Thousand Trails Memberships 2023 - What They Are And How To Save Money On Them

[@matthiggins7223]

One thing I'll mention to anyone considering a membership, would be to consider the differences between new/used. With USED, you typically cannot resell, but you end up saving money up front. With NEW, you pay more up front, with the potential to resell later down the line. As always, Duane, great and well-presented info! I called Jim and Brandy and picked up a new Adventure membership this past weekend. Of course, I dropped your name! 😎👍 Happy trails, sir!

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Hi Matt. Congrats on the new Adventure membership! I'm sure you're going to love it. And you made a great point about choosing either a new or used membership. Thanks for the great comment and for giving us a mention with Jim too!

[@whoistheroach136]

Very good and correct information about the whole program.

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching and leaving a nice comment about your own experiences with TT!

[@LayloNewt]

TT is great if your trips are in the path of TT Parks. We've had our membership about10yrs and we spend 4 or 5 months on the road each year. Some of the parks are old and not big rig friendly. Membership is well worth the price if you use it. Thanks Stay Safe and Make Memories

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Thanks for your input on this subject. I have found a couple of parks where our 40" diesel pusher was really tight too. But in the vast majority of TT and Encore parks where we have stayed, we have had plenty of room. Safe and happy travels to you!

[@kayefink8293]

When you look at the cost of an average FHU site for a fulltimer (some upwards of $55-$60/night), TT works. Especially if you are looking for a campground for a place to go off and explore, not just stay onsite. I think it is definitely based on your style of rving.

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

I agree with your assessment Kaye. TT is not for everyone. But for some RVers, it's a super deal. Thanks for leaving us your thoughts on the subject!

[@Lolaandcassidyadventures]

$ 8Grand! I’ll put the money into my power system to boondock and Harvest hosts.:)

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Well, as I said in the video, a TT membership is not for everybody. For us and many others it has produced the biggest savings on fulltime RVing costs of anything that we have done so far. And when our RVing days are over, we can sell our membership for most of what we spent for it. I wish you well in your decision, but we are pretty happy with ours too .... :-)

[@MX-CO]

In some states you could buy a plot of land for that price

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

@@MX-CO Possibly. But it probably won't be a developed piece of land. So you will have to pay to bring plumbing, water and electricity to it. And you won't be able to take that land wherever you want to go around the country either. But everybody has to make a decision based on what they think is the best for the way they travel and camp. If having a plot of land in one location for under $10K is best for you, I say go for it!

[@397coney7]

Yeah, it gets real pricey real quick. I dont think its worth the $8k +. Maybe it would be worth it, if there were more options for parks in the middle of the country.

[@397coney7]

......and what happens if this business folds like a cheap deck of cards, after you've paid $8k plus?

[@sandysundberg8058]

A word to the wise about buying a used membership. We purchased a used membership from Kim at Campground Membership Outlet for what was advertised of a VIP + Alliance (210 days advanced registration) membership. We were advised by Kim that this was verified through TT as VIP + Alliance, but when it was all said in done, all we got was a VIP membership. Get the seller's membership number and verify it through TT. Kim said she was working on getting this corrected and after six months, she is not returning our phone calls or emails.

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Sorry to hear about your issue with a used TT membership. It's the first time I have heard of anyone who had trouble working with CMO.

[@NomadicLiving]

The Trails Collection is now $370 per year. We dropped ours a couple of years ago - we just use the core Elite Basic. The only;y way the Adventure is worth it is if you only use the system 100% of the time. We enjoy travel to Canada and Alaska, Utah, Wyoming and Montana where there aren't many TT options so we took a pass on upgrading. You really need to consider where you want to travel as well.

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Thanks for sharing your thought process on Thousand Trails. Like I said in the video, it's not for everyone. And not all of the features work for everyone either.

[@ParryPickleballking-es2el]

The other membership to buy is a Passport America. It pays for itself in 2 nights. They give you 50% off and the campgrounds do not limit the number of sites PA can use.

[@billcarp3523]

I made a great decision when I bought an Elite membership.

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Yes, I think you did Bill. We have an Elite membership too. Thanks for sharing your buying decision with us!

[@teresacalhoun8815]

What is the elite memmership

[@billcarp3523]

@@teresacalhoun8815 Stay 21 days, travel park-to-park, etc.

[@teresacalhoun8815]

@@billcarp3523 Thankd sounds good 😊 im looking forwTded to getting strated happy week gbu is all praying for you all swert

[@winduncan9818]

My big gripe with the new Adventure Pass is that so many Encore parks are age restricted in. Basically all of Arizona and a lot of Texas.

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

I agree that there should be more non-age restricted Encore parks in those areas. It's great for us older folks, but not for younger ones. They could also use more TT parks in AZ too to help make up for the lack of Encore parks without age restrictions. But they don't seem to be heading in that direction. Thanks for sharing your observation with us!

[@ParryPickleballking-es2el]

It's something to look forward to when you're 55!! 😅😂😂

[@susanray7394]

agree

[@davidggaither828]

I appreciated the useful information presented in your video. What's the minimum time after leaving a resort before you can return to the SAME resort? Is it 7 days or longer?

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

It's 7 days regardless of what membership option you have. Good question David. Thanks for watching!

[@ronmcdaniel1583]

Thank you Duane. I'm still laughing, trying to find a new RED FLYER! LOL I will watch this video many more times! TT gets a bit confusing but when we find that Red Flyer we will be joining TT for sure. Thank you for your support SAFE TRAVELS

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Yes I agree that TT can be confusing Ron. I wish they made it much simpler in many ways. But even with the complexity I still think it's the best way I know of to keep your camping costs really low. I'm sure that it will work well for you when you hit the road!

[@douglassrawlinson9993]

One thing i'm not finding info on . Rv age length and class restrictions . Are camper trucks, travel trailers , cargo trailer conversions and or tents allowed ? I called today about buying the Adventure package with the add on's for the encore resorts . I'm not sure the class of rig i'm going to buy .. (i wanted a supper c) I will be working 13 week contracts as a travailing RN . The one down side with this club is the 21 day limit (4 moves per contract ) Well worth the savings, living Full time and working cross country .

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Hi Douglas. From our experience, TT allows a wide range of RV types, ages and sizes into their parks. We have seen almost everything at one time or another. I'm not sure that TT will be a good solution for your particular needs though, since you typically spend 13 weeks in one area. But that's something for you to decide.

[@tinacampbell8539]

Hi and thanks for your very helpful video. I’m a full time RV’er; a Canadian, and spend 6 months a year in the US. In your opinion, is that enough time to make a membership worthwhile? From what I gather, TT is also in British Columbia, I think that’s the only province though. Thanks again!

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Hi Tina. I would say that getting a Zones Camping Pass and adding on the Trails Collection would certainly be worth it if you plan on traveling much around for those 6 months. It would cost you about $150/month during that time. And that's only about 3-4 days worth of nightly camping costs per month (at $40-$50/night). The rest of the month would be savings. After using the basic membership like that you can then decide if it is worth upgrading your membership from there.

[@tinacampbell8539]

@@RVInspectionAndCare Thank you! I appreciate your help

[@flippymcflipperson]

Looking at the base membership...is it really possible to get a reservation only 60 days out?

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

That's a good question. In general, I find that with most TT parks 60 days in advance works fine. It's mainly the high traffic parks in on-peak season that may be more difficult to get with that level of membership. Maybe others can comment on their experiences here as well.

[@flippymcflipperson]

@@RVInspectionAndCare thanks for the response. Great video too! I searched for a while to find a clear, concise, and informative video and you nailed it. Thanks again!

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

@@flippymcflipperson I'm so glad that you enjoyed the video. TT memberships is a subject that can be confusing and difficult to explain. So I spent a while trying to think of how to make it as understandable as possible. I'm glad that you found it helpful. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@paulkucan166]

When you say upgrade do you pay for full new price or do you get credit for one owned?

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Hi Paul. If you only have a TT Zone Pass, you will have to buy an upgraded membership at the full price. But once you own an upgraded membership, you can apply a significant portion of the value of your current membership toward the cost of a further upgrade. Also, TT constantly runs special sales through the year to make upgrading between memberships more attractive. Thanks for watching!

[@slickwilly4613]

If I wanted to buy a used membership so I could travel across the states over a 2 year period then, after that time sell the membership, would that be cost effective. Also, if my travel was fairly spontaneous, booking 2 weeks out, would I be out of luck?

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

It all depends on how much you plan on using your TT membership for camping as you travel. The more you use it, the more savings you will have. We personally felt that we paid for our Elite membership within the first year of usage, but we were also using TT almost exclusively during that period. As far as booking spontaneously is concerned, you may run into some issues if you only plan on booking out 2 weeks beforehand. There are a lot of people using the TT system and we find that the longer you can book out your reservation the better results you get. I hope that helps.

[@marlenemeyer9841]

You cannot resell a used membership. You can only sell a new membership. Hope that helps

[@dannysampson398]

Always enjoy your videos, I have been looking at motorhomes, what area of the country are you located?

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Hi Danny. We are going to be in Arizona for the next several months. Thanks for watching and for the positive feedback!

[@dannysampson398]

Thanks, I'm looking at one in Florida, didn't know if you were in that area

[@MC-rh3fc]

Can I cancel this membership anytime? Is it like a timeshare where the annual dues are charged forever?

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

If you buy a Zones Camping Pass, you can just decide whether you want to renew from year to year. If you buy one of the upgraded memberships, you own it for life as long as you keep paying the annual dues. But they allow you to put your dues on hold for I think up to 5 years at a time if you won't be using the membership. But the good news is that if you buy a new TT membership, you can also resell it on the resale market any time you want and get about 2/3 of your original membership cost back. These memberships are very popular on the used market and you will be able to sell them easily.

[@carolmaplesden916]

I need a chart LoL I am definitely interested and I want to get the one just right for me but I can only retain so much information I need a chart

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

LOL ... I know what you mean. Thousand Trails doesn't make their offerings easy to understand. And I agree with you that it's far too complicated. But it's still a great deal if you can figure out what works best for you and we are very glad that we have our TT membership. It has saved us more money than anything else we have done in our full-time RVing history. Safe and happy RV travels to you!

[@carolmaplesden916]

@@RVInspectionAndCare Thank you I will be giving these folks a a call but it won't be pretty 😁

[@celestepalm6949]

Thanks for the contacts, Duane! I think I'll just stick with 2 zones of the Basic membership. A great way for a TT veteran to make some extra $ would be to write a book/pdf listing the TT campsites that offer more breathing space & green zone privacy between their RV lots. Anyone already did this?

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Hi Celeste. A Camping Pass with two zones is a great way to experience Thousand Trails. And you are right about there being a need for someone to write a guide to all of the TT campgrounds and let everyone know what to expect before they get there. I am not aware of anything like that at this point.

[@melinda1343]

Do you have to pay an annual due for the TT zone camping pass?

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Hi Melinda. There is a cost for the Camping Pass for the year ($630/year). But you can decide whether to renew it from year to year or not. You aren't locked into any ongoing cost. I hope that helps.

[@haojianhuang8056]

👍👍

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Thanks for the positive feedback!

[@bi0lizard1]

The sleazy ‘time share’ industry vibes are pretty strong with this. My spider sense is tingling for some reason after hearing this.

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Well unfortunately for you, your spider sense is completely wrong in this case. I have owned both a time share and a Thousand Trails membership. And the TT membership is nothing like a time share. If you want to know how it really works and how much money it can save you on RV camping costs just check out my article here - rvinspectionandcare.com/thousand-trails-review/

[@alwayson7229]

$600 might be good for a full timers but Jesus way to much for weekenders who can stare at state parks for $20 a night. Wow

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Like I said in the video, TT is not for everyone.

[@paulinoaz]

Way too confusing. They need to simply their plans and they NEED more camp grounds that are not around the edges of the United States, there is pretty much nothing that is not near the border.

[@RVInspectionAndCare]

Actually I agree with both ideas. But our TT membership has saved us a ton of money and we have been able to travel all across the US without spending much time outside their system either. So for us, TT just works.