1000 Trails

[JohnR]

Hi All,

Being an RV newbie and all, my wife and I are considering purchasing a 1000 Trails membership. Does anyone here on the forum have a membership and if so can you provide any thoughts on it or a review of the pros and cons of it. Thanks.

[Mr Sunshine]

I have been a Coast to Coast member for decades, which is a similar program. For some folks, they work great. It can be challenging to get reservations at some of the more popular destinations, and especially difficult on the summer holiday weekends.

Despite what the (commission driven) sales people say, the quality of the member parks vary. Some are top notch, others not so much. Most are better than average. Many of the RV resorts participate in both networks. We have been at some fabulous member parks. Many of them are destination resorts, away from major highways and attractions.

Is it right for you? That depends on the way you travel. Factor in the upfront cost and the annual fees. As with all pitches, read the fine print carefully. My father used to say, "The large print giveth and the fine print taketh away!"

[fhenn]

Have a close friend that is a member loves it but by the same token he is gone from January through May than May through September. He advises to buy a pre owned package on the open market

[Djfred]

I received a free one year membership when I purchased my motor home.I personally found that all of the northeast region Thousand Trail campgrounds were so bad that when I arrived I told them no thanks!The company seems to purchase old dying campgrounds and puts some money into making the entrance very nice.Once you get inside they are garbage dumps!They did go out of their way to try to make me want to stay,but I left and found other campgrounds.This experience was at 3 different thousand trails campgrounds.Before purchasing a membership you might want to stop at some of their places and see for yourself.Sorry to sound so negative,but this is what my experience was.Other regions might not be as bad.

[Gc.lonefir]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Hi All,



Being an RV newbie and all, my wife and I are considering purchasing a 1000 Trails membership. Does anyone here on the forum have a membership and if so can you provide any thoughts on it or a review of the pros and cons of it. Thanks.

Yes I do, will be dropping it at renewal time. I don’t like that we can’t reserve a particular space, and can only pre-reserve at 60 days where other’s with higher membership can reserve further out. You can always pay to camp if you find one you really like.

[JKTANK]

I bought a year when we had our first RV. We used the heck out of it. The biggest down side was that since we still work full time we usually arrived late, and the good spots were taken. In the Northwest zone not all the spaces have sewer. And almost all the spaces only have 30 amp.

When we bought our Thor we we given a year for free. We’ve only used it for a couple nights. It brought back all the memories of of the dislikes.

The plus side is that if you do plan well, and can arrive on a weekday you can usually get a good spot and have a good time. Some parks are better than others, but heck..... your in your RV, just relax.

[PictureTheSouth]

We are new RV'ers (4 months and 3000 miles under our seatbelts), and will be staying at a 1000 Trails facility for the first time over Labor Day weekend. That said, we are not members. We did see that these resorts (at least where we reserved - Lake Myers, NC) offer a 10% discount for Good Sam or AARP memberships, as well as to veterans. Pity we couldn't stack discounts and get 30% discount, but cie la vies.

We'll see if we can remember to post a review of experience sometime in early September. We will note now that we've been "downgraded" to a smaller site than we initially reserved. I'm sure that the "holiday weekend" traffic contributed to thatm but now wondering if being a "non-member" also factored in?

Good luck with your decision, and Happy Trails!