Thousand Trails Membership

[TaftCoach]

I'm hoping some of you have been a member. Reviews are all over the place.

I was surprised there was only a couple older threads about them. I was just looking at their website and thinking they may be a fit at basically $50 a month. I called and spoke to one of their sales rep and later a clerk at a local resort who told me I could . . .

Book a weekend every week at the same resort. There is one about an hour from my house that would make a pretty good weekend destination. We see ourselves being out there two or three weekends per month basically creating a "lake house" for ourselves.

We are also being told that availability is usually very good for non holiday weekends and that we should be able to get a site by calling the same week. This is big because our Texas State Parks are booked every weekend and having last minute access without spending $75 per night is a game changer for us.

If the above is true, than I'm probably going to go for it. What would propel it into an obvious buy is if . . .

It's easy to book one or two night stops next summer along our way from Texas to Maine.

Book a week at their only campground in Maine if we check exactly in the 60 day window.

My biggest concern is not having access when we need it. If I have to book two months in advance to use it on a weekend, I'm back to square one. We also prefer more rustic campgrounds to polished RV parks. I don't mind 30A electric and water only.

Thank you

[EA37TS]

When we bought our last motorhome they threw in a one year membership. We never used them. The parks are first come first serve with not reserved sites, yes you make a reservation but not for a specific site so get there early because the better sites will be taken. The parks were not well maintained. Muddy to the point of almost getting stuck. Electrical pedestals that don't work. On and On and On. Every one we pulled into we left without staying because in our opinion it was sub-standard.

I will say this was approximately 7 years ago. Maybe they improved. Doubtful; but maybe.

[Cannon]

RV odd couple are full timers that use Thousand Trails. They have a couple of video's about it from their last year of using it you can find on you tube.

[RAurand]

What EA37TS said.
My in laws purchased a membership many years ago that also had the kids names on it.
Planed to retire and travel the country side with it.
Unfortunately my father in law passed from cancer. They never used it. SO since my wife's name was on the membership, we started using it. Some campgrounds were nice, most were not. Like mentioned above, you make reservations so they know how many sites will be taken BUT, LIKE MENTIONED ABOVE.....1ST COME 1ST SERVED. To get good sites, we always arrived on a Wednesday. By Friday morning, all the good sites were taken and you went to the "South 40" in the mid, water and electric only sites. Electric pedestals were..... well, you had better have an EMS or your system might get fired! Bath/shower houses, well, some ok and some I wouldn't send my enemy to.
My mother in laws rated kept going up as well so finally after 8 years... (Last year) my mother in law said she isn't paying the maintenance fees any more. We agreed with her.

So, if you are retired and planning on seeing the country and can arrive on a Wednesday, stay 2 weeks and move on, it instead.
Yes, you can make your reservations and they may guarantee you a site.. and they do guarantee you a site. If all the good sites are taken because of first come first serves, you get your guaranteed site out in the pasture.

[TaftCoach]

Thank you. We're thinking weekends at the same park so we're going to visit it this week. Basically we're thinking $600 for 60 nights.

I've been reading reviews of the campground we'd be using the most and I'm reading poor maintenance, bad electric, so it may be universal with them.

[2edgesword]

The first come, first serve was a turn off for us and the one park we stayed at was so so. As others have mentioned you don't get a reserved spot so when you get to the park you have to search for an open site in the area where you're allowed to stay. If you're familiar with the park this isn't a major issue but if you're not finding an open site is not always so easy.

[SloPoke]

oh my... does this bring back some memories -

Turn back the clock to the 1990's and Thousand Trails (TT) was a growing network of RV parks that had a good footing in the Central / Southern California market. My mom/pop owned a 38' Alpha Gold 5th wheel and 3/4 timed in it. They had a lifetime membership that they spent a fortune for... but traveled most of the western USA and many of the parks they stayed in were TT affiliated parks... They saw a lot of the US and enjoyed the time they were away from us kids.

Just before mom passed away, she wanted me to have the TT membership - since I was the only one with a RV that could use it. I am sure I still have it, but if I can find it, I will give it away to someone on my "JOF Ignored list". (Mods will have to advise me of who wants it)

[JFlightRisk]

You might also check the Better Business Bureau website, and see if there's any listings on them.

[rkresge]

I'm in my 5th season with their Zone Pass membership (no longer offered as such). Been extremely happy with it. My thoughts. In order to get maximum value from your membership you need to "work the system". In season, pay attention to your 60-day reservation window and make reservations the first moment you can - especially at popular locations. Second, as noted by several people, TT works on a "first come, first served" basis, with no individual site reservations. So plan to arrive any time between Sunday and Wednesday. Later in the week it can be very difficult to find a more desirable site. Third, it's only a value if you can use it. We've stayed in about 10 locations now, from VA to MA (mostly in PA, near home). 8 of those range from good to very good. One of them was pretty cramped, with tight turns, but overall still fairly nice. And the last one was so terrible that they should just bulldoze it and start over (Sturbridge MA). We use more than our allotted 30 days every year, but pay only $3/night beyond that, which is a real bargain.

For Maine, you might want to consider buying the add-on Trails Collection. It adds access to 4 or 5 other locations, including 3 that are very close to Acadia. We go to ME almost every year, but generally stay at a KOA that's pretty close to our son's family. Otherwise I'd go for the Trails Collection. FWIW, if we go to ME this year it'll be in Sept. - I already have a reservation at Moody Beach, gonna find out what it's like. It's only a mile or so from our favorite restaurant in ME, the Maine Diner. We just love that place.

Good luck!

Roger

[Mikemor8]

Just stayed at TT Williamsburg. Well maintained overall, good location, friendly people, bathrooms were well maintained. I would stay at this location again without hesitation.