Best RV club to join

[rwmurphy15]

I will be new at Rving this summer and was wondering which rv organization would be best to sign up with. Good Sam Club, Escapees, or Passport America.

[Festus2]

To some extent, it depends upon what you are looking for in a "RV organization". Are you looking for an RV resort park/campground club that, after paying a sign up fee and sometimes yearly payments as well, you are given a discount at staying at their parks? Are you looking for an all-round group like Good Sam that offers a variety of services: insurance, assistance, trip planning, discounts at GS parks, etc.?

[BillnDeb]

We are new and plan to travel a lot as we migrate into full time RVing. We were given a free membership to Good Sam when we bought our new RV. With it, we get 10% discounts at Camping World, 10% at their listed network of GSC campgrounds and some other benefits. The only one we used so far was free towing when the RV got stuck in sand. The 10% is nice. We don't know how much it cost to join, but we will renew our membership. Passport America is only $39/year. It paid for itself quickly. It doesn't have as many campgrounds, but it gives you 1/2 price stays. Well worth it but some only give the discount for 2 nights-but so far everyone we stayed in waived that. We also joined KOA. Those campgrounds are expensive but you get what you pay for. They are much better and higher caliber campgrounds. Very family oriented. Hope this helps a little.

[rwmurphy15]

I am basically looking for campground discounts., mapping a route showing campgrounds along the route, and any other benefits. But I was not sure if one was better than another or all were the same just different clubs. Passport America looks great for 50 percent off on campgrounds but good sam looks good also for various insurances but less on discounts to campgrounds.

[Festus2]

Good Sam does offer quite a range of services - including emergency road side assistance. Their 10% discount on Good Sam Parks is only valid , I believe, if you pay in cash -- although I may be wrong here. You also get a discount at CW as GS and CW are now "one".

[fla-gypsy]

There is no requirement to belong to a club and they all have pros and cons. Many of us use state parks, COE's, NFS, and NP type CG's almost exclusively and they for the most part do not accept those discount deals. The one thing that I always recommend against is joining a CG/resort membership. Those type of arrangements can be very expensive and rarely work well for all but a very small percentage of those who join them.

[JRTJH]

As Fla-gypsy said, I also recommend against joining a "time share camping organization", at least initially. Most of them are very similar to time share condos in that you get a couple of weeks a year at your "home campground" and "free storage" the rest of the year as well as discount camping at "member campground resorts" throughout the network. The problem with joining during your "learning years" is that if, by chance, you find that camping is not for you, you're still "stuck" with an overly expensive membership that is very difficult to sell. That equates to money lost in many situations.

Good Sam, Passport America and other similar groups may be beneficial for some members. It really is not necessary to join any organization to enjoy camping. I'd suggest that if you feel you "must join" that you consider GS or PA, the choice would depend on which fits your needs best. Stay away from anything "permanent" until you know that camping will be a "permanent part" of your future.

[chris199]

I believe the Passport America membership provides a benefit for stays during the week. Our weekend getaway CG is affiliated with Passport America, but the discount doesn't apply on weekends.

May still be worthwhile, just advise you check with the CG(s) you may be using to get the details. I would have been upset if I paid to join only to find out I never camp where/when the discount applies.

Do your research....Buyer Beware.

Re: Good Sam: This has worked out well. Am Lifetime Member. Have purchased their Travel Assist and Premium Roadside Assistance plans. Premium Roadside Assistance covers my vehicles and RV for the price of our former AAA membership for just our cars. Also found the Good Sam RV insurance to be the lowest I could find.

[limey]

We use Good Sam, but we don't camp anywhere based on getting a discount. In truth, we probably get as many discounts with AAA or AARP as we do with Good Sam. We did find joining KOA useful. Their campgrounds may not be the fanciest, but they are consistent and the guide makes them easy to find - and they have online booking! We mostly use them for one or two night stays on our way to/from a destination. The discount easily pays for the membership.

[BillnDeb]

Rwmurphy15-just re-read this thread and see you are looking for mapping your route features. We are also bikers and are members of HOG-they have a mapping feature, too. We've tried to use the mapping features from there unsuccessfully then tried both PA and GSC. I've been disappointed in their features. I'm the technocrat-love using the web, am the navigator (main thing is looking for travel plazas for gas). We spent about 3 months in our RV when first got it. Long story short, DH loves paper maps and the PA and CSC catalogues. I don't know how he does it, but be finds us fantastic places to visit (we're history buffs) and good campgrounds. He will throw out CG names to check on-we've learned to read reviews (trip advisor has some but there is also http://www.rvparkreviews.com). Very important!!!
Hope this helps a little!
Debbie

[Pmedic4]

When we checked, I was surprised to find campgrounds with the some discount programs would not accept discounts during certain periods. We spoke with several and they opt out during their peak times, so expecting a discount without asking before you travel may be frustrating.
The DW and I don't like some of the private campgrounds, which resemble more parking lots with picnic tables, and it seemed they were the ones who tend towards the discounts.

[limey]

Following on to what BillnDeb said, another good place to find campgrounds, and reviews, is Google Maps. Get the area you are looking in on the map screen, then type "RV Parks" into the search bar. I find this often finds CGs not listed in Woodalls, or in RVParkReviews! Also remember that reviews are personal experiences - and often people ONLY post bad experiences! However, we have found the opposite to be true too! (Maybe our standards are too high?)

[rschad]

We use our trailer summers only and have the basic Kampgrounds of America and basic good Sam. The discounts pay for the memberships with 5 nights use each at a maximum.and we have found that beneficial.

However if we only camped in Canada I don't think we would get them but road trips in the USA make it worth while and since we are only two hours north of the border we do head south in the summer for holidays.

We study atlases for routes and then use a gps during travel with an atlas and my wife as back up navigation. Works well and we sometimes yell at the GPS voice for entertainment.

[Jim Dow]

I joined Good Sam and even took them up on their road service program.

However, I am VERY dissatisfied with their constant pinging me to renew my membership even though it is months before the membership comes up for renewal. Good Sam is as bothersome as they may be helpful!

[ncgrl1]

I will second that. They worry you to death with all the mail they send out.

[JRTJH]

I'm not sure if it's still available or not, but there was a block to check on the "in store" membership to either receive email or postal "announcements". If I remember, there is an option online in the member services area (you must sign in) to elect to stop postal mailings. I think I get 3 or 4 a year, plus the magazine. All the rest comes email and goes straight to my SPAM folder.

Check it out, you might save a tree or two as much as GS sends... LOL

[ncgrl1]

Thanks a bunch...

[CHIEF MK]

We belong to Koa, and good Sam. We also use ARRP, and sometimes my Retired military status. The Koa will pay for itself in no time, Not sure about GS, because we've only been member's since Oct 2013. We did get a GS discount on a campground wee stayed in a couple of nights ago.

I will probably keep both the Koa, and GS. It's just not that expensive, and I like to have as many options I can when travelling. Like the Cost Guard motto states Semper Paratus! (always ready)