On 6/19/2019 at 12:12 AM, Barbaraok said:

If you are on the west coast, I would suggest you try a 1 year TT zone pass       

This is what comes up each time we discuss TT and its worth, and seems a sound way to test the waters, thanks

  On 6/19/2019 at 2:29 AM, kb0zke said:

Our story, FWIW:

Worth a lot David! Your story mimics ours, although we also started with Passport America, and like yourself are Lifetime Members, thanks  

  On 6/19/2019 at 5:33 AM, MidMOTraveler said:

I have no interest in a membership type deal it’s just not our style at this time. 

The style aspect comes up with us also as we wonder if TT would be a good fit. Our camping/traveling style, like our music, is very eclectic  

     Spot

  On 6/18/2019 at 11:58 PM, $Spot said:

checking in... Thanks for the posts folks  

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@ Joe, I agree with your view, and basically this is another reason for the thread... can I be swayed into membership due to its value.

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I am all about saving money on camping sites.  My theory is you have to park this darn thing someplace 365 days a year when you are full time.  The goal should be to have it parked every day in a site you enjoy at the cheapest price possible while traveling around the country.  

It has taken us close to two years to figure out how to get our annual camping costs reduced, but they are going down.  None of the savings has involved membership parks and never will.  For us it dictates when and where we travel too much.

So far we have located three really nice campgrounds that we can stay in at their monthly rate for between $11 and $13 per day.  Two of these are in areas where we have family and visit every year.  One is in Alabama where we like to spend time prior to wintering in Florida and again when coming out of Florida in the spring.  By doing a little research and making calls with our travel planning we have found many parks that will give us a huge price break for booking two weeks instead of 3 or 4 days.  We also will boondock or dry camp if just putting miles on to get someplace special across country.  

We still pay higher rates to stay 4 or 5 months at a nice campground in SW Florida, but by doing all the above we have reduced our annual camping expenses a lot.  If I can find these cheaper rates at nice private (non-membership) campgrounds where I will fit at 73' long, most other full timing RVers could certainly do the same and probably much better.

  On 6/19/2019 at 8:29 PM, $Spot said:

The style aspect comes up with us also as we wonder if TT would be a good fit.

We have always been involved in the communities that we live in so when going fulltime we soon found that we enjoyed spending time as volunteers while the road as well. There are many different volunteer positions with a wide range of dutes that one can take part in which we enjoyed and found educational and in most cases we did not keep going back to the same locations but found new places with new experiences each stop. By doing this we also had very low annual cost for RV sites, yet seldom were without full hookups.

 
Quote

So far we have located three really nice campgrounds that we can stay in at their monthly rate for between $11 and $13 per day. 

So the location of those parks are dictating where you go.  

It is all about finding what works for you.   BTW - I have never, ever, figured out why people think having a park membership (with associated affiliate membership) dictates where you go.   If there is one in the area we are going to be in, we book in there.   If there isn't, we use PPA, Escapees, city/county parks, etc.   Just like everyone else.   It is just ANOTHER tool in our bag to use.

^ I agree entirely, it's another tool in the bag. And using the tool analogy, it's as if I'm in the tool department at Home Depot with my gaze fixed on a certain tool with wonder (?️?️ tools)... is it worth the cost and how much will I use it vs the cost, you know, "getting my money's worth". I can certainly see it's advantage and this is a side note to the reason behind this thread. The RPI option exists with a TT Membership, and a C2C option was presented as well. Another option is the Trails Collection. But it was the two, RPI & C2C, that grabbed my attention due to similarities which then had me wonder if one would be a better choice, though the RPI option is less expensive in the price of admission. Before me lay, through Thousand Trails, RPI Preferred at $119 annual dues, and a comparable C2C at $149 annual dues following the buy in to the park. In viewing each other's maps with locations, I KNOW that I could make good use of this tool added to my bag. (The Trails Collection would come in handy too as it's free camping in 91 of the 109 parks following the current $214 annual dues). I also know that in a short time the cost of admit will be recovered. Currently, we travel in the same way that FL-JOE, MidMOTraveler, and kb0zke have stated. And like them and many others, although we have found ways to be economical while we enjoy life we have studied or are studying on a membership in TT including the various options that are available through them. As I said, I know that I could make use of the park system without seeming confined because of it, our camping/traveling style is just too eclectic. We enjoy the diversity presented by the various geographies regularly. This study, this thread, is only rooted in economics as I seek your valued opinions & case histories

     Spot 

Edited June 20 by $Spot

  On 6/20/2019 at 12:12 AM, Kirk W said:

We have always been involved in the communities that we live in so when going fulltime we soon found that we enjoyed spending time as volunteers while the road as well. There are many different volunteer positions with a wide range of dutes that one can take part in which we enjoyed and found educational and in most cases we did not keep going back to the same locations but found new places with new experiences each stop. By doing this we also had very low annual cost for RV sites, yet seldom were without full hookups.

Thanks for this However, our bodies have had the word work removed from our vocabulary. (Now let's see what can be done with pain.)

     Spot 

Spot, if you know you could make good use of having memberships in your tool bag, what is the hang up?  

Turned around, how would it hinder your travels?   We have the trails collection added.  Stayed at the San Francisco RV Park in Pacifica, for $20/night.  Easy public transportation into SF.  Savings for one week paid for dues.  We use membership parks about 100 nights for the year and move every week or two during the summer.  

  On 6/20/2019 at 3:18 AM, Barbaraok said:

Spot, if you know you could make good use of having memberships in your tool bag, what is the hang up? 

There is no hang up really, it's all still on the table. We have some choices & options to consider before saying "I Do" I now refer back to the OP... With a mixed bag of reviews, comments, & experiences involving RPI & C2C found on the web I posted my question here because the options exist, hoping to gain more insight into each. With nothing more to go on, I'll choose RPI. Regarding the apparent sidebar that came up in the thread involving TT, I do like your earlier mention of the Camping Pass to test, without  contract, the fit of it all and get into some parks & the rhythm of using another tool in the bag. Among so many others, you seem happy with TT while using it about 100 nights/year, and as a member if I were to insert TT parks into my pattern in place of the parks used now our nights/year would be more so I believe that I'd be just as happy, but in reality I think the tools (camping sources/locations) would be a nice blend. As I said earlier, we diversify our stays and campsites for the pleasure of it

     Spot

Edited June 20 by $Spot

TT often runs a 2 zones for price of 1, which is a great way to see if it will work for you.  

Yes, if you use them you can save money.  Since we are on West Coast we save thousands each year. 

  On 6/20/2019 at 12:14 AM, Barbaraok said:

So the location of those parks are dictating where you go.  

It is all about finding what works for you.   BTW - I have never, ever, figured out why people think having a park membership (with associated affiliate membership) dictates where you go.   If there is one in the area we are going to be in, we book in there.   If there isn't, we use PPA, Escapees, city/county parks, etc.   Just like everyone else.   It is just ANOTHER tool in our bag to use.

 

No, these parks have never dictated where we go and when.  Two of them just happen to be in areas that we visit twice per year, therefore most years we are able to average $11 to $13 a night for a few months.  Of course this is accomplished without paying expensive membership fees or maintenance fees and being packed in on top of each other like a bunch or rats.  One of the parks we use has 125' pull through sites.  

I don't mind having extra "tools in my bag" to use in order to get my camping expenses down.  The problem with membership/time share parks is that if you don't use them frequently that "extra tool" is costing you a lot of money.