ThePewterPalace Our Love Affair with Avions

THIS IS AN UPDATE TO A BLOG POST WE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN JANUARY 2020.

There are a lot of camping club membership programs to chose from.  Each RVer has to do research and soul searching to find what fits their current and future needs best.  We spent years researching and deciding before pulling the plug to join the clubs we have so far to save $$ on camping fees and RV support while traveling the USA and Canada.

I am not going to go into every club membership here in detail.  A simple search of YouTube and the web will provide our followers with plenty of opinions by full time and part time RVer’s, and those who weekend (or vacation) camp only. We are always happy to have you reach out to us to discuss any of them, our personal experiences or what we have learned from other travelers along the way.

What I will focus on in this blog post are the decisions we made, that we felt worked best for us at points in time.  Each of you will have different needs, preferences, geographies to consider for traveling–so only you can make a decision that is best for you.

OCTOBER 2026- UPDATE!  We have now been full timing for 3+ years in our Avion and have traveled to 49 states. Along the way we have utilized some memberships totally, while others only now and again. Some we have dropped completely and we will outline those towards the end of our post and the reasons why we no longer use them. BONUS- we have also included some similar topic links to our other published articles at the bottom of this post! Happy reading!

What we have in our “travel club kit” currently as of October 2026 is the following: (in no particular order of preference, etc.)

Harvest Host:  We have been members of HH for over a decade. There have been a lot of changes since then.  Mostly for the good which includes a vastly expanded network of places to stay overnight, many hosts are now starting to offer at least an electric hook up (can come with a fee) and also more are offering the option to stay more than one night.  The downside is that we see more and more hosts are now charging a fee even just to stay the night.

Originally the RVer was expected to spend $20 at the place of business as a “thank you” for the overnight boondock in their parking lot, field or driveway.  That expectation of spend has now been raised to $30.  We feel that more and more businesses, farms, wineries, museums are almost seeing HH as a way to run an “undercover” campground on their property. Likewise, the amount of HH RV members has greatly increased as well so there is more competition to get a spot at places which may or may not allow those of you who like to plan ” on the fly” some challenges.  We dont plan like that and often will book HH stays months in advance even just for 1 overnight.   

We also will only do HH Stays that are directly on our route (within a couple miles off the road we are on).   If a host charges a fee for electricity, we consider that our donation or at least a portion of it and may only buy a minimal amount to augment that fee.  HH has also begun to partner with local private mom and pop campgrounds and you may get a % discount as a HH member if you present your card. 

NOTE:  HH has just been bought by Choice Hotel Management Group (Sept 2026) and it is yet to be seen what if any positive or negative impact this may have on membership offerings, hosts, and discounts. 

OUR BEST PICKS FOR HH STAYS! We tend to use HH’s that are either at restaurants/breweries (where we boondock for free but we go in and buy drinks and dinner or lunch), or golf courses (we love golf courses because their restaurants are pretty cheap and once the golfers leave at sun down we have the whole parking lot to ourselves and watch the deer come out onto the fairways.)  Its blissful living!  We also like, and like to support museums.  Again, once the museum closes for the night, the parking lot is ours.  We will make an online donation if our timing of arrival/departures do not jive with their open hours. 

BOONDOCKERS WELCOME: We do have this as part of our HH membership but honestly BW is more for those with van campers or smaller Class B’s or very small travel trailers. We have never stayed at any BW sites. Most hosts that we have found have space on a driveway or side yard and many have length limits that do not allow us to use. Hosts may offer some hookups. You are staying literally at someone’s house or yard most times. and more times than not, they are fellow RVers so they are welcoming!

Tin Can Tourists:  This is the oldest RV club in the USA with its roots beginning in the early 1910’s when the invention of the automobile made it possible for “auto campers” to escape the cold winters of the north and winter in sunny Florida.  The club focuses on preservation, restoration and supporting folks who own vintage RVs but ANYONE with any year, make and model of an RV (travel trailer, truck camper, motorhome) can join.  They have regional and state chapters that host super fun rallies all over the USA. Plus the club itself hosts several major, large rallies each year. Rallies are social, fun , educational and just a super way to connect with people.  Many of our “traveling neighborhood friends” are ones we met at TCT and Escapee club rallies and other programs.  The annual membership is extremely cheap and you get so much out of it!

NOTE: as of DEC 2025 we now serve as TCT “At-Large” Ambassadors because we feel so strongly about the positives of this club. Please mention our name if you join! We will get a pat on the back and they’ll know we are doing our jobs as ambassadors!

 

Passport America:  We made the decision to purchase the LIFETIME membership when they still were available (we do not think they are anymore).  This membership gives you discount at participating campgrounds all over the country.  There typically are # of night restrictions and many parks do not offer the discounts peak season, weekends or holiday weekends- understandable.  Discounts vary from park to park.  UPDATE: We have only used our PA discount at less than a handful of campgrounds in the USA.  Normally the restrictions do not jive with our travel plans or the campgrounds have bad reviews, or are too far off our travel route to make it worth it.  There does appear to be a perhaps new management or ownership of the program however and with that has some a lot more updates to listings, new campgrounds coming into the program, so it may be a good fit for you.  Our lifetime membership never expires so we will continue to keep in in our back pocket in case the fit is right on our travels. 

Thousand Trails:  This is the big kahuna for us an many who travel months at a time or full time!

You can purchase an annual pass…currently for one “zone” e.g. Northeast.  We often will recommend someone do this first to get a feel for the TT campgrounds and use it for a year before deciding on purchasing any other larger type of membership package. 

WE BOUGHT A USED MEMBERSHIP- AND HAVE NO REGRETS! In 2018 we chose to purchase a USED VIP lifetime, nationwide membership package from Campground Membership Outlet in FL.   We did not buy “new” and we did not by the annual zone type pass.  We went through a resale broker who came very highly regarded by several full time RVers we have been following for years including RV Love who has an excellent video on this and other camping membership clubs.

By going through a re-seller, we used Campground Membership Outlet,  in Florida the process was pretty simple for us, but it did take a few months for TT to get their act together for the final processing and to send us our membership documents, etc.  Campground Membership Outlet has been in business over 20 yrs and we felt far more comfortable going through them than purchasing from a private seller on Ebay or Craigslist.  Yes, these plans are for sale on those sites too but buyer beware as there is a lot of fine print you need to be aware of and to be sure you are getting a legit membership.  The staff at CMO, Kim & Chad were excellent to work with and sent us explanations of what currently plans they had in their inventory at the time we were looking.  This inventory is going to change since it all depends on what current members are turning their packages in for resale.  Our package originated from someone who bought in the 1990’s.  We were able to purchase a membership package for $1,000’s less but actually with better perks and less restrictions on # of overnights, less restrictions on nights out of network before you can book again and a much better 120 day advance booking window. We felt it had advantages over the annual zone pass.  Thousand Trails is a national network (though there is definitely limited participating campgrounds in the middle sections of the country.  See the map graphic below and check out their link for more info.

There a lot of research and comparing that needs to be done when you are looking into Thousand Trails.  We have heard their TT direct sales people are pretty high pressure…(another reason we liked going through the resale broker).  And yes, depending on the resold club membership package you purchase- you can also resell your membership down the road if desired and recoup some of your initial investment.

With a Thousand Trails membership you do incur the initial investment, and you do pay an annual maintenance fee.  This too is locked in with only up to a 3% raise after 5 yrs.  UPDATE: Our initial membership plan investment was $3200.  When we were coming southbound from AK in 2023 we spent 4 months staying 100% in TT campgrounds all around WA, OR, CA and AZ and completely “paid off” that initial investment in camping nights we stayed essentially in for free. Moving forward beginning in 2024 we only now divide our annual maintenance fee ($709 in 2026) into the total # of nights we have stayed at TTs for that year to get our average overnight TT cost. 

Why did we INITIALLY purchase the LIFETIME membership package in a lump sum BEFORE RETIRING? 

• We saved money compared to contemporary plans which are only going to go up in cost each year.
• We had the disposable income now while we were both working full time
• With inflation who knows what these packages will be once we do retire
• The longer we wait, the less of those more lucrative older plans that are available because they are being snatched up by many full time RVers.
• We live debt free now and want to continue that once we full time. Honestly, we have heard some folks who have purchased new plans paying upwards of $10-15K for their memberships.  YIKES!  P.S.Thousand Trails corporation does do financing but again, we did not want to have those monthly bills after we retire.
• We use our membership now to save overnight camping costs, but more importantly we crunched the numbers and once we go full time we will literally pay for our entire package  (ours was $3500) by the very first year we are full timing after less than 100 days of overnights in participating TT campgrounds.

1. Thousand trails participating campground fees for us now range from free to $5.00-$8.00 per night versus rack retail of $35-65 per night for the same park!
2. With our package we can book up to 120 days in advance, stay up to 3 weeks at the same campground, get a newspaper and 2 free coffees per day
3. Our children can use our membership to rent a campsite or a cabin rental with hefty discounts for up to 2 weeks each year.
4. We can also gift this membership package as a legacy inheritance to our children when we no longer can be on the road- and then they have it for their lifetime.

There are add on packages (some are shown on map above as blue and gold) that also include the Trails Collection (gives you access to Encore RV Resorts).  We have chosen not purchase this collection yet, and now that we are full time and have read scores of reports from other members that the trails collection is not worth the added costs we do not plan to purchase it. Encore RV properties do tend to be in some prime resort areas (AZ, TX, FL). We have also heard from fellow members that these Trails collection and Encore campgrounds only set aside a small % of their sites for TT members.  Many say they find it very hard to get a site and that the sites set aside for TT members are not as nice as others in the park.   Another reason we do not plan to purchase this add on.

UPDATED: Full disclosure…from what we have experienced ourselves, not all TT participating campgrounds are CERTAINLY NOT equal.  In the basic TT plan like we have (64 parks), many are older parks, some certainly not what we would consider a “resort” level by any means…but because our annual costs are so low, and we will often stay 2-3 weeks in one park to just relax, explore an area by doing a lot of day trips and also work on maintenance projects on the RV–we are certainly willing to deal with some cobwebs in the bathrooms, some peeling paint in showers, on playgrounds (or no playground) and perhaps worn down gravel driveways and pot hole roads.  We use the money we saved by staying in a TT campground to book a week at a luxury RV resort stay at a future date or to go out to a nice dinner or take in a ticketed attraction in the area.  It Works for us!

MUCH has changed at the TT corporate marketing level at this point. They no longer sell Lifetime Memberships direct from the TT company sales people. You can only get the lifetime packages used now. TT sells 2 and 4 year renewable packages. While the perks appear good for these, you really need to do the math to see if it is worth it for you. IF you plan to ONLY do a year or two of travel or up to that 4 years and then hang up the wheel– then do the math to see if the cost makes sense and that the campgrounds in the program ARE in fact Where you plan to travel!! There is no sense in spending thousands of dollars on a program that has no campgrounds where you want to travel to and tour! If you DO decide to purchase a membership directly from TT, please let us know in advance and we will give you our referral # so we are given a small discount off our annual membership fee. We appreciate it.

In closing, again, this is our plan and may not be right for you.  Only you can decide by doing the research needed. We always are happy to discuss in more detail things about the TT programs that we have had first hand experience with including; membership plan selection, used memberships- where to find them, booking a campsite once a member, our best picks for TT campgrounds, what to look for, reviews, and more.

Escapees: This is a national club with a lot of member support, great online forums and meet-ups, rallies, RV conventions with workshops, etc. It is not just for full timers, though many full time RVers belong to it and love it.Reason for this is they host rallies and RV caravan trips, club members get excellent discounts on certain RV equipment needs and they too have their own RV parks where we can stay for really cheap for a great stop off point along our wanderlust trail. Heck they even have a camping section at the huge Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival each Sept!

In 2020 we purchased a Lifetime Escapee Membership. Again, it made sense while we were still working to lock in our costs. Their annual dues are very affordable!

We took advantage of a “hang out” program they offered for the summer of 2023 and we met up with fellow SKP members in three different places in Alaska for a week each time (Fairbanks, Seward and Valdez). These were wonderful times meeting up every 4 weeks with another 30 rigs (all years, shapes, sizes, models) to share and swap travel stories, tips and ideas on where to go next. It made our 3 months touring AK so much more enjoyable! A handful of those fellow members and we have even camped together in the lower 48 since over the past few years. We still stay connected via social media, emails and text and plan to do meet ups at other upcoming SKP rallies and events. It has been a game changer membership for us and really adds to our feeling of being part of a bigger community.

SAVINGS: Escapee membership also has HUGE perks for saving money on things like TIRES, RV products, other Memberships, Insurance and more!

It truly is one of the very BEST MEMBERSHIPS OUT THERE FOR RV’ERS

NOTE: Escapee members get small “lantern- leading the light” pins for their name badges if someone DOES JOIN that they know has referred them to join Escapees. Please let them know we referred you if you DO decide to join!

Coach-net RV Roadside Assistance membership Many full time RVers deemed this the most comprehensive and best for national travelers. We started with Coach-net in 2022 and have had outstanding service from them in multiple states and some pretty remote areas. We highly recommend them. Here is an article we did about them and how they have helped us out of some real jams. Well worth the annual fee and for those with motorhomes you can also get glass coverage from them for those big beautiful windshields!

NOW…..HERE IS A LIST OF THE MEMBERSHIPS WE HAVE DROPPED!

KOA Membership:  DROPPED! we never stayed enough nights in KOA parks each year to justify the fee they charge for their memberships. Their parks are fine but cater to families with kids and we prefer to not be inundated with kids when we are enjoying a dip in the pool. The rates at KOAs are consistently higher than others in the area too.

Jellystone RV Park membership: DROPPED! basically same set up and reasons as KOA has)

AAA with  RV Plus  DROPPED! may be ok for those who do only very part time RVing and are not traveling too far from home and their home state. For full timers or those who plan to travel across country we recommend Coach-Net Roadside assistance.

Good Sam Club DROPPED! (regular membership, never the roadside assistance membership) We recently decided not to renew. The only reason we kept the program was for discounts on purchases at Camping World retail RV supply stores. However, now that we essentially have all the equipment purchased that we need, the cost of the membership annually does not make it worth it. IF we were to purchase a new major appliance like a refrigerator, etc. perhaps we may revisit–again, just for the discounts. We do NOT recommend their roadside assistance program as your only roadside service. The horror stories we have heard make our spine buckle!

Happy travels from Kevin & Luisa Sherman in the Pewter Palace!

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Save your money, or spend it wisely! Things we love, things we would not buy!