Passport America

[Cookielady]

We got Passport America and during our 3 month trip, we found 2 campgrounds so far that honor PA and were in the area we were visiting. I imagine it is a good buy but some of the stipulations really make me wonder.
One campground is normally $20 for non-PA. If you are PA, it is $10 a night, $8 for hookups and then they add tax. sounds to me like $20.
Most say, no weekend, no holidays, no special events, extra for hookups, extra for 50 amps, extra for so many different things that it is almost laughable.
One actually stated that PA members were not to use their "visitors pool" Made me feel like they thought we had some kind of disease. If you are up north than you can only use your PA during the winter months which is not going to happen. If you are in Florida or Arizona then it is only for the summer months but not certain ones.
I have to admit, I found that the 2 campgrounds we found were great with no special rules. They were No Name City RV park near Sturgis, SD, and Walden Creek RV Resort in Pigeon Forge, TN.

[JJBIRISH]

does anyone here actually believe that any park owner that has no trouble selling out sites because of its location, weather, location, in a destination location… would want to offer unrestricted discounts…

how about a CG that needs to depend on a short 3 or 4 month season for a years’ worth of revenue, and is full most weekends or holidays during that short season and often before or after the season, would want to offer discounts for the weekends and holidays that book solid at full rate…

or even a park that is only along a high traffic corridor on the path to these and other destinations areas and catches a lot of overflow business have any inclination to offer discounts during the days and times occupancy is high…

does anyone really believe or think that any for profit park has any inclination to offer their prime sites for ½ off for the dates and the rates that already sell for full rate…

is anyone getting the picture here… if you camp in high use destination CG, traveling on the most direct routes to these parks or you insist on FHU pull through sites on the water or with the best views, and only go in season on weekends and major holidays, there is a very good chance PA won’t work as well for you…

for everyone else and for the CG’s, what makes Passport America work and successful is the park can individually tailor the restrictions to meet their needs as well as offer deep discounts when it makes sense for them to do so through PA for a fee normally equal to just 2 or 3 nights savings…

it isn’t very hard to convert those discounts into real savings for many…

[huntram]

We were evacuated from the Silver fire near Banning, CA. I was able to talk my way back up the mountain on Friday (2 day's later) to retrieve my undamaged rig! I needed somewhere to go for 4 nights. I looked on my PA phone app and saw the Golden Village Palm RV Resort was near. I called from the app and they told me they would give me a FREE night for being an evacuee and then 3 half price nights on PA price.
Total price was $76.00 for 4 nights, well really 3 nights because they comped me the one night. Either way I saved $76.00 over the weekend at a very nice resort.
We bought a lifetime membership about 7-8 years ago for $400.00. I believe the deal is still available if you call them.
We fulltime now, so we are thrilled to have PA as our third option.

[pnichols]

dieharder wrote:
It's not going to work for everyone, but, if you plan ahead, you can definitely have it pay for itself in relatively short time.

We're PA members and find the above to be about the case.

However, if you don't want to plan ahead and just want to wander in your RV without hard plans - like we do - PA can be a real hit or miss situation. What we find is the biggest negative with PA is the extra gas you sometimes have to burn just to find a PA campground that will honor the PA rate that night close to where you'd like to camp that night. Round trip to-and-from gas cost in a 9-10 MPG RV so as to reach a PA campground can negate PA savings real fast for quick one-two night stays.

On the other hand, we've noticed that many PA campgrounds are kindof in out-of-the-way and/or obscure places ... which is exactly the type campgrounds we like. One of our most enjoyable campground experiences we've had was at a full hookup hard-to-find PA campground on an Indian Reservation for only $10 per night. We could walk into the reservation wilderness right from the CG ... and only one othr RV was in the CG for only one of our nights there.

[restlesswind]

We are staying at a PA park in Silverton OR. We'll have stayed for 3 weeks when we leave.The entire stay is at the PA rate,I figure that our membership will be
"paid up" for over the next 10 years with the amount saved.
We are "happy campers"!

[dieharder]

PA did very well for us when we first bought it. We bought 3 years back in early 2010. The first trip, for 2 weeks at Easter, spend 4 days at Jolly Roger Travel Park in the Keys, all discounted, and, on the way back, 4 days in the Encore resort in Ormond Beach, all discounted. That paid for more than the 3 year membership right there in that one trip.

It's not going to work for everyone, but, if you plan ahead, you can definitely have it pay for itself in relatively short time.

[AprilWhine]

For overnight stops en route, I'll stick with WalMart. Because half of nothing is nothing, and WalMart has room to turn a 65' rig. 😉

[Bumpyroad]

Cookielady wrote:
I was just reading through our PA directory and ran across a good one. "No PA discount from 10 days before to 10 days after a holiday" Wow! Of course, they have the right but it seems a bit much.

so one campground is unacceptable to you. that only leaves about 18,000 to go. I am curious however as to which campground that was. must be a popular holiday destination.
bumpy

[Bumpyroad]

CincyGus wrote:

Anyone not happy with the PA discount program in my opinion didn't take enough time on the front end to research if it fit their style of camping and availability of PA campgrounds in their camping area's. All the information you need to make an informed decision is openly there on their website for all to see without having to sign up first. Do your homework.

x2
bumpy

[Cookielady]

I was just reading through our PA directory and ran across a good one. "No PA discount from 10 days before to 10 days after a holiday" Wow! Of course, they have the right but it seems a bit much.

[crabbin_cabin]

OP has excagerated. Our home park (Resort) in Mesa AZ accepts P.A. year around. I see it being used every day during the snowbird season in my volunteer job as a Park ambassador. All Cal-am parks also accept PA!

Sure do wish he/she had provided some cg names where. she had such results. That would be very useful information for us - fellow travelers.

[Granted]

Cookielady wrote:
They were No Name City RV park near Sturgis, SD, and Walden Creek RV Resort in Pigeon Forge, TN.

We stay at Eagles Nest in Pigeon Forge, TN all the time and they allow use for the entire stay. We have even stayed 2 weeks at a time and got the discount.

[RAS43]

What CincyGus said!!:B I have always saved more then the membership costs and enjoyed the campgrounds we found.

[CincyGus]

In my experience it boils down to this.

You have to examine if the parks you will visit or in the area's you most often camp at, travel through are PA campgrounds. PA's 50% discount is a much bigger discount than almost any other camping discount. Yes, there are restrictions. Some say only a 2 days, some say only Sunday-Wednesday or Thursday. Some say no holidays. Some have other restrictions.

If your a holiday weekend camper, your likely not going to be able to use the PA discount those weekends. If your a long weekend only camper, again, might not be for you. If your like me and take 3-4 week long camping trips and can save 50% off a $20-$30 a night campsite for Sunday-Wednesday or Thursday, you can see that it pays for itself pretty quickly, generally on the first or second full week camping trip. I have also gone to doing long weekends on Friday night through Monday or Tuesday night which allows me to use it on Sunday and Monday besides the benefit of the campground being less crowded on Sunday afternoon-Tuesday morning.

I also have the Good Sam discount card and most places I camp, allow use of both, just not for the same days fees. So I get 50% off the days the campground allow PA and my Good Sam Discount the days they don't.

It's all about educating yourself about the restrictions on the campgrounds you usually visit, checking availability of PA campgrounds through area's you travel and stay and trying to utilize it when you can. You will find that it's mostly accepted at campgrounds that are seldom at capacity (except holiday weekends) which fits right in with my desire to camp at places that are not crowded.

Anyone not happy with the PA discount program in my opinion didn't take enough time on the front end to research if it fit their style of camping and availability of PA campgrounds in their camping area's. All the information you need to make an informed decision is openly there on their website for all to see without having to sign up first. Do your homework.

[Bumpyroad]

I was completely satisfied with my Passport America membership. yes there are restrictions, just read the rules ahead of time. the web site lists members. if none where you want' to travel, don't buy it. two nights a year pays for the membership.

bumpy