I have a bit of a review on clubs and their benefits here:
Various Memberships for the Weekender and Fulltimer | Learn To RV
For me:
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Thousand Trails is what we use the most. 110 nights last year and I ended up with a nightly rate of $18 when you account for yearly dues, cost of the membership, and a per night fee here or there ($5 for 50-amp service).
- Good Sam because of the camping discount and discount at Pilot/Flying J. I think I get 6-cents off of the cash price or something. I use them because they're convenient and I can start the truck pump at the pump with it.
- Passport America isn't overly helpful as I rarely overnight. We stay for 1-3 weeks typically and the times that I've wanted to use Passport America, it was better/cheaper to take the weekly rate.
- However, I tried out Harvest Hosts for a couple of unique overnights. Money-wise, it was no savings once I paid for the $40/year membership and a small purchase at each stop. As I said, we don't do many overnights so we only got to use it twice. BUT- we loved both locations. I'd likely do this again; not for the cost savings, but
for the experience. BUT- we also suck at boondocking + power management.
- Fulltime Families - I get no cost savings benefits. While they have agreements with parks to waive their kid tax (per kid fee), with only 2 kids- it's often cheaper to pay the weekly rate and get that discount. But like Harvest Hosts, I like the organization and what they represent.
- I tried a KOA membership last year (2016) but found I just didn't stay enough times to pay for the membership itself in savings. We generally avoid KOAs as I find them to be expensive (often nice, but expensive).
- I also joined Escapees but rarely get benefit out of it. It did cut the price in half for a stay in Texas. What I really liked what the
individual wheel weights weighing.