RV Campground Memberships

There are many advantages to having one or more RV campground memberships when you own a travel trailer.  There are many different types of memberships and organizations that you can be a part of, which all offer various benefits to their members. 

There are two main divisions of RV Campground Memberships. 

  1. The first is the resort membership, which is a network of multiple RV parks which offer many high end amenities.  Some of the more well known include Thousand Trails and Coast to Coast Resorts.
  2. The second is what we'll call travel membership organizations, although they offer so much more.  The Good Sam Club is probably the best known in this class, but other organizations such as Passport America, and Happy Camper are becoming almost as popular.

All these organizations offer different packages ranging from basic to advanced memberships, with different price points to meet each individual's needs and desires. The best part is that you can control how much you pay.

Why Consider RV Campground Memberships?

Membership organizations are a good investment if you travel or camp a lot with your travel trailer, because of the cost savings and conveniences they offer.  But even if you don't use your RV  frequently, there are other benefits many people have no idea exist.

Many of these organizations lobby and fight to protect RVer's rights across the United States.  They also serve as consumer advocates to the RV industry, pushing for higher safety standards.

Travel Membership Organizations

Travel membership organizations are RV based groups that offer many benefits to RV owners, but do not own any campgrounds or RV parks.  Instead they  offer nightly discounts through their associated campground and resort members.

  • The Good Sam Club is the largest and best known of these groups.  We are members and are proud to be associated with this great organization.

Good Sam offers 10% nightly discounts at their participating campgrounds, which are easier to find than brightly colored leaves on a crisp autumn day.  OK, that may be an overstatement, but where ever you go you are not too far from a Good Sam Park. They also have so much more to offer than just discounts on campgrounds. 

 There are other clubs that have a lot to offer, too.

  • Passport America offers it's members 50% off their nightly stay in participating parks.   P.A. recently joined with Good Sam, which has helped improve their network quite a bit.
  • Happy Camper is also a 50% nightly rate club.  They follow the same lines as Passport America, but don't have as large of a network.
  • Reserve America is not a membership club, but deserves a mention in this section.  They are a service that will book your RV trip for you, finding the best rates and discount at your destination.

RV Memberships Resorts

RV membership resorts are very beneficial if you are a full timer or are blessed to be able to travel frequently.  They offer many amenities such as hot tubs, pools, tennis courts, etc.

The main drawback to these RV campground memberships is the high cost to join and annual maintenance fees.  However, there is usually no nightly cost to camp there for their members.  This being said, they are not a good value for anyone who will not use the facilities at least  three times a year

Here are some membership resorts that may be of interest to you.  They all offer different services so take your time in choosing.  If you can't decide, in time you can always become a member of several.  Many folks do that.  This also gives you a choice of where you can travel or camp with your RV. 

  • Coast To Coast
  • Good Sam Club
  • Thousand Trails (We are also members/with family)
Pulling in to Thousand Trails late at night
A Thousand Trails in Orlando Rental Unit

You do not have to be a member of any organization to enjoy the benefits of exploring travel trailers or camping in general.  These are here for you to see the different types of memberships and to help guide you in the direction that you'd like to go.  You'll be able to tell if that particular organization is for you or not. 

We hope we have and can answer any and all questions that you may have had about RV memberships.

Things To Consider

One thing to consider while planning a trip or investing in an RV Membership is that not all companies have campgrounds all over the USA.  Depending on where you live may determine which organization you go with.

Written By: Melissa

Exploring Travel Trailers>RV Campground Memberships

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