Buy/Not Buy Thousand Trails Membership

[badams]

We plan to go full-time in about 6 months. It was suggested to us that membership in a place like Thousand Trails would be a good start. Isn't that expensive? Also, if it's such a good thing, why do I see ads in mags for people wanting to sell their membership? We need your input, please.

[swhitaker8]

We have been fulltimers for almost 4 years and are Thousand Trails Platinum members. We find it a good buy, as we can stay in a preserve for 3 weeks at a time. After that, we must either move out of the park for 1 week or move to another Thousand Trails preserve.
We winter in the San Diego area and rotate between the Thousand Trails preserve and a Resorts of Distinction ($99 per year with the Platinum membership) all winter long.
During the summer we spend a lot of time in Washington and Oregon where there are so many preserves that we can go from one to another all summer.
For traveling, we have found Passport America to be a good buy.

Sharon Whitaker
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Sharon and Bill Whitaker
03 Discovery 39S
Traveling with Toy Manchester Terrier

[badams]

Thanks for the response! There is a Thousand Trails nearby; we will go check them out. I understand that there are several options to choose from. The Platinum membership sounds like a winner! Thanks again.

[Motor31]

I would recommend checking them out but I'd also recommend you get out on your own for a while and see what the country is like for a bit first. If you like where the Thousand Trails parks are, they may be good for you. They may not be in the areas that you travel enough to make it worthwhile, especially if you plan on moving around the country a lot at first. Later on if you decide to not "gypsy" so much and Thousand Trails is in the areas you like to return to, go for it.

Until you know what you want to do with RVing, I'd definitely avoid paying for a high-priced membership until you know it will fit what your plans are. I have found Passport America a good buy and far cheaper than Thousand Trails for discount camping.
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Mike, Nancy and the Fuzzies
2005 MS 38 RL3
2001 Volvo MH (HDT)
2004 R1150RT (piggyback)
1996 Jeep Cherokee (toad)

[Kirk]

Membership parks are only a good deal for those who use them and many find that they do not. The parks are seldom very close to any of the major attractions and are not usually near the major travel routes either. They are generally nice enough parks but they cater to the longer term visitor, so if you are traveling much they may not be convenient. We have been fulltime for six years and do not belong to any of the membership organizations and do not plan to join. If you consider joining, read the fine print very carefully and especially the part about how you discontinue your membership. Most of the memberships have to be sold to some other owner, or you must pay the dues and fees, even if you are not using them. And if you want one, it would be much more cost efficient to buy one of the memberships from the resale market.

What I suggest you do join is either Passport America or Happy Campers Club. These are 1/2 price groups that cost you less than $50 per year and if you do not feel that they are worth the price, all you do is not renew.
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Good travelin !................Kirk
URL: www.adventure.1tree.net
Sent via Starband, Manual Flyer dish.

[ShortFatBroke]

It's my understanding that once you buy into their program, it's costly or difficult to get out of it. To me the thought of going full-time is to get away from obligations like that and live a little more carefree. I agree with the other folks: check them out and be careful

[Gary Scott]

Thousand Trails is definitely worth the money if you use the membership. If you will not be camping at a TT at least two months a year, then don't join. As for locations: we use the resort near Orlando just outside Disney, one at Wauchula, FL during the Pioneer Days celebration, one at Hershey, PA where the chocolate factory is located along with the visitor's center and Hershey Park, and the resort at Chesapeake which is near Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. As for discontinuing membership: they require at least three years of dues, but I understand they do not pursue people after that period. People sell their memberships because they find they do not use them enough to justify the dues or we simply get too old to continue traveling. With my membership, we can stay at a resort for three weeks at a time and then go directly to another resort. There are various plans. We have been members for ten years and we love it! Gary Scott

[writedesign]

Flash! Thousand Trails is telephoning members to report they have been SOLD. They are requesting members to attend a 'sales presentation' at the nearest city. They stated they will NOT be mailing information to members. This is a peculiar way to notify everyone. Prior to this news (last 24 hours), you could check eBay and you would find members trying to bail out for as little as $100, going unsold.

[starship]

Asking in general about memberships is like asking which is better, Ford or Chevy? You will get opinions, misinformation, and statements of fact based on personal feelings (which actually may or may not be fact at all).

First, Thousand Trails has been sold. They have been notifying members via press release, phone contact and mail. Yes, I did receive a mailer about the meetings. The meetings are more about upgrade opportunities than the sale.

The gentleman that bought them has been trying to do so for about 5 years and actually tried to buy them prior to the present owner. He was formerly with Affinity Group and has experience in the RV world and membership areas (coast to coast).

Memberships for sale on eBay (and other areas) are not necessarily folks “bailing out.” There are many reasons for selling: illness, age, no longer RVing, etc. If you buy a resell, make sure you find out what the contract includes (or doesn’t). Some are only good for certain areas, certain parks, so many days a year and other differences. You can call Thousand Trails with the contract number and they will tell you the restrictions.

Campground membership is not for everyone and yet is a great deal for others. Some like the idea of having a single place to go and knowing they can always go there. Others like a system of parks to have access, and still others wouldn't even consider going to the same place twice, and want to be able to travel all over and not have their dollars tied to one system.

These are all valid reasons for joining or not joining. Just because one situation doesn't fit you doesn’t mean it isn't any good.

You need to look at how you like to camp (lots of amenities or boondock), the types of parks you like (forest, beach, metropolitan), the area you are most likely to use it in (close to home or travel across the country). How long and how often do you plan to RV? Then you can decide if a membership will benefit you or not. You are the only one who will know if the dollars are worth it.

Personal experience: we joined Thousand Trails and have 8 parks within 3.5-hour drive of our home. The NW area has just about everything we want to do, we can go to different parks, we enjoy the amenities, soooo the dollars were worth it to us. If there were only one or two parks available close to our home, we wouldn't have joined as we don't want to feel obligated to go to the same place just because we already spent the dollars to be there.

READ THE CONTRACT! Then read it again and make sure you understand it. Don't read it with the salesperson, take it back to your site and look it over. If they don't want you to do this, then I would have to question their motives. A good salesperson will even encourage you to do so and then came back to have your questions answered.

Once you have decided that maybe a membership is for you and you have some specific questions, feel free to ask them here. Just be sure that you separate the "don't have one...BUT" from the actual ones that have some first-hand experience with what you are asking about.

Good luck with whatever you decide.
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Everyone is good at something...
I just happen to be a good bad example.

Occasionally in error but never in doubt.

[mohomer]

We do not belong to Thousand Trails but have stayed at them in the past. We joined a Western Horizon back in 1984 (it wasn't a Western Horizon then). We used our membership from the start with the only association being coast to coast, $1 per night full hookups!

We bought with the idea of our retirement down the road almost 20 years. We used it 3 out of 4 weekends a month plus vacations. We now have 2 home parks that include memberships in Coast to Coast, Resorts of Distinction, AOR, Western Horizon and all of their associated partners. We have full-timed for 4 years and have not had to pay over $100.00 a year in camp fees (dues are $169.00 per year). We do plan according to where we have "free" camping, are having a fantastic time and are glad we joined a membership park.

Down sides: yes, quite a few if you don't use the memberships and camp. Some of them have high dues, a limited number of times for resale and there are always those that go "under." Do your research, talk to people, take advantage of the free nights to try campgrounds before you buy, beware the high pressure saleman and don't take credit cards or check book to the sales presentation. Consider buying a membership from a member of one who cannot continue to camp. All of the advance from the people who have responded are worth their weight in gold. Each person had different needs and goals. For the great stories there are horror stories.

Remember this is supposed to be fun!

[snoopy]

We have a decided opinion on Thousand Trails Membership. I have read the other postings and would add these things to it.
1) I am not retired but we have a TT membership in TN. It is a very large park with it miles from the entrance to where we camp.
2) In order to make our dues worthwhile @ 25 dollars a night, we have to stay 20 nights a year. No problem - in the past 3 years we have stayed in our 5th wheel the equivalent of 4 months - most of it in TT.
3) I agree with those who say if you don't use it, it's not worthwhile. For us it's wonderful and we are not yet retired. In retirement we plan to use it somewhere from 40-60% of the time and be more adventurous the rest of the time.
4) We find the extras in a membership to be well worth the money. Safety, predictability when you want it, value, entertainment, reservability, locations (one of the parks is within miles of Disney (not close to major attractions?) and size (3 out of the 5 parks we have stayed at have been much larger than most private parks).
Membership is not for all but we find it a good home port when we plan on full-timing and have remarked that it was one of our better decisions. I do have to admit, we bought our membership in the middle of winter and got a great deal. Caution in getting a used membership - there is a transfer fee. One of our friends has gotten a used membership and there was a $750 xfer fee. They use TT often in their travels.

[TLou]

We bought a membership for Thousand Trails from a magazine. The people selling it had failing health and had been in TT since 1984. The person telling you to read the fine print is correct. We have enjoyed our membership very much although we have not gone very far from home. There are no perserves in Oklahoma and we have only gone to some in Texas. Have met some wonderful people, the campgrounds are great and you feel safe in them.
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Happy Camper

[themoores]

We have been Thousand Trails members since 1985. We joined when we were living in the Wash, DC area and our family included 4 small children. At that time, we did not own an RV, but we enjoyed spending weekends at the TT Preserves in their rental facilities. It was a great way to spend quality time with our family, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. There were always fun activities for the kids, the place was always clean, safe and well-maintained.

We started with a local membership which allowed us to visit about 5 facilites along the East Coast. In 1989, we moved to CA. So, at that time, we upgraded to the Thousand Trails Gold membership, which gave us access to all the TT and (at the time) NACO parks across the country.

After a while, our kids began to head off to college and move away. So there was a period of several years when we were continuing to pay dues, but were not making use of the parks. We were tempted to sell our membership at that time, but my husband and I kept thinking about the day when we hoped to go full-time, or at least extended-time camping. Now, although not yet quite retired, we do own our own RV and go out as often as we can--almost exclusively to TT preserves. We are still looking forward to making use of our membership much more often.

So I agree with the other responders who say that membership is a highly individual preference depending upon your situation. We enjoy knowing that no matter where the TT is located, we can count on it to be a clean, safe, enjoyable place. We know that with reservations, there will be a place available to us. Each preserve, depending upon where it is located, has its own unique "personality." We know that the people who run the preserve will be friendly and helpful. And we know that our "neighbor" campers will most likely be friendly and considerate.

So I say, have a look, assess your needs and desires, and then make a decision as to what would be best for you.

[yourrvlifestyle]

We agree with other comments about it being an individual decision which merits careful consideration. The financial aspect really boils down to how much you will use the TT parks, which in turn has a lot to do with where you will travel. Give this some thought and/or wait until you are on the road a while before you decide.

Here is our experience. When we bought our motorhome, the dealer (Lazy Days in Florida), waived the one-time initiation fee, which got us into a "zone" membership (basically, half of the country). We just had to pay the annual dues.

We did that for a couple years even though we were not on the road much. We figured the waived fee was a good deal, and that we would use the membership a lot more once we were full-time.

Then, when we did go full-time on the road, we upgraded to the National membership - our dues stayed the same (with expected cost of living increases).

While we were in the Northeast U.S., TT was not very helpful since they really don't have much in the way of parks in that area.
We hit a few in Pennsylvania and Ohio coming across country. Then we used them almost excusively in Oregon and California.

However, we expect to full-time for a long while, so we upgraded to the Platinum Plus membership. This enables us to go park to park within TT, stay 3 weeks (with some restrictions in some parks in high season). It also gives us access to RPI Preferred (so we can stay longer at some of those parks), and access to Resorts of Distinction.

The TT parks themselves? Some are very nice. Others are nothing fantastic, but they are decent places to stay usually in a scenic area. Some of them are off the beaten path, but we are not really looking to stay next to a highway anyway. They usually have recreational facilities and activities of some sort going on. They seem to be making improvements in most of the parks. Bottom line, we are pretty happy with them for what they offer our lifestyle.

If you can get a good deal on a resale, go for it. But check it out thoroughly and compare it to what TT will offer you directly. Do check out the ROD add-on, and make sure you read the fine print for anything you consider buying.
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Jose and Jill
Fulltime RVers
A Smile in Every Mile
www.your-rv-lifestyle.com

[thomcatjim]

You asked a good question, and the answer depends on how you travel and how much money you can budget monthly for campgrounds. We have a Platinum Thousand Trails (TT) membership, and it's not cheap. Should you get one? The answer depends on where you plan on spending most of your travel time. TT can't be beat on the west coast and in Texas. You stay free for either two or three weeks, depending on your membership level, and you can leave one park in the morning and stay in another park in the system the same night. We have been in Texas since May 3rd and have not paid for one night's lodging using Thousand Trails. However, they are not good for the rest of the country, as they are scattered few and far between. Coast-to-Coast is far less costly to join, but you do have to join (and pay) for membership in one park in their system. Then you pay $8 a night for Coast-to-Coast parks, and $13 a night for affiliated parks, and the prices continue to rise. The drawback we've found is that while you will usually be able to get into Coast-to-Coast parks on short notice, it's potluck on the affiliated parks, and they aren't always very nice. You can book both TT and Coast-to-Coast on line, which is very convenient. Some people swear by Passport America, which we also own. It's very cheap to join: $49 a year, and you pay half-price to park at their campgrounds. If you tend to travel off-season then it's great, but if you don't, then it's not of a lot of use, as the parks block usage in prime season in most locations. Western Horizons campgrounds are nice, but there aren't too many of them. AOR has a good scattering of campgrounds everywhere, usually at zero cost per night, but again you have to pay up-front for the privilege. Bottom line: you need to know your camping habits. Will you stay only one or two days, or will you stay for 2-3 weeks? Is it easier for your budget to pay up front and little or nothing on the road, or pay as you go? We camped for a year before we made decisions about which campground associations to join, because they are expensive. We have been full-timing for six years, and we are still refining our choices. Please let us know if we can be of further help.
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Full-timing in the US