What Camping/RV'ing Clubs, Orgs, do you belong to?

[Silverado333]

Hello All!

New to the RV'ing world and I would like to know what Clubs, Organizations you all subscribe to, and why? What benefits differentiate from one from the others? Store discounts, camping discounts, miscellaneous benefits, mail service, etc.?

Are you members of more than one? If yes, which one and why?

Thanks for your time!!

Steve

[el Rojo]

Passport America is the best camping discount card out there at participating RV parks. It's 1/2 off on camping but not usually permitted in the parks busy season. If you decide to get one tell them I referred you and they give me 3 free months on my subscription. It's $40 per year and you usually save $20 per night of use.

Red

[MooManChu]

We joined FMCA. They opened up to all RV owners. They offer all kind of discounts. We’ve looked at deals like cell service, insurance, tires


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[livinthelife]

Hello All!

New to the RV'ing world and I would like to know what Clubs, Organizations you all subscribe to, and why? What benefits differentiate from one from the others? Store discounts, camping discounts, miscellaneous benefits, mail service, etc.?

Are you members of more than one? If yes, which one and why?

Thanks for your time!!

Steve

Good Sam, KOA, Passport America, AAA. Used to belong to Thousand Trails, but canceled. Basically they all have discounts for varied products/services.

Also have a Golden Age pass to national parks.

[Silverado333]

Good Sam, KOA, Passport America, AAA. Used to belong to Thousand Trails, but canceled. Basically they all have discounts for varied products/services.

Also have a Golden Age pass to national parks.

I am an existing AAA member, and just added AAA+RV yesterday, also joined Good Sam's yesterday as well. Was looking at Thousand Trails, but not sure I care for that Regional Option?? Also considering Passport America. I "assumed" Good Sam's and/or would include KOA's - do I really need to consider joining KOA as well, or do the others not include them?

Thanks!

[RoJoSo]

KOA has been good to us and for us.
We saved substantial camping fees. The membership quickly paid for itself.

[traveldawg]

Lifetime GoodSam member - purchased a lot of years ago.

Passport America - need to use it 2 or 3 time a year to have it pay off.

FMCA - just rejoined so I can go with my local group; has a really good tire purchasing plan

Was a member of Coast-To-Coast for years; finally dropped it as too many campgrounds just used it a lure and/or were sub-par or didn't welcome non-members of their park.

Dropped harvest Host - locations generally weren't convenient to where I was traveling.

[Second Chance]

• Escapees RV Club: we are members because Escapees provides our legal domicile and mail forwarding services (full-timers). They also have a network of Rainbow and co-op RV parks across the country that we utilize and are a great deal for Escapees members. In addition, Escapees has a nation-wide discount program with lots of participating parks and campgrounds - often the same ones that participate in Good Sam and other programs.
• Passport America: I agree with @el Rojo that this membership gives the best discounts. However, we have not been able to utilize it much because of the limited number of parks and campgrounds that participate and/or the weekend and “peak times” exclusions. We decided not to renew this year.
• Good Sam Club: this membership occasionally gives us a 5% discount on camping fees, but there are few other benefits to membership. Services in other areas from the club have a spotty reputation, too. We will probably not renew this next time.
• FMCA: we recently joined because we wanted access to their one RV park near Cincinnati, OH – it’s only 10 minutes from one of our kids and his family. We had been talking about getting a medical emergency and travel assistance insurance plan for full-timers for a number of years and a very good plan of this type is part of FMCA membership. We got two birds with one stone on this one!
• America the Beautiful - National Parks & Federal Recreational Lands Senior Pass: even after the big increase in the price for this card, it's still worth it if you plan to stay in national parks or in National Forest campgrounds. It's gives a 50% discount on base camping fees. We don't use ours much any more, but it's nice to have it in case a national park fits into our plans.
• State passes for various states. States such as Texas, New Mexico and others have state passes similar to the NP senior pass. They are usually annual and the discounts vary - but they are usually worth the money if they fit your plans and style.

Any membership that's primarily aimed at getting discounts at campgrounds and RV parks is not as valuable to us because we can usually get the same (or better) discount with our military ID cards. We also use military FamCamps a lot and, of course, civilian RV club memberships don't work at those.

The bottom line is that what makes sense for you depends on how and where you will travel, how many nights per year you will spend out, and what kinds of places you like to stay.

Rob

[livinthelife]

I am an existing AAA member, and just added AAA+RV yesterday, also joined Good Sam's yesterday as well. Was looking at Thousand Trails, but not sure I care for that Regional Option?? Also considering Passport America. I "assumed" Good Sam's and/or would include KOA's - do I really need to consider joining KOA as well, or do the others not include them?

Thanks!

KOA is it's own entity. It's not part of any other group. But, you don't have to belong to KOA to stay at their campgrounds, you just get discounts if you do belong.

[Second Chance]

I am an existing AAA member, and just added AAA+RV yesterday, also joined Good Sam's yesterday as well. Was looking at Thousand Trails, but not sure I care for that Regional Option?? Also considering Passport America. I "assumed" Good Sam's and/or would include KOA's - do I really need to consider joining KOA as well, or do the others not include them?

Thanks!

KOA is a stand-alone as far as membership is concerned.

Rob