

I guess I'm confused as to where the lifetime pass will be beneficial. If three or four stays will pay for the "yearly" dues, why would you put out 400 bucks all at once for a lifetime pass?

Personally, I don't see where Passport America can make a profit. Do they charge the participating rv parks for being one of their parks? Seems to me for them to make a profit, many of the people who purchase the yearly dues don't utilize it enough to pay for the pass. Is Passport America part of the Good Sam Enterprises?

Ron