# Camper Club



## SteveC

Greetings from Mossy Head, Florida. I have years of tent and van camping and reworking and camping in vintage trailers. Today we bought a brand new 19' camping trailer. More like a house on wheels compared to our previous minimalist/do-it-yourself mentality. But. It will be nice to just flip a switch for AC or heat. And with the fridg. and freezer no more searching for ice.

We have received literature for Good Sam Club and other clubs. Anyone have experience with these memberships? Are there really any benefits? I'm having difficulty justifying spending money to join any of them.

Thanks
Steve C


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## happiestcamper

Welcome to the site :welcome:

Good Sam used to have a good routing planner, but it's crummy now. Some CG's will give you a discount, but you have so many wonderful state parks in Florida that you wouldn't need it.

I got a Good Sam for $2 for a year (some promotion at Camping World), and all I got out of it was a ton of mail from them wanting me to buy their insurance, etc.


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## SteveC

Thank you Happy. Yes, we have stayed in State and County properties for $12.00 to free and enjoyed it. Just gotta look and listen. Going cross country we like National Parks and Forests. $6.00 to $10.00 a night with hook up with the Senior Pass.


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## artmart

You have asked a question with lots of long answers, but since there's no such thing as a dumb question I'll try and provide some good answers.

The Good Sam Club offers all kinds of RV related services. There are a few campgrounds that offer discounts for GSC. It also provides outstanding RV service with their GS Road Service - better than most. You can also get a monthly magazine which provides hints, tips, product information on the RV lifestyle.

I belonged to the basic GS membership, got the magazine and discounts, but never used the discount. I've learned so much about RVs through that and other memberships and other forums, and mostly plain old research and experience, I don't feel the need for their road service, but I've got over 10 years experience in RVing.

I am a life member of 1000 Trails and there are others who provide free camping at their limited locations with different terms, plans and costs. There are a few nearby campgrounds which made it worth it to us. There are many other memberships like this.

There are also many other (aka) camperships that provide a highly discounted campsites at hundreds of campgrounds (CampUSA, RPI, etc). These memberships help campgrounds fill their campsites especially during off season, and around holidays when they are typically empty. You can imagine that the discounts would only apply when not at high-season use so you'll need to be pretty flexible with your schedule and if allowed and you include their high season schedule then you'll probably be paying full price during those dates.

There are also related vacation clubs that you can pay into that get you into other clubs. For example, my 1000 Trails membership allows me access to other camping discount clubs and vacation services like Interval International. Interval International is a timeshare, cruise and vacation discounter that provides other types of vacations at a discount like Hotel Resorts and cruises.

All in all, the benefit of any club is that the more you can use it the better the return on your dollar. This assumes you have lots of dollars and time for these activities so decide carefully.

Btw - Thousand Trails, Good Sam, and even Campingworld are interconnected in some way. These are just examples of common RV needs that companies try to fill.

Another good company that you can use for combined services is Trailer Life (Magazine), which has reference materials and their set of RV or Travel related services.

I hope this starts you on the path for research. You'll find that stopping at Good Sam should not be done until you research this more since there are so many options.


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## ctfortner

I get the offers all the time, some times so cheap they are almost free. I never sign up though because most of the campgrounds we visit frequently dont accept any of them. I just never found it worth it for my area, but for others it could be a good deal.


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## antigua

Welcome :welcome: to the forum


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## dumplin

Welcome to the club, i found that membership to some of these clubs the campgrounds dont give you the good sites if you want the good sites there is a extra charge, something to look in to?


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## thekamperman

dumplin said:


> Welcome to the club, i found that membership to some of these clubs the campgrounds dont give you the good sites if you want the good sites there is a extra charge, something to look in to?


This may happen, but mostly is a "local" decision of the campgrounds. Personally I prefer to camp in National and State parks if possible.


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## dumplin

*Club membership*

What i was talking about is a camp resort like spring gulch in lancaster pa the club sites are ast the bottom of the hill back in good sites w/e/s but a little tight if you want the good sites up on the hill w/e/s/cable you pay the club price + a extra fee , still cheaper then reg price ,but how many nights do you have to camp to recover your membership fee?


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## artmart

My thoughts on camping are the same as those for avid golfers. "A bad day camping is better than a good day at work"...

And in my case, I am retired (so I don't need to work), and I haven't had a bad day of camping, so I guess I'm way ahead on this!


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## dumplin

artmart said:


> My thoughts on camping are the same as those for avid golfers. "A bad day camping is better than a good day at work"...
> 
> And in my case, I am retired (so I don't need to work), and I haven't had a bad day of camping, so I guess I'm way ahead on this!


 what a reply good one


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## SteveC

Well, we decided we've done without the camping clubs/service clubs for many years so don't see the need for the expense.

1. I know where I want to go and can read a map.
2. We're just not the resort type. More National Forest, State/County Park, BLM, Boondocking, etc.

Thanks for the replies.


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## sheldonkv

I think that most of the tools you need are available for free, mapping services, location advice.....Getting in touch with other campers....Depends on the cost really, if it is affordable and carries some benefit for you I would go a membership.


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## Prowlerontheloose

I have a question........though the answers are great.........what about road service assistance?

AAA I pay approx. $100.00 for myself, husband and our son. Good Sam's states that for $76.00 all of our cars are covered and all driver's.

So my question is...................Which company would respond faster and help with a camper? 

I do however have to call AAA to see if they even cover a camper.


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## artmart

AAA will say they cover the camper, but there are so many horror stories to list because most of their emergency service contractors do not have the equipment to handle it. I had them and knew that they weren't that good and the one time I tried to use AAA for my trailer, it was a horror story itself. I'll never recommend them. Fortunately I was able to take care of the problem myself but it took a while.

There are others that service RVers much better, and Good Sam comes to mind, is highly rated and has good service. Like all companies there are gonna be some bad stories, but it is up there with the best when it comes to an RV emergencies. There are a couple other companies but they slip my mind... DOH!


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## Prowlerontheloose

Well, I did call AAA and to add the camper......it was going to run me yearly.........$170.00!!!!! That is CRAZY!!!

Then I called GS..........they were a little cheaper, but after getting several offers in the mail......which by the way......you MUST read closely, Yearly fee's would run me about $112.00 and a $33.00 fee if I wanted the routing planning, and maps.

So, total would be $145.00 per year. Yes, it is cheaper than AAA, but really how often will I use this?

Discounts at parks are limited in my area unless I go far away and use their facilities.

The places that we go do not accept GS memberships. 

So now I am trying to find some sort of road side assistance program that won't break my wallet.


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