Thousand Trails/Leisure Time

[Draco Dog]

My parents joined Thousand Trails in the 70's. At that time, I believe that their only campground was in Chehalis, Washington.

My husband and I purchased their contract and have never regretted it. Because I am not retired yet, we haven't had the chance to take full advantage of this membership. Hopefully that will all change the 1st part of 2009.

We will also probably want to join other campground memberships.

Any suggestions on which ones are the best value for the money?

 

[ziggy]

We "won" a camping trip from 1000 Trails when we entered a contest at Camping World last month. Of course they would like us to go to their "orientation" while we are there. The parks we looked at online look pretty nice and there are several near areas we like to go. Draco Dog has had a good experience, what about others? How much does the membership run? Are there any catches to the membership? Hidden fees? In other words, is this going to be like a timeshare kind of deal?

Kristy

 

[Draco Dog]

Ziggy; we seem to have some things in common. We have the same trailer and we also have an 07 Duramax. We live in northern Oregon. Re: 1000 trails. A lot has changed since we 1st joined. I know there are different memberships that you can purchase. I have found Thousand Trail personnel to be very helpful. Ofcourse they would like for you to join, but I have never heard of high-pressure being used. The different memberships have varied costs. There are no catches to the memberships. I have always found them to be honest. Not like some organizations, where you purchase their membership and then later on find out what is really expected of you. There are no hidden fees and "no", this is nothing like a timeshare. I suggest that you at least listen to what they have to say. You may not want to make a decision right then. Think it over and then get back to them. We are very lucky where we live because there are many locations that we can go to that are only 1-3 hours away from our home. Our favorite is Pacific City. We always try to go there whenever I have a 3 or 4 day weekend. The park is less than a mile from the ocean. Each park has lots of things to do; swimming, hot tub, tennis, etc. So you can do as little or as much as you want. Each campground has weekly meetings with the manager of the location and any of the members that want to attend. I find these meetings to be very informative. OH-----I am not a member of their sales department, I just truely enjoy camping @ Thousand Trails and also Leisure Time.

 

[Clark]

Ziggy, we joined TTN back in 2002 here in Pennsylvania. We paid about $5 K for the membership at that time and pay about $450/year dues. We have gone to a number of their Preserves in the PA, VA area and have always enjoyed the facilities and staff. We took a trip to the west coast in 2007 and took advantage of the TTN and RPI resorts as often as we could. The Preserves up in the Washington and Oregon region were just outstanding, particularly Pacific City and South Jetty in Oregon and Chehalis in Washington. I believe that the general rule is two weeks in the park and one week out, but check with the sales personnel to make sure. We upgraded to the Outdoor World package last Fall to take advantage of their many resorts around the East coast. Like all salespeople you have to ask questions and make sure that you know what you are buying, but they are generally reasonable. Good luck.
Clark&Carolyn

 

[ziggy]

Thanks.
Sounds like we should at least go listen to them. We decided to spend our free trip at Whalers Rest just outside Newport at the end of July. We are about 4 years from being able to retire, so our use would be limited until then to the parks within easy travel distance from Southern Oregon. But there seem to be quite a few of those.

Draco, where you buy your trailer? We got ours in Medford. We looked in Bend, but didn't like the dealership. Medford is closer to us anyway since we are in Klamath Falls.
Kristy

 

[buckeyebob]

i am a coast to coast "classic" member,i bought it from a person that sells memberships for people who are wanting out of membership.i was skeptical at first ,but the memberships new cost 3-5 thousand i paid 595.00.that included i year ctoc dues,79.00,i year maintainance fee 220.00 for my home park in south carolina.we have gotten our money back twice over in 2 years.the advantage of buying out of state is you can camp at all the resorts everywhere else.if its in your own stste you cant stay at any other c to c resort whithin a 200 mile circle!!!2 weeks a year at each resort,but they can waive tyhat rule if they want to,and they often do.cost is 10 bucks a niteif you have any interest i will look the name and phone #of sales guy.there are 7 in oregon . bob

 

[ziggy]

I wondered about the levels of membership and if there was a home park kind of thing. We'll have to listen to what they have to say and think about it to see if it will work out for us.
Kristy

 

[sailorand]

Ziggy
Yes there are home parks with 1000 Trails. Not to worry about them though. Trails works for us, but is not for everyone. Yes the parks amenties are dated, But we RV for under $12 per night.
We bought our membership used, but there are lots of different memberships offered over the years and All are not equal. We have an Alliance membership that has 1000 trails, Naco and Leisuretime. That gives us the best usage for us. Need more info email me.
Rand

 

[ziggy]

Rand,
As I look through their site, it seems I like the locations of Naco parks better. Which parks have you used and how do they compare? We don't really use a lot of the amenities in the parks we've been in so far, but we like them to be clean, quiet, and friendly. We like to have lots of places to go near the park and have it be easy to get in and out of with our big 5th wheel. We can't camp more than long weekends and summer vacations right now, but we want good places to spend time in the summers for now and for the winters in a few years when we retire.
Kristy

 

[Draco Dog]

Ziggy, we bought our Big Horn from Curtis Trailers in Portland. The sales and service personnel are wonderful to work with and very knowledgeable. We have had several trailers in the past, but the Big Horn outshines them all by far.

We plan on selling our home and living in the Big Horn. Hopefully our health will last for a few years so we can take advantage of visiting more of this beautiful country that we live in.

We only have 1,000 trails and Leisure Time at the present. But since I will be retiring within the next year, we will want to add more. Probably Naco.

With the price of diesel, guess we will visit daughter in Tucson; wait till we have enough money for diesel to get us to son, who lives in Indianapolis. (geez. can I babysit enough to pay for the diesel bill??? tee hee.)

 

[sailorand]

Ziggy
!trails parks are more preserves usually with lots of land around, Naco are parklike, some times with units closer and Leisure time more like resorts. Having said that, they all have amenities that different people like or dislike. Do take part in their activities as more people are now living in their homes on wheels and not partaking in the activities and they are really missing out on a great part of RV'ing. Getting out and meeting the people around the areas is great fun and you never know, you might fine out some very interesting places to see.
Rand

 

[ziggy]

Ziggy, we bought our Big Horn from Curtis Trailers in Portland. The sales and service personnel are wonderful to work with and very knowledgeable. We have had several trailers in the past, but the Big Horn outshines them all by far.

We plan on selling our home and living in the Big Horn. Hopefully our health will last for a few years so we can take advantage of visiting more of this beautiful country that we live in.

We only have 1,000 trails and Leisure Time at the present. But since I will be retiring within the next year, we will want to add more. Probably Naco.

With the price of diesel, guess we will visit daughter in Tucson; wait till we have enough money for diesel to get us to son, who lives in Indianapolis. (geez. can I babysit enough to pay for the diesel bill??? tee hee.)

Draco,
I think that would work out to about a gallon an hour for babysitting, less if its for family since they never pay anyway.

Rand
Thanks for the info. I've been looking online to see what "used" memberships cost. There is a very wide price range depending on what they cover, where they are, and how desperate the seller is. We'll just have to see the sales people have to say when we get there.
Kristy

 

[mrcomer]

Hi Ziggy,
Linda and I have a Thousand Trails membership and it came with RPI also. After one year we upgraded to a Platinum membership and have been very happy. As for what we have in the memberships, it was about 6k total. Although that sounds like a lot of money it has been worth it. We camp every weekend and usually at the Thousand Trails campground. So what I do is figure $28 per night and have been keeping track. The $28 came from their website years ago as what the "free" weekend would have costs per night. So as it stands now, we have already paid for our membership in camping and have started to go the other direction, in otherwords I am making out on the camping. When I justified my numbers I included the initial cost of the membership, the cost of the upgrade and the cost of the yearly dues of which I offset by the number of nights camped and as of today I am actually +$162.00 So it is like they are paying me to camp. I know it may sound a little weird but it works fo me. Believe me, after spending that kind of money, I am going to get all I can out of it. So far so good.

Later,
Mark

 

[Draco Dog]

Well, we finally did it. We have been Thousand Trail members for many years. Then a few years back we added Leisure Time. This past weekend we added Naco to our membership. We paid $3500 for adding Naco. We had to make real sure that our original fees would not change. We have a very low yearly fee and sure wouldn't want that to change. The biggest attraction was being able to camp at any of the locations for a maximum of 21 days and then go to another campground. We do not have to have 7 days "out of the system", as we did b4. We also have ROD---Resorts of Distinction. ROD will cost $99 per year and will also be included in the 21 days camp to camp to camp. No, "out of system" days.

We also have free for one year RPI. Just wondering about this one. Is there more than one RPI? It sounds like some have a 125 mile radius restriction, and some don't. And also other restrictions. I haven't read much about it. Any comments about RPI. Sounds like there is an $8 per night charge to camp???

 

[sailorand]

RPI is ownered by 1000 Trails organization and ROD is owned by Western Horizons. Both offer about the same type of parks although Western Horizons opted out of RPI a couple of years ago.
There is are some 1000 Trails forum on Yahoo groups.
We have not upgraded to platinum as we don't figure it is worth it to us.
Rand

 

[Cooper]

I visited some friends at a Thousand Trails last weekend just North East of Denton Texas. They where doing the 3 day tour with their new RV.

This is just one guys view.
I edited my message it was long and might upset some Rvers.
Lets just say the place was very run down.
My friends went to the sales pitch and they were asking around $18000.00 to join at first.
I hope there are better ones around because I would not stay in a RV park that run down.

 

[1duffer101]

Shop the used market. There is normally a transfer fee but you can get discount on membership and get a lower yearly fee.

 

[Draco Dog]

Cooper, wow, I have never seen a Thousand Trails campground that was as you describe. But then we have only been to the ones in Oregon, Canada and Washington. They have all been clean and well-kept. In fact, the oldest Thousand Trails location is in Chehalis, WA. This is only an hour's drive from where we live. The campground is always inviting. They have all their facilities still available and in working order. Chehalis is a large park with over 300 sites. I am sad to hear that they are not all like what I am use to.

And $18,000 sounds really steep for a beginning asking price. Even if that includes everything, that sounds high.

I usually recommend doing what we did. We have joined a little at a time. We have a really good contract (one of the originals) with just Thousand Trails. Then we added Leisure Time and just recently added more. This was because we will be retiring towards the end of this year (hopefully) and will have need for more rv parks across the country while travelling.

 

[Clark]

Cooper, I have to agree with Draco Dog on the overall quality of TT Preserves. We have been to preserves in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington and have been favorably impressed with all of them. We paid about $5,000 for our national TTN membership with $450 / year in 2001. We recently added the Outdoor World here in the mid-Atlantic area (17 of them) for another $4,000 and $65 / year, so that $18,000 seems very steep to me also. You make your decisions based on where you camp, the facilities, and the economics of the purchase. We are retired, still in our stick house, and enjoy our frequent trips for "free", especially given the prices of campground fees here in the mid-Atlantic/Northeast region. Good luck on your decision either way.
Clark

 

[WoodFamily]

Club Membership Question

Hi Ziggy,
Linda and I have a Thousand Trails membership and it came with RPI also. After one year we upgraded to a Platinum membership and have been very happy. As for what we have in the memberships, it was about 6k total. Although that sounds like a lot of money it has been worth it. We camp every weekend and usually at the Thousand Trails campground. So what I do is figure $28 per night and have been keeping track. The $28 came from their website years ago as what the "free" weekend would have costs per night. So as it stands now, we have already paid for our membership in camping and have started to go the other direction, in otherwords I am making out on the camping. When I justified my numbers I included the initial cost of the membership, the cost of the upgrade and the cost of the yearly dues of which I offset by the number of nights camped and as of today I am actually +$162.00 So it is like they are paying me to camp. I know it may sound a little weird but it works fo me. Believe me, after spending that kind of money, I am going to get all I can out of it. So far so good.

Later,
Mark

Hi, Mark -- My wife and I are planning to go full-time in a couple years, but we're doing a lot of the legwork and planning right now. We love the Augusta, by the way...that's a beautiful rig.

Anyway, I'm intrigued by the idea of joining a club (as you have) and paying less in the long run for sites. With the Thousand Trails club you belong to, do you pay a fee in addition to your membership when you stay at club parks?

Thank you for sharing your story.

Onward and Upward!

Guy