RV private camp memberships ?

[Mbrown]

Just got introduced to the world of RV Memberships(AOR,WH,ROD,C2C) and what a complex and interesting subject it is.I'm very suprised not to see more references to it on this forum.
You have the Elitists and Entitled pitted against young families (with KIDS ), partiers,and newbies.
Anyhow I'm finding it difficult to filter through all these different memberships because the park we really like and is close by is private which I was unaware of until a Membership rep showed up.
(they allow public camping because membership is down, I guess)
So what memberships do you like or belong to, and which ones should I steer clear of ?

[lfcjasp]

Okay, checked how many nights we will have spent only as TT members (we'd stayed a few times before joining and never went to one of their info meetings, btw): 6 at one site, 4 at the other. Basic charge was $50 at the first, $51 at the second: $504 on a $450 discounted membership. Not bad if I did my math right:) This doesn't include taxes.

It will cost us $550 to renew so we still need to think about this IMHO.

[lfcjasp]

We are currently using up our Thousand Trails membership and so far so good. We have two TT cg's near us that we like. I really need to figure up how much we would have spent compared to the cost of membership and see how close we are to at least breaking even. We've been going back and forth about renewing (it's coming up soon, mid-Sept. I believe. Once I crunch the numbers, we'll know what to do.

I'll be retiring early in the spring hopefully and will be better able to be prepared when DH gets off work and we hope to do a lot more camping. So far have four reservations, three of which are at TT cg's, up through mid-August. This doesn't include our previous trips...

[VAfan]

This tread is great - lots of great advice / info. Try not to get locked into any membership. Most membership campgrounds are now allowing the public and offer yearly memberships (Thousand Trails) and are all about keeping the corporate hierarchy wealthy.
We learned the hard way and now feel locked in. The reason we joined one (Thousand Trails) was because we loved what they consider our home park. Enjoyed it for multiple years thinking we would eventually break even at some point. The park now has a fraction of the transient sites (converted to permanent) they had when we joined and is allowing the public in. So they have succeeded in the objective of keeping the campground full and generating lots of income from the permanent sites…while the long time members are scratching our heads thinking “what happened?”

[JEBar]

with campground memberships a few factors should get careful consideration

1. location .... if the CG/CG's are where you want to go a membership should be considered .... if not, no matter how good a deal it may be, a membership would be worthless

2. economics .... its always nice to make a profit on something like this but it isn't mandatory .... the decision boils down to if the cost involved is worth it to you

3. preferences .... do the CG/CG's offer the amenities that are important to you .... if so, that would be positive .... if not, a major negative

the recommendation to, when possible, buy a "used" membership is a good one .... we purchased a used Thousand Trails membership back in '02 .... some years we saved money, some years we broke even, some years we lost money .... during that time the enjoyment we got from camping at their parks was worth the cost .... now that we have retired and have more time, the economics have tilted heavily in our favor

Jim

[beemerphile1]

Mbrown wrote:

...which ones should I steer clear of?

Unless you are retired with unlimited travel time, you should steer clear of all the ones you indicated. A working stiff will never have enough time to get their money's worth out of them.

[davosfam]

We purchased a lot in a membership campground and pay annual membership dues on it. The lot is ours and only ours and we leave our fifth wheel on it year round. Our dues run about $700 a year which is probably about what we would pay for storage fees. The campground has a swimming pool, clean bathrooms and water and electricity are included in the dues.

If you like to camp closer to home, this is the way to go. We are 45 minutes away, It is so difficult to get reservations at campgrounds in WA and OR, especially if there is more than just our family camping.

[milo]

You know DW & I have been thru all 4 stages...

Started out as "partiers"... mid 20's
then the "young family w/kids" times ...late 20's - early 50's
& thru the elitist stage after kids abandoned us mid 50's - mid 60's
and now we're the "entitled" ..drawing SS & Medicare ...LOL!

Been C2C members since the late 80's

Life was/is fantastic and gettin better everyday
Milo

[ridingfamily4]

in my opinion - do not buy Thousand Trails! We bought 10 years ago as an investment for our future. The company has been bought and sold so many times, changing CEO's, etc that we no longer recognize it as the same company we bought into. Our membership has changed so many times, I no longer even know what "level" membership we have. I have called TT and asked someone to call me and discuss our membership and what I am told is to wait for a "meeting" to be held in our area. They hold these meetings and try to upsell the current membership. We went to one, tried to ask questions during, were told we had to wait until the end to ask questions, then found out that we held one of the top memberships. We wasted 3 hours (including travel time) going to this stupid meeting. That was 5 years ago. I still have no idea what we can / can't do with our current membership. We rarely use it. I think we should sell, but DH thinks of the money lost ... catch 22.

[DutchmenSport]

Elitists and Entitled?

Elitists: Mr. and Mrs. Howell
Entitled: Ginger and the Skipper
Newbies: Mary Ann, the Professor
Partiers: Gilligan

Unfortunately, it does apply far too often.

Elitists are too snub to make any changes to be associated with the "common person" (Often times people who are seasonal type campers feel they are among the "elete" group because they've been there the longest and know it all.

Entitled are there because of a position of responsibility, although they may never get paid for doing it. Or at least some folks believe they have a certain element of responsibility ... like yelling or tracking down people who are speeding in the campground.

Newbies: They have no stake in anything yet, but really want to feel a part of everything. Unfortunately they usually do not, because the Elitists and the Entitled won't let them in their circles.

Partiers: They just don't give a care about anything. They are their for themselves, and as long as everyone leaves them and their beer alone, they don't care who runs what or who does what. They just want to sit back and enjoy the moment.

Ok, so Gilligan's Island might not be a perfect match, but it was the best one I could think of to describe the difference that everyone on this thread seems to be tip-toeing around!

Call it what it is.

Elete: Socially privilaged
Entitled: Sense of belonging
Newbies: Show genuine interest, but can't get into the inner circles
Partier: Don't care about the politics or logistics of anything, just have fun for the moment!

[lanerd]

Mbrown wrote:
Well lets just say we got some looks and heard comments about letting the "Public' in to their campground,and had a feeling of discrimination because we didn't have a 2014 46ft class A pusher, also read many of the membership forum websites.

lanerd wrote:

Mbrown wrote:

You have the Elitists and Entitled pitted against young families (with KIDS ), partiers,and newbies.

???:h Not sure what you mean about the above statement especially the Elitists and Entitled part.

We only have Good Sam. If we travel alot, we will invest in Passport America. We have good friends who belong to Thousand Trails and use it or the Elks exclusively.

It all depends upon how much you travel

'

Again, no disrespect, but I still don't see how your statement "You have the Elitists and Entitled pitted against young families (with KIDS ), partiers,and newbies." can be attributed to a few looks and/or comments.

Are you referring to the "Elitists and Entitled" as the owners? And which are you...young family with kids, partiers (sic), or newbies...or all three?

I bet that if you went up and introduced yourself and got to know those that are giving you looks and making comments, your outlook would be much different.

Ron

[Mbrown]

After further research, these private memberships appear to cater to Fulltimers. We are just weekend warriors so the cost savings doesn't
seem to make a membership a viable option other than getting into more exclusive parks.

[dahkota]

Escapees and Passport America. Both have already paid for themselves. We are in a Passport America campground right now for 3 days. Total savings: $51 - more than the cost of membership.

For us, a campground membership such as Thousand Trails would make no sense. We don't stick to 'zones.'

[mdamerell]

You need to do your homework. See how much you plan to use it and see how long it takes you to reach your breakeven point.

We normally stay in private CG's so I figure an average of $40 a night. My maintenance fees are just under $400 a year. So I need at least 10 nights a year to break even there. A seasonal site runs $1,600 to $2,000 a year plus utilities so I figure that against my buy in.

We just rented a cabin and a campsite for a week for a family reunion at a private campground and the bills $1,100. I could do the same week at my "home CG" for $250.

I only pay $200 a year camper storage (outside) which saves me money. I can rent pontoon boat for $20 a day plus fuel. I can also rent canoes and kayaks for a couple of bucks a day. I camp 13 days as part of my membership for "free" then I come off site for 5 days or buy my "off week" for $150 and leave it on site. We have year round access to all facilities including the indoor pool and club house.

Last year we spent over 100 nights there. This year we have around 30 nights so far. Getting ready to spend 10 nights or so over the 4th of July.

Like I said. Do the math and see what works for you.

When we want it, we can activate C2C for the year but unless we plan to use it we don't automatically renew the C2C.

[Valkyriebush]

Escapees, Good Sam, Camp Club USA. Good place to start.