Thousand Trails Membership

Discussion in 'Destinations and RV Parks' started by EastPAcamper, Apr 11, 2007.

  1. patandjohn

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    QUOTE(EastPAcamper @ Apr 11 2007, 06:09 PM) [snapback]6779[/snapback]

    Hey to everyone,

    Got a call today from "Thousand trails" offering a free stay at one of thier sites. Was wondering if I could get some input from the more experienced people out there. Please all respond , good or bad.
    I assume they hit you for a yearly member ship in exchange for a better chance for available sites???? Is it that costly? Or is it like those time shares and you sit through 30 hours of sales pitches and you by just so they shut up...... :lol:


    Thank you ,

    Mike



    We have a TT membership and use it constantly. We are full-timers and need to be somewhere all the time, so it makes sense for us. The parks are known as "preserves" and usually have lots of open space and often a lot of wildlife. They are also very child friendly and are very good places for us to take the Grandkids.

    We feel we have a good return on our membership cost and get our $500 yearly membership fee back easily by the amount of time we spend in the system. Our membership is for two weeks in a park, and one week out. They have hundreds of different memberships over the years since they have incorporated other systems and taken on those members.

    Most parks are gravel roads and parking pads and 30 amp power. They are campgrounds, not RV parks. Depending on where you would use these parks, we can tell you what we thought of specific parks. Some reviews are also posted on this site.
     
  2. Justcheckin

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  3. southwestjudy

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    We recently joined and bought a used Platumin Plus membership which was much cheaper. Now we are full timers and found out the used membership cannot be sold again as it reverts back to the original very high priced membership, so we shall be at a loss if when we decide to sell it.....In being at a Thousand Trails here in Ca. our very first use of it we found our first park to be entirely in need of an up-date to most of the electric, (people had burnouts of TV) and only one pool is up and running also lots of potholes. Hope the next ones are in better shape.
     
  4. MS.K

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    Well, we've been looking at the calender wondering when we are going to take advantage of our offer to get 3 nights free. I will be the one listening to their presentation as my husband would rather eat chalk than to go through that but, I am all for the "free" nights and I have absolutely no problem politely telling them this membership just isnt in our budget. We know several other people that have done these offers at different resorts here in California and they all say it really isnt that bad.
     
  5. QUEENBEECEO

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    QUOTE(EastPAcamper @ Apr 11 2007, 08:09 PM) [snapback]6779[/snapback]

    Hey to everyone,

    Got a call today from "Thousand trails" offering a free stay at one of thier sites. Was wondering if I could get some input from the more experienced people out there. Please all respond , good or bad.
    I assume they hit you for a yearly member ship in exchange for a better chance for available sites???? Is it that costly? Or is it like those time shares and you sit through 30 hours of sales pitches and you by just so they shut up...... :lol:
    Thank you ,

    Mike



    We were invited to the Forest Lake Preserve in NC. We followed directions on the brochure and got lost. Lost a half days travel. We called to TT for directions and after talking with 3 different staff members, not one of them could tell us how to get there. We were supposed to arrive "sometime Sunday" We still having problems by dark and decided to call and tell them that we would continue in the morning, only to find everyone there had called it a day. We found a Walmart and did the overnite thing. We finally arrived Monday morning at about 11ish
    only to be told we "could not stay" "We missed the meeting" we did not know we had. We were told there was no staff to even show us around. We suffer a borage of personal questions on arrival and were truly treated like a piece of meat. It was as if they were sizing us up and found us unworthy. HAAA! after calling the corporate office and found no solution to out situation, we left to spend another nite in walmart lot. This was a 700 mile trip to shop at Walmart. Anyway we enjoyed to travel thru the forests while we were lost. Needless to say, I told them never to call me again. As they say "buyer beware"
     
  6. Florida Native

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    We were totally turned off by the high pressure sales tactics. We listened for about 10 minutes and then told the guy I knew he worked on commission and he was wasting his time with us. He relented (we had committed to 90 minutes) said we could go. My wife then asked for our $75 Wal-Mart Gift cards. He was not a happy camper. He started at $17,500 and soon got down to $2,750, if we bought it today. Always a turn off for me. We left after 2 days and didn't bother with the 3 rd day. I was not impressed and I would think that there are many people out there willing to sell you their membership at a steep discount. The campground West of Orlando near I-4 was a below average campground and was very stupidly laid out.
     
  7. bobbo789

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    QUOTE(EastPAcamper @ Apr 15 2007, 10:47 AM) [snapback]6796[/snapback]

    Hello all,

    Well after a couple days and no response to this post , I checked into this a little more. So far I found that if you go to the web site, www.1000trails.com, they appear to be affiliated with , Leisure Time, NACO, Mid-Atlantic, ELS Park pass, and Outdoor World.
    Is anyone members of these groups ? How does it work? What are the advantages, disadvantages? I am just looking for some input, they are offering free stays and was wondering if I should take advantage of this or is it something to avoid. Any response would be appreciated.

    thanks,

    Mike :unsure:
     
  8. Wink

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    We made a deal on a new RV yesterday and they really push TT for free but then start paying dues.They could not believe I would not sign my name to it.I finally ask what part of I don`t want it don`t you under stand.I live in Florida and any thing that is for life with out parole spells timeshare or a bill you have no control over how much it gos up. :angry:
     
  9. JENL8N

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    We just bought a new RV and was offered tt for $500 for the year. We did our research of the campgrounds that we would use and they look great from the reviews, they are mostly outdoor world campgrounds. Campground prices seem to be rising so at this price it would be silly to refuse.
     
  10. just modernday gypsies

    just modernday gypsies
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    There is no harm in taking the "free" night stays and talking with other memebers. We have had campground memberships since 1981 and even sold them for 6 years in the 80's. We now have Camp Coast to Coast, RPI and the one we use the most is Passport America that you can buy for about $45 a year and is not a membership with dues but 50 per cent off parks. We are full timers and try to do everything as cheaply as we can. When it comes to buying Thousand Trails you must realize there are hundreds of diiferent type of memberships (because of all the Companies they are affiliated with) so each one is different. True TT has some nice parks and we use them through our RP! program. So check carefully what you are buying if you decide too. But my advice is that there are many TT memberships for sale (I even know of one right now) that are sold by other parties. We went to a broker when we went full time and bought ours by resale, not TT though, their dues are very high and their programs are very complicated and what we have now works. What it comes down to is what is best for you, how are you going to use your RV and where. Most membership parks are destination parks so are not located along major routes, which is why we use the Passport America. I know this sounds confusing, it is, so check the programs out carefully before you put your money down
     
  11. rvrover2010

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    TT has a new program called zone camping where you pick a zone where you plan on doing your camping. there is no joining fee but yearly dues of $ 499. Its kinda of a try it out without buying an expensive membership. There are lots of membership for sale just google camping membership resales. I recently purchased a platinum membership with nation wide camping with 21 days in with 1 week out or park to park unlimited. Some parks are nice while others are a little run down. I also have Passport America, Coast to Coast and RPI which also has nice parks and some real losers that I would not return to. It give me a wide range of parks to travel to as I am a full timer. Just do your research before you buy :D
     
  12. pianotuna

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    Hi rvrover,

    I don't spend $500.00 per year on campsites--but I do use my RV between 50 and 60 nights per year.
     
  13. Copacabana

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    QUOTE(EastPAcamper @ Apr 11 2007, 08:09 PM) [snapback]6779[/snapback]

    Hey to everyone,

    Got a call today from "Thousand trails" offering a free stay at one of thier sites. Was wondering if I could get some input from the more experienced people out there. Please all respond , good or bad.
    I assume they hit you for a yearly member ship in exchange for a better chance for available sites???? Is it that costly? Or is it like those time shares and you sit through 30 hours of sales pitches and you by just so they shut up...... :lol:
    Thank you ,

    Mike




    Be forewarned! Our experience with TT left us quite shocked. We had been members for several years. After selling our trailer we notified them that we were cancelling our membership. Our son had passed away shortly thereafter and when we got back on our feet called them as the bills were still coming. They finally did cancel and sent us a large bill for the interim period. We called trying to explain and basically had the rudest responses we have ever heard over the phone always ending with, "So how do you want to pay - by check or credit card?" We had thought of getting another membership when retiring but now would never think of it unless there is a change of personnel in their accounts payable office. We rate TT on a scale of 1 to 10 as "0" and would not recommend it to anybody!!
     
  14. FosterImposters

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    We are SOOOO glad we didn't plop down several hundred dollars for a couple nice looking campground memberships, when we first began full time RVing. It's a bums rush when they first discover you have purchased an RV of some kind.

    Don't be fooled. There is no limit to parks, you are NOT going to be left out in the cold without their membership! Give yourself some time to investigate, both the TT parks and others.

    If you find you only are comfortable in TT parks, then go for it. ;)

    We have stretched those initiation moneys to enjoy some pretty nice campgrounds, RV Parks, a couple Resorts and still have $$$ to spare. In hindsight, we did NOT stay in the area we initially thought we'd spend most of our time.

    The only time we were locked out...was on a holiday at a membership park! Good heavens am I glad we investigated first. B)

    Happy Camping!
     
  15. mini09

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    QUOTE(rvrover2010 @ May 15 2011, 07:38 PM) [snapback]26094[/snapback]

    TT has a new program called zone camping where you pick a zone where you plan on doing your camping. there is no joining fee but yearly dues of $ 499. Its kinda of a try it out without buying an expensive membership. There are lots of membership for sale just google camping membership resales. I recently purchased a platinum membership with nation wide camping with 21 days in with 1 week out or park to park unlimited. Some parks are nice while others are a little run down. I also have Passport America, Coast to Coast and RPI which also has nice parks and some real losers that I would not return to. It give me a wide range of parks to travel to as I am a full timer. Just do your research before you buy :D



    What did you pay for the membership? Am wondering what mine is worth. I have had a Platinum Membership (since 1985) am wanting to sell. Timeshare Sellers are offering some unheard of resale prices - too good to be true.
     
  16. GaryMac

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    QUOTE(Lindsay Richards @ Aug 26 2008, 07:48 PM) [snapback]12957[/snapback]

    We were totally turned off by the high pressure sales tactics. We listened for about 10 minutes and then told the guy I knew he worked on commission and he was wasting his time with us. He relented (we had committed to 90 minutes) said we could go. My wife then asked for our $75 Wal-Mart Gift cards. He was not a happy camper. He started at $17,500 and soon got down to $2,750, if we bought it today. Always a turn off for me. We left after 2 days and didn't bother with the 3 rd day. I was not impressed and I would think that there are many people out there willing to sell you their membership at a steep discount. The campground West of Orlando near I-4 was a below average campground and was very stupidly laid out.
     

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