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Does anyone belong to Thousand Trails? They are having a special right now where you can get 2 zones for the price of one. I don't know anything about their CG's. I belong to Passport America and Koa along with Good Sam. I like the nightly rates after the 30 days of just $3 per day but they don't have a lot of CG's it looks like where I may be traveling next year.

Dawn,
We have belonged for about 5 years now. Gated campgrounds are to me safer and they really keep an eye on who is coming and going. I know there are a lot of them in Texas and up the west coast. We started with Outdoor World in 1986 then when Thousand Trails took over we added that as well. Now we can ring the country pretty much and only pay our membership dues each year and have no other charges.

There are resale memberships out there that would give you the entire country pretty reasonable.

I like having it. Just watch out for limitations in length of stay. I want to upgrade to 3 weeks park to park. Right now I have 2 week with outdoor world park to park but have 2 week in one out of system with TT. Do your homework and see if it fits what you are looking for.

Deb

Thanks Deb. I am looking at the 2 weeks in, one week out plan. They are asking $499 for 2 zones for a year. I will check out the Outdoor World too.

Really look closely at it. Not worth it for me and I look again each year. I've stayed at several of their cgs and sat through many of their sales pitches. I've been impressed with 2 of the cgs and wouldn't have states free at 3. Some people love them. Oh and I never saw one that was truly gated.

Remember to figure in the annual fee plus any extra charges and the daily fee to figure out how many nights you have to use them to come out ahead. They realize they come out ahead more than most of the people who purchase the plans. Like casinos.

I am doing a lot of reading right now. With what I am reading, I am not sure it would work for me and Mom. Mom's health is going to dictate a lot to how long we stay in any one place. I know the least amount of time we will be staying anywhere would be a week after 1 day of travel. A travel day would only be about 5-6 hours. That is all her legs are going to be able to handle. It doesn't look like it would be a big savings to me with our travel schedule. There will be times when we need to stay a month in one place at least because of her legs. I will probably look at this again in the future, but don't think it will work now. Not enough CG's close enough together.

The only thing I know about them is that a lot of people are trying to sell theirs.

My mom & step dad had Thousand Trails. They really liked them and the facilities offered. They used them as they were moving locations every week or two. They would plan ahead and make their res 9 mos at a time. But buyer beware. Read all the fine print. I've been told that even those zone specials do not have an "out" clause. That is why you see so many plans for resale. People want out for a variety of reasons, but can not. You can transfer to someone else for a fee. My step dad offered me their membership for free (a few years ago), but there was a $500 transfer fee and the annual dues (don't remember amount). There are so many plans, with different benefits, etc. Like buying into a vacation club. When I hit the road I will look at getting a resale with low annual dues

Parked in a Thousand Trails on the ocean the last 2 nights and near Mt. St. Helens for at least 3 nights now. We bought in 2000 at the beginning of our full timing, and it paid for itself, but we weren't boondockers. Have 3 weeks park to park - no out time. Really helped me save money when I went from park to park in the winter - California and Florida.

The Zone Camping is new and have winter friends that have used it for their summer travels. Worked well for them.

I will say I am disappointed to see a couple of my favorite parks not well taken care of.

Many of the parks are off the beaten path - which I like.

If you want the full membership, there are good deals out there. However, then you have annual dues.

Membership definitely isn't for everyone.

I have to agree that it is not for everyone. I do want to upgrade to 3 weeks park to park. For my dues which have been frozen because of Les's illenss and disability so for roughly 500 a year it will definitely pay for itself quickly using it full time. I do have to admit that some of the parks both ODW and TT need a bit of work. Also plan to get PA for the discounts when I am not in the areas that mine cover.

I also know that many of the TT parks here allow non-members to camp if there is space available, so they aren't as secure as you might think.

Maggie is correct about public camping and that is true of all their parks. Not sure I would pay what TT wants for overnight as a non-member tho!

chalet05 wrote:Maggie is correct about public camping and that is true of all their parks. Not sure I would pay what TT wants for overnight as a non-member tho!

They keep giving me free or almost free sites - which is why, if I'm in the area of one, I stop lol. I think I have another freebie from them around here somewhere. But so far, their deals haven't been worthwhile for me - someday maybe, as they keep changing things.

I would take advantage of those freebies or almost freebies too, but we have to stay at least a week or two everywhere because of Mom's legs. The drives are too hard on her.

Dawn309 wrote:I would take advantage of those freebies or almost freebies too, but we have to stay at least a week or two everywhere because of Mom's legs. The drives are too hard on her.

Right now she's driving the car, right? Will it be any easier when she's a passenger in the rv? Can you make the seat recline and let her legs be more comfortable? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you should travel more - I think that leisurely pace is great - just trying to help her legs. My sciatic nerve can kill me driving, but I can get in positions where it doesn't effect me as a passenger.