Coast to Coast

[5J's]

Anyone have any experience with the Coast to Coast membership group? Just trying to get some input on being a part of this thing.

[travelin texans]

My Dad had it for a while, don't remember him saying anything negative. Camping World always had a kiosk for Thousand Trails & they set us up a free weekend trying to sell us a membership, after visiting the free site there was NO WAY I'd of spent the $$$ on a membership, the park was a dump.
For the amount of $$ these type of memberships charge their parks should ALL be immaculate & you can stay a lot of nights at other parks for that amount.
We were Passport America members for a year, but way too many blackout days, don't think we ever recouped the cost of the membership. Others will disagree about both PA & other memberships, these are MY opinions only.

[flybouy]

Specifically Coast to Coast I have no experience. I think any of the membership deals need to be weighed on how you will use and benefit from it. We have Passport America and saved the membership many times over but we are retired and travel on weekdays when the discount is good. When our oldest daughter was first married and lived in Aston PA we had KOA membership and it payed for itself when we would camp at Phili KOA but after she moved we didn't renew because it wasn't worth it.

[m&m]

Have been C2C members over 10 yrs. Just finished a 10K trip coast to coast. Figured we saved about 3K in park fees.
It only works if you use it and you get a resale. I stay with it cause I do a lot of camping now I have taken friends and family with me on trips and they pay my price.

[ken56]

Just like with the gym membership you have to use it to get your moneys worth. We joined when we bought our 1st trailer in 2012 because our home park was 6 miles from our home and we used it as much as the rules allowed. We have also traveled across the country and used C2C parks when we could. Some parks are Passport members too and allow nonmembers to camp. You need to understand the rules and limitations too. 10 bucks a night when traveling can be a big savings but C2C parks are not everywhere. If you could meet someone who is a member and have them show you what is involved then that would be the thing to do. It took me a while to learn the ropes.

[5J's]

Have been C2C members over 10 yrs. Just finished a 10K trip coast to coast. Figured we saved about 3K in park fees.
It only works if you use it and you get a resale. I stay with it cause I do a lot of camping now I have taken friends and family with me on trips and they pay my price.We were told that we get 8 guest vouchers a year for guests to stay. That can be used when we stay or without us. Also we were told C2C are free for us and Good Sam parks are a 10% discount. The closest C2C is about an hour away so it's not too bad.

[5J's]

Just like with the gym membership you have to use it to get your moneys worth. We joined when we bought our 1st trailer in 2012 because our home park was 6 miles from our home and we used it as much as the rules allowed. We have also traveled across the country and used C2C parks when we could. Some parks are Passport members too and allow nonmembers to camp. You need to understand the rules and limitations too. 10 bucks a night when traveling can be a big savings but C2C parks are not everywhere. If you could meet someone who is a member and have them show you what is involved then that would be the thing to do. It took me a while to learn the ropes.So it sounds like there are no free CTC parks other than your "home" resort. This is what I'm beginning to find out as I research. Is that your experience?

[mazboy]

In my opinion a waster of money. it is just a timeshare concept.

It is amazing to hear when people say they saved money using this.....they never seem to factor in the initial $1000+ cost to buy the timeshare.

If you do decide to still buy a memebership, buy a resale. You can get them from below or even EBay. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=coast+to+coast+membership&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=coast+to+coast

when you finally decide that it wasn't a good deal here is where you can TRY to sell it. https://www.buyatimeshare.com/resorts/Coast-to-Coast-Campground-Membership.asp

[5J's]

Do you have direct experience?

[m&m]

My camper sleeps 10. I have found that many pks. have limits but as a c2c member I was cut a break many times.
My home park is in a high demand area that increases the price at times. When we visit the norm price is $40(non members). Membership/maint. fee is $300 yr. I go many times during the yr. staying 2wks each time. Even during peak season I can stay free but want 50amp. An extra $5 a day. During peak season its $55-65 a day.
As much as I camp I don't loose
Being a Vet initial price c2c was greatly reduced.
In 2017 stayed at a Texas RV pk with friends. Great park very costly. They paid $10. a day.
If you use it right it is good "if" you get resale. C2C is changing. Not so many pks. now.
PM me if want more info.

[ken56]

So it sounds like there are no free CTC parks other than your "home" resort. This is what I'm beginning to find out as I research. Is that your experience?

No there are no free C2C campgrounds OTHER THAN your home park. As a guest at any other park it is 10 buck, or 1000 trip points as they make you buy trip points to use at those other parks.


Then there is the Good Neighbor affiliate parks that will give a discounted rate and all can be different. They used to be 15 bucks a night but that was changed last year.

[Jefster]

How are you looking at Coast to Coast without a local membership? I had someone trying to sell us a membership group in Michigan that came with Coast to Coast. The Coast to Coast part I was interested in, the local part not so much. I thought you had to buy into a local membership group in order to get access?

[5J's]

Yep you're right. You must have a local membership.

[Jefster]

Yep you're right. You must have a local membership.

Gotcha. My local membership is $8000 + $500 per year in maintenance fees. And it's a contract, so you owe them those maintenance fees every year until you die. I don't think there is a way to cancel the contract.

For the right price, I think I would use it, and the C2C part is definitely intriguing. But not $8000 intriguing to me:)

[5J's]

Yep, that's where we're at $8000 and $700 annual "maintenance" fee. The "maintenance fee is just that and if you stop paying it you loose your membership. It's not a foreclosure or anything because you don't own anything per say. For that cost we get two parks in our membership group, all the CTC parks ( not sure if they're free or a $10/night rate) and an undetermined discount on the Good Neighbor Parks as well as 10% off Good Sam Parks. We were given the impression that the GN Parks were no charge as well. We have two CTC parks (one of them we can't fit into) about an hour and a half from home but there are about six GN Parks just a little farther than that. Unfortunately we thought we'd be able to use all of the GN Parks so maybe it'd be worth it. We have three days to decide so, I just wanted to get some feed back from some folks with experience. Thanks for your comments.

[Jefster]

Double check before you sign any contracts. Our local park will not cancel your membership if you stop paying the maintenance fee, they will send you to collections.

If you look at the Coast to Coast website, you can see the member rates for the GN parks. Also the restrictions and exclusions. Some of them are not only small discounts, but they are only available sun-thurs. Compare the GN rates from the C2C website with the posted rates of the campgrounds themselves. https://www.coastresorts.com/directory/

Our membership sales process was full of half truths and misleading information. I'd done a fair bit of research before going in to it, and I was familiar with some of their properties already. Every membership group is probably different, that's just ours. But I wouldn't take the sales person's word for anything, I would want to spend some quality time reviewing the contract before I signed anything.

[travelin texans]

$8000, no way!

[notanlines]

$8000….REALLY? I would RUN, not walk, away from that deal.

[ken56]

Pretty steep buy in today. I did not pay anything close to that so I found it to be worth our buy in. Understand that your home park is just the conduit to membership in C2C. If your home park has other parks owned by the same company that allows you to use them too for free it has nothing to do with C2C. My home park is part of Outdoor Adventures that has 9 (?) parks in Michigan that I can stay at for free and 1 in Ohio. Only problem I have now is I moved to Tennessee!

[Jefster]

Pretty steep buy in today. I did not pay anything close to that so I found it to be worth our buy in. Understand that your home park is just the conduit to membership in C2C. If your home park has other parks owned by the same company that allows you to use them too for free it has nothing to do with C2C. My home park is part of Outdoor Adventures that has 9 (?) parks in Michigan that I can stay at for free and 1 in Ohio. Only problem I have now is I moved to Tennessee!

So now that you've moved are you able to get out of your membership? Or do you have to keep paying the yearly dues?

[JimMach1]

We are good Sam members it has saved us at Nebraska and Colorado parks our local parks are cheap enough as it is but 1 trip to Colorado and 3 in Nebraska paid for it however the park permits made up the difference.

[ken56]

So now that you've moved are you able to get out of your membership? Or do you have to keep paying the yearly dues?

You can stop paying for C2C but you can't get out of your contract with your home park. Remember that they are 2 separate things. You can keep paying and using your home park without being a C2C member.

[Jefster]

You can stop paying for C2C but you can't get out of your contract with your home park. Remember that they are 2 separate things. You can keep paying and using your home park without being a C2C member.

Right, that's what I wondered. So you live in TN now, but you can't get out of your membership with the parks in MI. OP is thinking that you can just quit if you don't want it anymore, but I've been told it's not that easy.
It seems like you'd still want the C2C membership if you live that far away now in order to access other membership networks and keep getting some use out of the membership, even if you are paying $10 per night instead of it being free.

[Rex1vt]

I am looking at information in the 2018 directory and will comment on some of its guide information.
1. All venues are vetted and rated by Good Sam.I am prone to use RV Park reviews wherever I intend to stay while recognizing some comments may be the result of getting up on the wrong side of the bed.Regardless as previously stated do not expect the best of the best just because of affiliation,do your homework.CTC suggests going to their Facebook page for online comments,contacts. Facebook.com/CoastResorts and "LIKE" to stay up to date.(I have not done so).
2.I notice comments on this thread referring to membership to a" local park".I believe you simply need a home resort,not local as such.When we first joined we had a local home resort and they kept increasing the annual so we transferred to a park in Unadilla ,Georgia and obtained a lifetime rate,which also allows us to get out of the membership.We did this by upgrading from Classic to Deluxe.The last time we were at the "Southern Trails" location they had memebership offerings that maybe worth your while to check out(example only).
3. I agree with previous comment that "USE" is the way to get your moneys worth but your travel plans also become a factor.You can either plan your trip according to resort location or plan your trip according to your chosen destination,the two do not always go together. When you are simply trying to explore unknown areas and benefit from your membership as you go so be it.You never know what is around the bend.
4. Depending on which level of membership you buy you also have access to travel and accomodation services that do not require an RV.
5. Good luck in reaching a decision with gained knowledge and someone you trust.

[ken56]

Rex1, how did you handle your transfer? I understand that you need to purchase a new membership in another park at their current pricing correct? I still have family back in Michigan and still use my home park on occasion. The rate I purchased my membership was low by todays offerings and the maintenance fees are not crazy nor have they been raised on me over the past years. That said transferring may not be the smartest financial move for me even if I never go back to that home park. Is there something I have not learned about or understand about transferring a home park membership?

[Rex1vt]

ken56,I did this years ago,member since 1995.I believe when I upgraded to Deluxe at my original home park it had language which allowed me to transfer with permission of the home park.I heard from another member Southern Trails was the go to for cheap and fixed dues so I went for it. I do not recall that much money was involved in the process.I pay $100 to ST plus $150 to CTC per year.If you look at ST website it appears their claim to fame are terms,not necessarily their facility,good deal all around.
I am not up to date on the transfer process in todays world ,doesn't look like you need to do it.
I also have a Thousand Trails/Naco
membership which is providing borderline return based on use.I have used the two as compliments to each other in terms of time between visits etc. TT has a new annual regional offering which undermines a membership in many ways.

[5J's]

Thanks for the discussion. I've been following the thread. At this point we've decided against the CTC membership. Our annual dues would have been $535 at the home resort and $199 for CTC. Also we were told we would have free access to the Good Neighbor Parks but, further investigation revealed that we would only have a discounted rate. We have mostly GNP parks in our area with a couple of CTC parks a couple which we can't fit in.

[SC Dreamer]

You can try talking to these people. It is their business, but they are helpful in finding what fits your camping style.
https://www.campgroundmembershipoutlet.com

[Jerry S]

Went into a Camping World store and there was a guy from Thousand Trails getting people to sigh up for their free giveaways gifts, they had some nice ones sitting there such as furniture and generators etc. a few days later I got a call from a lady rep saying I had won one of the great gifts that was sitting there when I filled out the free giveaway form. and how excited they were that I had won. She asked how much we camped, I told her which is quite a bit each year. I then very politely told her that I thought that the membership fee was a little high for what I got in return and she promptly hung up on me. What a rip off scam these people try to pull on campers. Never did get my free gifts that I had supposedly won. LOL

[str1249]

Not many left. Good Sams club is a better bet. We stayed at 10 different ones from June thru July, from New Mexico up thru Cali, Nevada, Wyoming, South Dakota and Minnesota. All were excellent for overnights or longer stays.

[markjamestx]

You have Good Sam, KOA, Passport America and others. I have to say that I use Good Sam because they have a U.S./Canada Trip Planner that is great. We have used this to plot our routes from coast to coast and to Ontario. You create a trip, name it, choose starting point and then choose your ending point. Then start looking at campgrounds, sites to see and other interesting things along the way. Choose how many miles you want to drive between campgrounds and you are set. You get detail directions, map and list of sites. You can reserve the Good Sam campgrounds and any other ones that have a website listed, including KOA, State/National Parks and private campgrounds.

Good Luck,

20k miles in the last 12 months.