Passport America

I am a Life Member of Good Sam, Life Member of Passport America, pass member of Escapees, and current member of FMCA.

I would expect a non-Passport America campground to point out any negatives of their competitors. I would also expect to find some negatives in any campground.

I have used Good Sam campgrounds, Escapee campgrounds, KOA campgrounds, Yogi Bears Jellystone campgrounds, state parks, national parks, county parks, Passport America Campground, Independent campgrounds, and lots of others.

Passport America is a camping club that has a working agreement with all the others campgrounds that are interested in maximizing their sales and filling their sites. If Passport America campgrounds are not satisfactory it is because the other campgrounds are at fault; Passport America does not own the parks. Same with Good Sam, I have been some good ones and some bad ones.

Basically if you are prepared to jump through a few hoops PA is well worth the fee.

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Finally, there is no law saying their regular price has to be a fair market. If the Passport park is $40 and a better located park with superior amenities that accepts the normal 10% discounts has a published price of $35 you aren't really saving the $20.00 discount the Passport park offers. There are more than one Passport Park that has inflated it's rack price in order to offer that 50% discount.

mockturtle wrote:
Just to name one really excellent RV park you can use your PA membership for: New Frontier RV Park in Winnemucca, NV.

New Frontier is actually a good example of what can go on with PA parks. (And it does look really nice for a desert RV park.)

Their PA page says the normal rate is $35, and the PA rate is $17.50. It's not good on pull-thrus, and the PA discount can't be combined with any other discount, including the discounted winter rate.

If you go to the park's own site, it says the normal rate is $35-$40 and it looks like the higher rate is for pull-thrus. Kudos to them for basing their PA discount on that instead of the $40.

However, their discounted winter rate is $20-$25. But the PA rate is off the "normal" $35 rate even in the winter, so if you're there from mid-October to mid-April, then you'd be paying $17.50 for a site that would cost $20 without the PA discount. Better than nothing, but you're having to pay for the PA membership to get a $2.50 discount.

It might still be advisable to join PA, depending on if you're likely to use PA elsewhere. But the devil can be in the details, so don't approach it as a blanket 50% discount off what you'd otherwise be paying if you walked in off the street.

Like most things, it depends on how you recreate. It works great for us and we use it. Read the details and if it doesn't work for you, don't buy it.
It isn't rocket science.

Same with everything else. Escapees wasn't something that would work for us a few years ago. Now, its a huge bargain. Its all in how YOU camp.

Glad I'm not the only one thinks it's a bargain. The commons thread I see is "when traveling' and Sunday through Thursday. Those that spend time in the RV know you need settled before the weekend, especially during the summer when kids are out of school.

Also please note - for those indicating they have used Good Sam , AARP, AAA -- many of the parks that you get your discount at ALSO belong to Passport America and you could have gotten 50% off the nightly rate instead of paying more. We have used PA for 9 years and have saved a ton of money. Many of the parks are very nice while others were good for an overnight stay, but would not be a destination park.

mockturtle wrote:
Just to name one really excellent RV park you can use your PA membership for: New Frontier RV Park in Winnemucca, NV.

We agree - New Frontier is a great park! We stayed there twice last summer - on our way to Minot, ND and on our way home.

Just to name one really excellent RV park you can use your PA membership for: New Frontier RV Park in Winnemucca, NV.

Worth every penny - certainly.

But, I would not recommend anyone expect to get PA for major discounts on destination stops. There are a few places.

Mainly for us, full-timers approaching 6 years on the road, PA works best from travel between destinations. One or two night stops, mostly Sun - Thurs nights.

For a couple reasons, we've found it best to travel early in the week and not be on the road on Friday or Saturday. Doesn't always work out that way, but that's the goal.

Our savings vary from year to year. Having our last home in Texas, and my kids and grandkids living there, we more often stay at COE parks. A lot of them in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, even a few nicely placed for enroute stops in South Dakota. Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia also have a lot of COE campgrounds. We tend to use those because they are recreation parks, not RV parking lots. Four days without sewer is not a problem for us, if the restrooms are nice.

If you or the DW is 62, you absolutely must get the federal government Senior Pass. Even if you don't camp much at COE/ USFS/ NPS/ BLM campgrounds, just savings on the free day use passes to federal parks and recreation facilities will be significant.

PA is a low cost additional option. Not a primary campground choice for all the time.

LadyRVer wrote:
I am a Lifetime Member and the membership has more than paid for itself. So far, used it for 19 years. Some awesome parks, some mid-level. Only one park did I pull into and pull out. Pros and cons with all. And, one I recently stayed in was a 5 star park for 24.00 a night. 30 amp. Just because I choose to stay in PPA parks does not mean I am trailer trash.

Same here. Lifetime members. Just drove up out of Florida using PPA. Stayed at a Jellystone for $31.50 a night. FHU/50 A. Then stayed in Gulf Shores for $20 a night on a concrete pad/FHU/50A. Nothing wrong with that. We have saved thousands of dollars over 15 years of fulltiming. Not all super deluxe parks, but some have been. Worth every penny.

Dale