Passport America Membership?

[Bluto]

In a couple of years, we will start to travel much more than now. We like state parks and COE's but they probably won't be enough.

Is a Passport America membership a good idea?

[eubank]

We've thought about them, too. It depends on your schedule, locations, and how often you plan to move about. The thing is that each participating park can set its own conditions in Passport America, so there will often be length-of-stay limitations (at the PA rate) or blackout dates (for the PA rate).

Ultimately, then, it's a bit of a toss-up. With Good Sam, for example, you'll get a discount off the daily rate (not weekly or monthly) with no black-out dates. The downside is that it's a measly 10% discount. With PA, you get a 50% discount off the daily rate, but with the limitations.

Of course, you should also consider the various Airstream/WBCCI parks, where stays are less expensive with membership. They aren't that widely spread geographically, but they're certainly worthwhile if you're already members of the club. In addition, if you're going to full-time or half-time with the rig, then you might also look into the Escapees.


Lynn

[Silver Otter]

Bluto, we, too, love State and COE parks, and as eubank said, the problem we found with PA was the lack of cooperation from various parks. I appears if you travel during the week and not over typical holidays, the 50% pays back pretty quickly. Every time we tried to use our PA it was not honored at the park for one lame reason or another. We dropped it, kept the Good Sam.

[RickDavis]

It can be a good deal if you usually use private parks, On the other hand we favor government run campgrounds. I was a member for 5 years and only used it 2 nights so I lost money.
That being said, I got an offer for a 6 year membership I couldn't pass up so maybe we will break even this time.

[Lily&Me]

We have had PA for about 5 years, and love it, particularly for overnight stays. They recently added an app for IPad, which is so much better than the bulky book.

Our last renewal was for 3 years, for less than $100 as I recall. Pays for itself in a couple of stays, and we probably do 2-3 dozen PA overnights in the course of a year.

Most campgrounds that take PA have seasonal, day of the week, length of stay, etc., restrictions. Still a great membership if you spend any significant amount of time on the road. Last night we stayed at a beautiful Ohio SP for $13.50, as they offer the PA discount Sun-Wed. what's not to love?

We prefer NF, COE, or NP stays for our weekends and serious down time, but for all those one-night stays PA prices are terrific. Whether it is good for any individual likely depends most on the kind of travel/camping you do.

Our motto: Spend less, do more.


Maggie

[graysailor]

It appears that 2-5 stays will pay for the membership but there are restrictions. I tend to stay at the private camp grounds so probably will be worth it for me. Only been RVing for about 1 month so too early to tell. At some point I want to do more State and National campgrounds but so far I have that their websites are terrible. Almost have to call to find out what is going on.

[az-streamer]

we recently travelled from FL to ME and into Canada [campobello is.]

on the trip up and back we used PA for overnight stays and used State parks in ME and SC for multi-day stays.

on the road we tried to stop early and look up PA parks close to interstate exits. we would then call ahead and confirm availability and price. we could usually get a pull-thru for the same price since the park knew we would be gone the next morning.

we would drive in hook up the elec and water - sometime cable - and we were good to go.

pros - 1/2 price [almost] stays
cons - maybe not the nicest parks
wifi was often spotty or n/a

overall, PA is well worth it, in combo with cheaper state parks and the national park senior pass.

in jan. 2014 we will be heading to canopener and we will probably use PA for one overnight on the way there and back.