My view of RV Memberships
Additions May
2005
Full-Time
RVers need to have park memberships to reduce the cost per night.
There are a wide variety of RV membership park organizations.
We bought memberships to Coast To Coast, RPI, Escapees, GoodSam, AOR,
and Passport America.
Another popular membership we have not purchased is Thousand Trails
Many RVers also belong to Elks Club - which had a great many RV facilities
Membership prices vary
widely.
The upfront cost for a membership to the same organization can cost anywhere
from $200 to $5,000, depending on which 'home park' it is purchased from.
Annual dues vary from $69 to $250.
The rules for each membership also
vary widely
- reservations required/not required from central office
- nightly cost $8 to $10
- sometimes additional costs for pull thru, electricity, telephone, etc.
- maximum stay 1 week/2week/3week on/off season
- limitation on stays within 200 or so miles of 'home park' or your home
address
Escapees is the only
membership group that I am aware of which has a fixed low cost ($60 first
year, $50 renewal) and allows very long stays in most of their co-op parks.
We stayed for 2 months at their Coho park in western Washington for $220 a
month + electricity (approx $70 during winter). They also permit dry camping
for $2.50 and nightly stays with full hook-ups for $12 per night. You can rent
for up to 6 months at Coho without being a lease-holder
We have are on the waiting list to be a leaseholder for an Escapees lot in
Washington State. Became Escapees life
time members in 2004
We, like many RVers also make
frequent single night use of Wal Mart parking lots. Although the
stay is free, you would want to show appreciation by shopping at the Wal Mart
while there. Many, but not all, Wal Marts encourage overnight stays by RVers. A database is kept of the Wal Marts which do not permit overnight parking. The database is
available for only $3 from
http://www.freecampgrounds.com/noparking.html
RV Membership links
http://directory.google.com/Top/Recreation/Outdoors/Camping/Memberships/?il=1
most RV membership parks
http://www.rvnetlinx.com/htclubmember.php3 another comprehensive list of
RV memberships
http://www.coastresorts.com/index.cfm Coast To Coast -
Dropped membership Fall 05 - many
parks dropping it as well
http://www.resortparks.com
RPI 290 parks.
Changed their 125 miles rule Jan 06 - can not
frequently use a park within 125 miles of your residence
http://www.escapees.com/website/ Escapees
Became Escapees life time members in
2004
http://www.whresorts.com/aor/
AOR - a part of Western Horizon
http://www.goodsamclub.com/ GoodSam
- !0% discount in nightly rate, 1600+ parks
http://www.passport-america.com/
50% off nightly rate. Good Canadian coverage.
Very low cost. We joined in April 2005
http://koa.com
Nice campgrounds, they give a modest discount if
you buy a low-cost card. Most KOA now
have WiFi.
http://www.rversonline.org/EdCTC.html 2 page essay of 1/03 on Coast
to Coast
and RPI. Some RVers have had difficulty getting into C2C campgrounds;
only a certain number of spaces may be allocated to C2C, and when those spaces are
full the camper is told there are not C2C spaces left.
Used RV membership links
Here are a few of the web locations where you can buy "used" memberships.
Memberships are often (but not always) sellable
"Used" price may be 1/3 of the "new" price.
Be sure that you find the specific home park acceptable
http://www.rvmemberships.net/index.htm
http://www.rvusa.com/classified/subcat_display.asp?catid=25&subcatid=51
www.membershipresale.com
http://www.vacationresellers.com/campgroundsales.html
http://www.rvnetlinx.com/htclubmember.php3 Used and new memberships
Books we use while planning and
driving- most of these are updated annually
Coast to Coast Resorts Directory includes Good Neighbor Parks
now have parks as icons on our e-map
Resort Parks International
now have parks as icons on our e-map
AOR Camping Guide
now have parks as icons on our e-map
Woodall's - nice, rarely lists any membership campground
Trailer Life nice, rarely lists any membership campground
however, includes
about 1800 Good Sam Club parks (after all, it is their publication)
the Next Exit - for diesel, food, Wal Marts, etc.
near freeways