Is 1000 Trails Camping Pass for SW Zone worth it?

[larry2c]

Just for clarification - the Zone Pass is for 550 - 20% (for now) for only one zone. There is an "add on" price to let you have multiple zones but the $$ go up...

[Philandterry]

Originally Posted by larry2c

Just for clarification - the Zone Pass is for 550 - 20% (for now) for only one zone. There is an "add on" price to let you have multiple zones but the $$ go up...

TT's Zone Passes mainly to get people intrested in camping again. Once they realize they enjoy camping, they can either upgrade to include longer stays and more areas to camp or just keep getting the Zone they live in/ camp in. We have had our TT membership 15-20 years. We sometimes used it lots & sometimes very little. To us it has been a good deal. Look at the areas you camp in. Are there TT in that area??? They aren't in every state. Like any campground, you get good ones and not so good ones, but most are top notch.
As to high pressure sales talks, I've been to several and they usually just show what is avaliable and let you decide. They figure if you don't upgrade today, you will in the future.

[doc73]

The last sales talk I was at they called us on the phone. It was a school teacher working for them for the summer as additional income.. He looked at our contract and asked how we used the system. Said, yep you sound like you have all you need, here is my number but sounds like your doing great! Very high pressure..

When we first signed up for tt we sat through a meeting in Hershey but hey fed us. It was not high pressure, just the facts and the cost.

[High Desert]

I have ha TT membership twice in past 3 years ( free with new RV purchased) and it is such a poor park program (in northwest) that I neverused the 2nd free year. TT Parks I have been to are dirty, poorly maintained, almost creepy in some respects. I have no intention of spending my money on a TT membership as they are quite restrictiveness told to, apply to certain days only in some “TT” Parks and you rarely get a site you reserved and are told, upon arrival, to go find one that’s open. Bit for me, but some folks like the TT system, and that’s ok.

[Sbosserman]

We owned a TT membership for about 12 years. We purchase it from the original owner who bought it in the 1960's. It had a membership number of less than 100, so it was really early. It was for unlimited camping for the entire system in the US. We paid about $900 for it used and it could only be sold one more time. The annual dues increased quite a bit every year, I believe when we sold it about 5 years ago they were around $850 annually. So, if you are just thinking of the value for the money, it works for some people, but here's the main reason that so many people get rid of their TT membership: pretty much most of the campgrounds are run down & in very poor repair, often many of the campsites are closed due to no electricity or water / sewer, etc and no money to have them fixed. Most of them are out in the stix away from any nearby towns where the land is cheap. Poor management at each park is common. Most of the good sites a some campgrounds were sold to individual owners for their exclusive annual use (i.e. Palm Springs). It got so frustrating at times that we just decided that it was worth the extra money to stay at nice clean campgrounds that were well run and had good ratings with Good Sam or on Yelp. The money was NOT the object, the quality of the campgrounds was the issue. I know that there are exceptions and somebody is going to say how nice some certain campground was, but I'm just sayin' that overall, the campground quality is poor.

[Scheinin]

Originally Posted by Sbosserman

We owned a TT membership for about 12 years. We purchase it from the original owner who bought it in the 1960's. It had a membership number of less than 100, so it was really early. It was for unlimited camping for the entire system in the US. We paid about $900 for it used and it could only be sold one more time. The annual dues increased quite a bit every year, I believe when we sold it about 5 years ago they were around $850 annually. So, if you are just thinking of the value for the money, it works for some people, but here's the main reason that so many people get rid of their TT membership: pretty much most of the campgrounds are run down & in very poor repair, often many of the campsites are closed due to no electricity or water / sewer, etc and no money to have them fixed. Most of them are out in the stix away from any nearby towns where the land is cheap. Poor management at each park is common. Most of the good sites a some campgrounds were sold to individual owners for their exclusive annual use (i.e. Palm Springs). It got so frustrating at times that we just decided that it was worth the extra money to stay at nice clean campgrounds that were well run and had good ratings with Good Sam or on Yelp. The money was NOT the object, the quality of the campgrounds was the issue. I know that there are exceptions and somebody is going to say how nice some certain campground was, but I'm just sayin' that overall, the campground quality is poor.

That was my experience in Florida.

[doc73]

Originally Posted by Sbosserman

We owned a TT membership for about 12 years. We purchase it from the original owner who bought it in the 1960's. It had a membership number of less than 100, so it was really early. It was for unlimited camping for the entire system in the US. We paid about $900 for it used and it could only be sold one more time. The annual dues increased quite a bit every year, I believe when we sold it about 5 years ago they were around $850 annually. So, if you are just thinking of the value for the money, it works for some people, but here's the main reason that so many people get rid of their TT membership: pretty much most of the campgrounds are run down & in very poor repair, often many of the campsites are closed due to no electricity or water / sewer, etc and no money to have them fixed. Most of them are out in the stix away from any nearby towns where the land is cheap. Poor management at each park is common. Most of the good sites a some campgrounds were sold to individual owners for their exclusive annual use (i.e. Palm Springs). It got so frustrating at times that we just decided that it was worth the extra money to stay at nice clean campgrounds that were well run and had good ratings with Good Sam or on Yelp. The money was NOT the object, the quality of the campgrounds was the issue. I know that there are exceptions and somebody is going to say how nice some certain campground was, but I'm just sayin' that overall, the campground quality is poor.

I can see that. I have had our last two trips not go well due to their rules or lack of honoring reservations.

We just left early from our trip due to flooding. When we arrived Friday they were shocked to see us and said they had no more sights. It is 3pm on a Friday and we had reservations.. But they filled the campground with people from the other tt cgs that had to be closed due to flooding. But they did not even attempt to account for the ones who had reservations. We were only here for the weekend and found a muddy, tiny spot, along the river. One couple had their week vacation ruined because they had no where to go.. They ended up in an even muddier spot. Probably not going back. Maybe I'm getting old but I am way less tolerant of this stupid stuff.

I enjoy my membership a little bit and am happy for it but I tell people to avoid tt anymore. They are a mess anymore.