Thousand Trails Membership, Is it worth it? Options

[EastPAcamper]

Hey to everyone,

Got a call today from "Thousand trails" offering a free stay at one of thier sites. Was wondering if I could get some input from the more experienced people out there. Please all respond , good or bad.
I assume they hit you for a yearly member ship in exchange for a better chance for available sites???? Is it that costly? Or is it like those time shares and you sit through 30 hours of sales pitches and you by just so they shut up......


Thank you ,

Mike

[EastPAcamper]

Hello all,

Well after a couple days and no response to this post , I checked into this a little more. So far I found that if you go to the web site, www.1000trails.com, they appear to be affiliated with , Leisure Time, NACO, Mid-Atlantic, ELS Park pass, and Outdoor World.
Is anyone members of these groups ? How does it work? What are the advantages, disadvantages? I am just looking for some input, they are offering free stays and was wondering if I should take advantage of this or is it something to avoid. Any response would be appreciated.

thanks,

Mike

[John Blue]

Mike,

My take on the park system was very poor on the two parks in FL. Each was an old run down fish camp from the past. We cannot tell about other states, only FL. We did the "three nights free" camping to see what the place was like. First one was north of Orlando. We set in meeting for around 30 mins and received prices all over the map down to what will you pay. We told lady what our total cost was for the past year (we track it) and she told me I was nuts and could not do the numbers right. In the end she told me, yes, the place was an old run down campground but they had plans to fix it up soon. Our campsite was the pits and we told her you need to fool people into thinking the place was nice.

One year later we received papers to tour one down on Peace River (south FL) and they would kick in three nights plus $100.00 in Wal-Mart cards. What a good deal. This place also was the pits. We were parked in a flood zone with mud and no gravel. Sites were on side of a hill and in river bottom. WiFi was good only in office if it was open. No place near campground to buy anything, food, or gas. The sales person told me he was from car sales and had no information about camping systems. This meeting ran around 30 mins with no sale. We picked up the free money plus nights and moved on.

The bottom line, high prices and little return. You pay and you pay. Look in back of FMCA and you will find people who would love to dump the place and run. We also love to pick new places all over the USA to camp in and not stay in ones they have for you. This would get old very fast.

Now I know other people on this board will cut off my head if they are in the system. This is only the way we feel about Thousand Trails other people may like it. I hope this will help.

[BBear]

I hesitated to answer this post because the info I have is rather old and I don't even know if the 1000 Trails system is the same as we partook in, but I'll give the info any how...we were in Florida about 20 years ago and while staying at a campground in St. Augustine, there was a brochure for another campground that was membership only and you could stay there for 3 nights provided you attend their presentation...in addition to the three nights we received $10.00 in cash, a Coleman full-sized cooler and a portable black & white, am/fm tv/radio.

The campground was beautiful, it sat on the opposite side of the road from where the ocean was, but you could cross over and they had tiki huts and gazebos and such for you to sit and look at the ocean as well as access to the beach. The sites were nice sized and had a lot of vegetation growth and trees to provide a lot of shade. They had a nice large swimming pool and recreation hall and all the people seemed very nice that worked there and whom we met camping there.

How their membership worked was you paid, I believe at that time, if memory serves correctly, $4,000.00 for your membership and that allowed you two weeks a year to stay at that campground and then you could stay at any other campground in their system at that time it was like $8.00 a night, I believe. And, you could also stay at the "home" campground additional nights other than the 2 weeks included in the membership, but you'd have to pay, I believe it was $5.00 a night...but you couldn't stay at any one campground for more than 2 weeks at a time...which made it nice...no seasonals.

We almost bought into the plan, but living 2,000 miles away, we didn't think we'd get the use over the years out of it that would equal the cost we would be paying, so we turned them down and they weren't pushy or anything about when we declined.

I don't know if that's how 1000 Trails operates or not, but you never know unless you give it a shot...it's free camping and you really don't have that much to lose except maybe the 30 minutes of the presentation if it turns out to be not what you're looking for.

Oh and by the way, after 20 years, we still have and use the cooler and portable tv-am/fm radio we got for attending the presentation, LOL!

[FrankoG]

Just some incite, I recently went on one of those 3 Hr sales things at wagon trails resort. the price was somewhat around 6000, this included unlimited park access to your home park (this is the park where you joined) then you can use I think is was 350 other campgrounds in their network. I no when I was there the name was going to change but not sure if it did yet. At the time it seemed like a great deal but I had no one to critique it or ask questions . I posted it on this site but got no replys. so I went with my fathers teachings if it sounds to good it probably is!
But to be honest the park was very nice. Had a fishing lake, indoor pool and gym. I got called about this resort by entering a sweepstakes at a local mall to win a hummer. LOL


Hope this helps

[EastPAcamper]

Wow,

Responses good, bad , and middle of the road. LEt me say this , I am not trying to cause trouble for any one here (so don't be "cuttin off anybodies heads...lol) I just wanted opinions from other campers, who have been to these sites/resorts, whatever you want to call them. So far I am leaning towards atleast taking the free camping and enduring a sales pitch , I guess at bare minimum if it is that bad I can just leave after the presentation....lol
I appreciate and thank all those who have responded so far , and hope more can shed more light or even horror stories....lol Hopefully I can return the favor, to those who responded, sometime in the future.


Thanks,

Mike

[tinybluetj]

May as well take the free camping.

We went to one of these at another park system once. The 'presentation' lasted 3-4 hours, and they were very rude when we declined. Like when you go into a car dealer and you have to talk to X number of managers before you leave. Finally we just left, at which point they came out to tell us that they could lower the price another $2000. They missed the point that the joint was a dump- a lot of 'seasonals' who lived there year round! We left more quickly after that.

[Tizzie4]

We have Thousand Trails - and it's a good deal for us when we are really traveling. We're full-timers. We have a home park that is not affiliated with TT - they do not have a seasonal spot accommodation in their contracts. But, Thousand Trails is really handy when we travel. The scenario we ran into after purchase was: "You can stay at one park for three weeks, then you have to be *out of the system* for a week before you can camp again in another of their Thousand Trails parks". So, we like to stick around in one place for a month at a time and this sort of cramped our style. I still owe them $4,000 and it's a West Coast membership - i.e., we have memberships to all the Thousand Trail campgrounds in the Western part of the USA and Canada. It has it's drawbacks - so be sure you understand all the packages and prices fluently before comitting yourself to their idea of perfect accommodation. Don't expect these TT parks to be ALL friendly - there's a couple we've ran into that smacked of a little uppity dictatorship....

Have fun deciding. I guess I'd get the same West Coast Membership again if I had my druthers...

Tizzie

[DThomas]

For my 2 cents worth: We have many friends who belong to TT near Gloucester Virginia. They all seem very happy with their memberships. That campground is decent but nothing fabulous. It would probably get a 3/4 Woodalls or 6/7 TL Rating if I had to guess. It just seems like a lot of money to us since we like to travel and go to alot of different places, and this would tend to force us to stay at TT to feel like we got our money's worth. So we've never taken them up on the free weekend offer or listened to their talk...but we have been there to visit friends. They all pretty much just go there whenever they want to camp. But TT membership just doesn't seem to fit what we want from our RVing experiences.

[campsully]

We are Thousand Trails members. We bought in Orlando and really liked the preserve. We probably have not gotten our moneys worth as of yet but do plan on it in the future. We now use the Texas preserves and have enjoyed them as well. So far nothing but a good experience. The facilities are kept up very well. They have alot of activities going on. Great swimming pools and hot tubs.
My advice to anyone thinking of buying a membership. Check out resale first before you go for the sales pitch. I wish I had known that before we bought. Would have saved alot of money.
We are still happy with our purchase.

[Jurhee]

TTN can be a good deal if the parks are in areas where you travel and if this is the type park you like. I joined, used it a few times but the ones I have used are too rustic and far removed for my taste. I prefer more of a resort setting. Everybody has different needs. I have some good friends that are full-timers and use TTN most of the time. Works for them. One thing to consider is the fee to join. That is very neogiatiable. Some friends got theirs for $1500 because they bought a rig at Lazy Days in Florida. So, when I was thinking about joining, I mentioned this and immediately the price dropped from $7000 to $2000. I tried for several months to sell/give away my membership, but had no takers, so I just did not pay dues this year.

[reelmccoys]

jurhee I and looking for a Thousand Trails If you still have it and we can work it out we love Orlando. thanks

[Jurhee]

For some reason I cannot send e-mail this evening, so will reply on the forum-----

Yes, I still have it. Since I did not pay the dues this year, I don't know if it is possible to pay up now or not. I think the dues are about $495/year and would have to be paid. Also, there is a transfer fee--I think that is $750. Don't know if there are any other fees or not. If you are intereted, let me know. I am traveling and won't have access to the information for a couple of weeks, but can check it when I get back home if you want me to. This is for TT/NACO/Leisure Times--nationwide. 14 days in the system and 7 days out. Really a great deal if you are in an area where the parks are---and if you like a rustic setting.

Jurhee

jurhee I and looking for a Thousand Trails If you still have it and we can work it out we love Orlando. thanks

[reelmccoys]

jurhee We will wait to hear from you and we will work some thing out I an retired amsd enjoy being out also and the lap top helps. I if I had the member number I could check with them on what we need to do Thanks again.
For some reason I cannot send e-mail this evening, so will reply on the forum-----

Yes, I still have it. Since I did not pay the dues this year, I don't know if it is possible to pay up now or not. I think the dues are about $495/year and would have to be paid. Also, there is a transfer fee--I think that is $750. Don't know if there are any other fees or not. If you are intereted, let me know. I am traveling and won't have access to the information for a couple of weeks, but can check it when I get back home if you want me to. This is for TT/NACO/Leisure Times--nationwide. 14 days in the system and 7 days out. Really a great deal if you are in an area where the parks are---and if you like a rustic setting.

Jurhee

[sweetiepie]

TTN can be a good deal if the parks are in areas where you travel and if this is the type park you like. I joined, used it a few times but the ones I have used are too rustic and far removed for my taste. I prefer more of a resort setting. Everybody has different needs. I have some good friends that are full-timers and use TTN most of the time. Works for them. One thing to consider is the fee to join. That is very neogiatiable. Some friends got theirs for $1500 because they bought a rig at Lazy Days in Florida. So, when I was thinking about joining, I mentioned this and immediately the price dropped from $7000 to $2000. I tried for several months to sell/give away my membership, but had no takers, so I just did not pay dues this year.

If you still have your membership, I would also be interested. We are planning on buying a membership in Florida.
Thanks.