Passport America - RV-Dreams Community Forum

poweredbytheholyghost · RV-Dreams Family Member

Passport America

Linda · Hostess

Hi Al,

Howard and I are members and we feel it is very worthwhile. One or two stays at Passport Campground and it pays for itself.

Linda

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi,
We've used it a number of times already, it's more than paid for itself. Probably one of the better discount programs around.

Papparazzi · RV-Dreams Community Member

We have only used it twice and it paid for itself very quickly.

The one warning I have is to reserach the campgrounds carefully. Our first Passport America card use was at a campground in Georgia that was right out of Deliverance. Since it was just an overnight stop off I-95, it was night time and raining, we just locked the door and stayed the night The second experience was much better in Florida with a small campground that was well kept and had free Wireless Internet. You can't trust the ratings in any of the Directories we have learned.

Paul and Bonnie · RV-Dreams Family Member

Yes, we have been using Pass Port America since we started traveling in our Fifth Wheel about three years ago. It paid for itself on our first trip to Pittsburgh. We go to the same campground in Pittsburgh every year because we make that trip to visit my husband's father. We used is in Williamsburg VA and that campground was very nice, but crowded. You might still want to research the campgrounds you plan to go to, but nothing beats saving a little money.

Bonnie & Paul

Howard · Host

I had to chime in on this one. Short answer: If you travel more than six months a year in your RV, get Passport America. It will pay for itself in a couple of stays.

Here are the things to watch out for. 1) The campgrounds vary in quality - a lot! We ALWAYS look at the campground's website to get a better feel for it. If it doesn't have a website, and many of them don't, we tend to not take chances unless we have a personal recommendation. 2) Read the "Notes" for each campground which are listed in the printed directory AND online. The "Notes" are the "fine print" and list the restrictions when using the Passport America card. Some campgrounds have no restrictions, while most have at least some limit on using the membership. You may be limited to one night on a weekday in the middle of the off-season. So just because a campground is a Passport America campground, that doesn't mean you are going to get 50% off for your stay guaranteed. 3) The 50% off discount is on the campground's regular "rack rate" nightly fee. Don't expect to get 50% off a weekly or monthly rate. 4) There may be extra charges for things that you would think would be included in your discounted rate (for example, there could be a $2 per day extra charge for 50 amp electric or for a "premium site").

It's a great program as long as you understand the limitations up front. Those that are disappointed with it are the folks that try to use it without reading the "Notes" before their stay. Now CampClub USA, which is owned by Good Sam's parent company, Affinity, is a fairly new competitor for Passport America. They both seem to have the same campgrounds, the same 50% off, and the same restrictions. It will be interesting to see how the mega backing of CampClub works out.

Alfie · RV-Dreams Community Member

We have belonged to PassPort America for a few years. Have had good and bad experiences... my main gripe is their changing their prices. After pulling in, thinking the price is what we want to pay, we are informed that the fee has gone up since the last bookning. I honestly believe that they chance their fee the week after the book comes out. After you are there, usually after traveling all day, tired, and cranky... one usually does not want to say "heck with you, we will just move on". I think they count on the traveler being too tired to look for another nights lodging. I am not saying this is all the PassPort listings, but seems that it has been happening more and more to us..

dreamjosie · RV-Dreams Family Member

We use many directories to research campgrounds, most often the Trailer Life. But we also use Frommer's, Escapees, and Passport America. Trailer Life specifically says in their listings "Last year's price..." The other's don't say it, but they all seem to be slightly behind current pricing.

I think when using a printed directory, one should assume those are slightly outdated prices, and figure they will currently be a little higher. It takes a long time to put directories together and get them into print. It would be foolish to assume that everyone in them would hold their prices for a year after they come out.

I know it's frustrating and disappointing to arrive and find the prices are higher than in the directory, but if you add a couple of dollars a night to what you see in the directories, you can minimize your disappointment. I've never had a campground arbitrarily raise their rate because I said I had Passport America. Their prices are usually posted in the office when you walk in.

Like Howard, we too try to go to the campground's website, which is very helpful from a lot of aspects. And they do have their current pricing there.

And like Howard said, the Passport America directory clearly lists the limitations on the discounting, so if you read the listing for a campground, you will know exactly how they are applying it. Some camgrounds are very generous with the discount applied on every day of your stay, some are very restrictive, but you know that going in. That said, we have had quite a few of them make mistakes in our favor, like applying the discount for every single day including weekend days even when their listing says M-F only. Of course, we don't feel obligated to point that out.

Being in Passport America is no guarantee that it's a great campground. But then we've found that being in any directory is no guarantee of a great campground, even Frommer's, which calls itself "Best RV and Tent Campgrounds in USA." We recommend Passport America as one of the best discount programs, but you still have to do your regular research.

-- Edited by dreamjosie at 09:37, 2006-08-25

ahoweth · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have been RVing in one form or another since 1971 and we have been members of many clubs, with many discount programs, but Passport America is the best of the lot in my opinion.

I don't know about the new one through Camoing World but I agree with Howard. When I researched the RV parks they listed, it seemed to be almost a carbon copy of Passport.

We feel Passport to be a worthwhile membership and plan to stay with it.

Sandra · RV-Dreams Family Member

Ditto for us. We've used Passport America since we started full timing. The only time we didn't use it much was last year out west but two days in this park in Austin and it's paid for itself. I would recommend it to anyone that is either fulltiming or parttiming.

Sandra

Tmcblane · RV-Dreams Family Member

For fulltimers, Passport America is the best money you will spend on campgrounds and will easily pay you back in the first month.

Darrell and Judy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just to weigh in and say that we have been on the road for a month now and Passport America membership has already paid for itself. We stayed in a "Red Neck" RV park in Alabama that caused us some concern when we pulled in. There was junk tractors, camping equipment, etc. all over the place, but they had level sites with cable TV and WIFI. The owners were wonderful people (if you could understand them - heavy southern accent). This turned out to be one of those memorable events that make fulltiming exciting. Anyway, we will renew our membership with Passport America.

Tmcblane · RV-Dreams Family Member

There are often campgrounds that are questionable, but we have been in some top notch ones also that we were surprised that they would participate in PA. Most are campgrounds that need the week day business and are often near highways and other undesirable conditions. It is worth the effort though in my opinion to search most out. We usually do an online check for ratings on line if we know where we will be.

Skeetshooter · RV-Dreams Community Member

I agree with the others who recomend PA. We always save the annual fee. As pointed out there are some limitations, read the fine print (notes).

Ted