RV Clubs: Save Money & Make Friends

Membership with Passport America offers a stunning 50 percent off when visiting their associated campgrounds. And with more than 1450 campgrounds across the country on their list, you are pretty likely to find one near you or your vacation destination. 

With this impressive Passport America discount of 50 percent membership pays for itself in no more than three to four nights. If you’re a regular RV camper, taking monthly or bi-weekly trips, your savings could be considerable. They also have a customer referral program for additional savings.

Passport America also has a mobile app to help you book reservations and find your campsite without any hassle, even if arriving after hours.

Be wary however, many of these parks have limitations on this discount. Some of them do not accept the discounted rate on holidays, and some don’t accept it even on weekends. The discount campground list is also full of some of the less-maintained and poorly-managed sites.

But since the Passport America website and campground list don’t allow customer reviews, it’s difficult to know whether other campers truly find this membership valuable.

Escapees offer a different kind of club. Rather than focusing on discounts and services, they have created a total support network with a vibrant sense of community. They have many scheduled meetings at various participating campgrounds with meet-ups including many networking opportunities.

Some of the great resources that Escapees offer include educational materials, ongoing training courses, a job-posting board for full-time RVers so that members can offer each other work while on the road, mail forwarding, and even discounts on memberships in other RV clubs! 

As far as direct services go, Escapees might be somewhat limited. They do provide roadside assistance and discounts at many camping grounds, although their list is not as extensive as other clubs’ associations. Their list does, however, include 18 five-star RV parks that membership will get you access to for between 15 – 50% off.

Younger members, and members who are still working full-time, might be initially disappointed with Escapees. This club tends to focus on retired members and members who go RV camping during the workweek. As such, it might be difficult for working-age RVers to get involved and stay involved.

However, Escapees has recently started a new subset of their club called Xscapers targeted toward this younger and fully-employed demographic, featuring all of the same perks and benefits.

The Good Sam RV Club is perhaps the most popular on this list with more than 2 million members enjoying its benefits. They also have an affiliate campground list with more than 2000 participating campgrounds on it.

But this club offers much more than just discounts. With membership, you get access to their trip-planning apps, which can help you calculate distances and driving times, fuel costs, and finding rest stops along the way.

Good Sam also offers various trip insurance plans to cover you and your family in case of unforeseen troubles. These insurance plans could be as simple as towing, and roadside assistance or they can even help your family continue on their trip without you if your attention is required to fix up your RV.

The only problem with a club this size is that you will encounter a lot of disagreement among the members. This has led to unreliable ratings at many of their affiliate parks, with some locations getting swamped with bad ratings, and other sites receiving fake, flattering reviews.

Boondockers Welcome is a unique kind of club. Unlike other clubs on this list, they are an RV parking network. You might think of them as an AirBNB service, where members offer to host one another.

As far as service goes, you’ll be dealing with other club members rather than hospitality professionals. Of course, sometimes, your experience will be great, sometimes less than you hoped for, but in general, you can count on other RV travelers to treat you right.

Since you’re staying with other RV owners who live locally in your vacation destination, you can be sure to get the best local tourism advice, including restaurants and sightseeing. Your hosts might even be able to help you with maintenance or troubleshooting if you have any issues, especially for easy-to-solve problems like jumpstarting your battery.

If you offer to host RV travelers on your home property, you can sometimes take advantage of the Boondockers Welcome network without paying the annual membership fees.

Now, because you are dry camping (or boondocking), you may have to sacrifice some of the amenities that you’re accustomed to enjoying in your RV. Your hosts may not provide electrical or water hook-ups. However, you’re getting to stay overnight for free in exciting new locations!

This is also a private property hosting network, but for specialized locations. Unlike Boondockers Welcome, who will park you in the driveway at their homes, Harvest Hosts will park you in their farms, vineyards, or open land.

If you love agricultural tourism, this is the club for you. It boasts exciting and unique locations around the country where you can explore and investigate the local produce industries and see what farmers and vintners like to grow in other parts of America.

This club is also specifically appealing to wine tasters and connoisseurs. If the RV lifestyle and wine discovery are two of your greatest loves, then you will certainly want a membership with Harvest Hosts where you can combine your favorite pastimes. Best of all: camping at these locations is free.

Because of the limited number of farmers and vintners who love to host RVers, this club’s affiliate list is much smaller than other camping clubs boast. Moreover, these camping locations are only for boondocking and rarely offer electrical or water hookups.

This is also not a service or discount club, so they don’t offer much in the way of roadside assistance or other discounts. 

Kampgrounds of America (KOA) has the largest and oldest network of campground sites in the United States. With this kind of history and popularity, you know that you’re connected to quality service and top-rated locations.

The KOA Value Kard is more like a discount membership for a nationwide chain than an RV club. Since KOA manages so many of the most popular campgrounds around the country, their Value Kard is probably going to give you the best discounts for the best locations.

Some people choose to avoid KOA participating campgrounds because of the prices they charge, but those prices indicate the quality service and well-maintained grounds they have. You are almost sure to find the electrical and water hookups you need, as well as camping alongside other seasoned RV veterans and experts.

The annual cost of membership is pretty reasonable and if you are a regular camper, or even use your RV for about four weekends each year, you’re sure to make up the cost of membership in your savings.

This club might be the most expensive on the list, but it’s also the only one that offers free camping without restrictions at all of its branded luxury campgrounds and resorts.

If you are looking for the best, most relaxing experience in your RV, then look no further than one of the Thousand Trails campsites. They helped define the term “glamping,” or glamour camping. You will find well-kept grounds at every site, as well as all of the electrical and water hookups you need. You might even find other on-site recreational activities and utilities at many of their campsites.

It’s a particular comfort to know that you won’t pay any hidden reservation charges, connection fees, or have to worry about any other lodging budgeting when you have a membership with Thousand Trails. Even if you go camping during peak season or in the holidays, your stay with them will be covered by your annual membership fees.

Because their campgrounds are so spacious and luxurious, it’s understandable that their selection is limited. They maintain the highest standards at their sites, and that means less choice. Make sure you find a campground at your destination that suits your needs and make a reservation before hitting the road.