RV Clubs Rally and Save You Money

RV Clubs Rally and Save You Money

There are all kinds of good RV clubs that can benefit RV wannabees, new and experienced RVers.

Get Great RV Tips & Save on Camping when you Join the Good Sam Club.

These camping clubs provide information, services, and ways to save you money and add fun to your RV lifestyle. Many clubs hold rallies - the rally fee might include a few meals, a campsite in a new place, activities, entertainment or door prizes.
And you meet a lot of great people to boot!

When we started out, we were hoping for some magic answer to "What are the best RV clubs?" We now realize that the answer is up to the individuals involved.

Half the fun of RVing is that you create your own RV lifestyle based on what you like to do, budget, geographic ties, and so on.

But it really can be very simple - just pick a few, try them, and see what you think. It's pretty easy to join an RV club, and try it on for size.

We tend to group the various RV clubs in a few categories:

General & Community of Interest RV Clubs

Some of these RV Clubs are geared to the overall RV community, and others target groups with specific interests. These clubs provide a variety of RVing information and services. Most have an annual fee. Most hold rallies, trips and other social events.

RV wannabees can learn about everyday experiences and RV products by reading the club magazines. We joined some of these early on in our research and still belong. The trick is to remember all the many benefits you have when you are a member of these clubs. So check out the websites if you haven't looked in awhile...

Good Sam, one of the best known RV Clubs , has over a million members, and over 2000 local chapters. You can search for a list of chapters by state on their website. Don't miss this: Special Good Sam Club offer: Save over $10 and get a free night of camping. Join today!

Good Sam Club provides discounts on campgrounds, fuel, and RV products. They offer members-only rates on insurance, an emergency road service program, and a bunch of other benefits. There are national rallies, local Samborees, Caraventures and other trips offered. Good Sam also offers a new program to members called SamAlert, which lets you register your vehicle information, and then be notified by email of any matching safety recalls that are reported through the NHTSA (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration). And, membership includes their informative "Highways Magazine".

Escapees provides S (Support), K (Knowledge) and P (Parking) for their members. S.K.P.'s...Say it real fast and you have Escapees. The club is particularly well suited for full-timers. Their list of benefits includes discounts, ongoing Get-Togethers, mail forwarding, voice messaging, email, calling cards, "Escapees Magazine", member parks, and more.

FCRV - Family Campers and RVers is a camping club that welcomes members no matter what type of RV or tent. They offer discounts on campgrounds and camping-related products, hold national and regional/local Campouts, as well as providing other member benefits.

FMCA - Family Motor Coach Association is a popular club for RVers with motorhomes (we love FMCA!). Benefits include discounts on campgrounds, fuel and RV products, mail forwarding, and much more. Two fantastic national rallies and plenty of local chapter events are held throughout the year (local chapters listed on their website). You can subscribe to their excellent "FMCA Magazine" even before you own an RV- which provides some good insight into the world of motorhome living.

SMART - Special Military Active-Retired Travel Club (SMART) RV Club is what it says - a club for active and retired military personnel enjoying the RV lifestyle.

Handicapped Travel Club was formed in 1973 to encourage RV traveling for people with a wide range of disabilities.

LOW - Loners on Wheels is a club focused on supporting single RVers.

RVing Women is a club for women who are interested in, or already enjoying, the RV lifestyle.

Campground Discount & Membership Clubs

These camping clubs focus on campground discounts, but also provide other services. We belong to several, and periodically take stock of what is working out for us. Depending on where and how often you travel, these RV clubs can be used wisely to help you reduce the campground expenses in your budget.

To evaluate if they make sense for you, anticipate how often you will travel and estimate the savings compared to the cost you pay to join. Do a little math to see if you can save money. If your have specific plans for upcoming trips, then it is easier. Be sure to check out the list and locations of participating campgrounds as you make your choices.

Happy Campers: Happy Campers is a 50% campground discount club with nearly 1,000 RV park locations in the US, Canada and Mexico. Members pay an annual fee and can camp for half the regular price for full hook-up sites. This is a simple, easy to join arrangement with a solid list of campgrounds.

Passport America: A 50% campground discount club with over 400 campgrounds. This is easy to join with an annual fee in exchange for a 50% discount off participating campgrounds, along with other available membership benefits.

Recreation USA is a discount club with campgrounds For $10.00 a day, offering a cost effective way to travel.

Thousand Trails: This is a membership RV club with a contract. We joined when we bought our motorhome because the dealer waived the initiation fee.

The original membership we purchased permitted us to stay free in any TT camping preserves for two weeks at a time with a minimum of 7 days between stays. Our upgraded Platinum Plus membership permits three week stays and then we are required to be out of that specific park for 7 days... but we can go directly from one TT park to another without a waiting period.

The advantage to this sort of membership club, is you are usually assured of attractive, well-maintained facilities. The annual dues and buy-in fee are significant, but it depends on how often you will RV and where. We suggest prospective buyers take advantage of the complimentary 3-day, 2-night stay to hear the sales pitch, consider where the parks are located and their personal travel plans, and then do the math on possible savings.

TT membership entitles the members to join and use Resort Parks International(RPI) and Resorts of Distinction(ROD) campground networks.

Resort Parks International(RPI): A membership RV club. Only members of resorts that are affiliated with RPI may join. The Home Resort determines the initial membership cost to join, and then there is an annual fee in exchange for reduced site fees. Thousand Trails members are eligible for RPI and ROD.

Resorts of Distinction (ROD): A membership RV club. Only members of resorts that are affiliated with ROD may join. The Home Resort determines the initial membership cost to join, and then there is an annual fee. Thousand Trails and Western Horizon members are eligible for ROD.

Western Horizons: A campground membership RV club that works similar to Thousand Trails. There is an initial membership cost to join, and then an annual fee applies. Members of Western Horizons are eligible for Adventure Outdoor Resorts and Resorts of Distinction.

Adventure Outddor Resorts(AOR): A membership RV club. Only members of resorts that are affiliated with AOR may join. The Home Resort determines the initial membership cost to join, and then an annual fee applies in exchange for reduced site fees. Western Horizon members may join AOR.

Coast-to-Coast: Another membership club. Only members of resorts that are affiliated with Coast to Coast may join. The Home Resort determines the initial membership cost, and then an annual fee applies in exchange for reduced site fees.

You will see resales of campground memberships. If you decide to go this route, be sure you know specifically what you are buying - the types of memberships sold over the years have varied.

RV Brand Clubs

These are RV Clubs for people who own a particular manufacturer's brand of RV. There are often rallies, trips or caravans for members. There may be local chapters of owners within a particular geographic area or with specific interests. There is usually an annual fee to join. If you buy a brand that has a club like this, we suggest you join and participate. We learn a lot this way - between the magazine we get, the national rallies and the local chapter we joined. We see people who have the same brand RV - so we pick up a lot of very relevant livability and technical tips about our brand of RV.

Just some of the popular RV Clubs, offering lots of choices and ways to save.