Thousand Trails Review [Is Membership Worth It?]
Who would turn down a free membership to Thousand Trails? With the purchase of my 5th wheel I was offered a single zone camping pass for 1 year. Read on for my review and experiences with Thousand Trails.
A little about Thousand Trails
Before I can give a review of my experience with Thousand Trails. I should explain a little about how their membership works and what different membership levels are offered. If you have visited the Thousand Trails website you probably know there isn’t much information there if you are not already a member.
Thousand Trails has offered many membership options over the years, and right now there are over 100 different membership levels active. RVLove has done a great job explaining in detail the membership types and how to get the best deal, so I will just give a brief overview here.
Which membership level to choose?
Thousand Trails currently offers 3 levels of membership. With each upgrade in membership level you will receive more benefits.
- Camping Pass (zone)
- Elite Basic
- Elite Connections
What are the key differences?
The 2 most important differences between levels are.
- Number of nights of free camping – Camping Pass members are limited to 30 free nights, where elite members are unlimited.
- Number of parks – Camping pass members are limited to 1 zone (additional zones can be added to your membership) while elite members have access to every campground in the Thousand Trails system.
Another difference between levels is the booking window, a camping pass member can book 60 days in advance compared to 180 days for an Elite Connections member.
Thousand trails camping zones
For Camping Pass members, you must choose a zone when signing up. Each zone contains between 13 and 23 campgrounds. When signing up there are ways to get a second zone for free, or additional zones can be added for $49 each.
Choosing your Thousand Trails camping zone
For me the decision of which zone to choose was somewhat difficult. I live and Ohio, and as you can see in the map above, Ohio boarders 3 different camping zones with only 2 campgrounds in the state. We camp mostly on the weekends, but like to take 1 or 2 longer trips during the summer. We had been planning on taking a trip to the beach this summer so we decided to use the Thousand Trails membership for that trip. This meant we would either choose the Northeast or Southeast zone. The Northeast zone had several options near the beach and within a 1-day drive from our home so we choose that zone.
How do I find a campground and make a reservation?
How to pick a campground
I give Thousand Trails a “5 Star” rating for their website when it comes to looking for campground information. Each campground is listed by state and shown on an interactive map of the country. Each campground has its own page with the following items.
- A short description of the campground
- Pictures of the campground
- A list of the amenities
- A Google map of the area.
How to make a Thousand Trails Reservation
There are 2 ways to make a reservation with Thousand Trails. You can either make a reservation over the phone or use the website.
Making your reservation online is an easy process. From any campground’s page you simply press the “Book A Reservation” button. This takes you to a page where you enter the dates, number of people, pets and some information about your RV.
After entering this information, you are taken to a page that displays the availability for the desired dates. This list will usually include
- Handicapped Site
- Site
- And any cabins or cottages at that campground
At this step you will press the “Select Site” button under “Site” and you are taken to the payment page. Payments are only required for cottages and cabins, for an RV site no payment information is needed. The last step is the confirmation page.
To summarize the reservation process is quick and easy, I wish more campgrounds had a reservation system that worked this well.
One major item to note is that you will never select an actual campsite when making a reservation with Thousand Trails.
All Thousand Trails Campgrounds work on a first-come-first-serve system and sites are selected when you check in.
What did I think of my Thousand Trails experience?
Because the camping zone I selected did not include my home state I only used my membership for 1 trip. My trip involved stays at 2 Thousand Trails campgrounds. Timothy Lake South in East Stroudsburg, PA and Sea Pines in Cape May Courthouse, NJ.
Planning our trip
My wife and I had narrowed our destination down to Lake and Shore or Sea Pines. Both campgrounds are in New Jersey between Atlantic City and Cape May. Lake and Shore had a nicer pool with some water slides for the kids, but both campgrounds had a pool as well as a swimming / fishing lake.
We decided on Lake and Shore as our first choice and Sea Pines as a backup in case we could not get in at Lake and Shore.
Making the Reservations
Knowing that we were going to be staying in a campground near the ocean during peak season I wanted to make my reservation as early as possible. I set a reminder on my phone calendar to notify me exactly 60 days prior to the start of my trip. This way I could make my reservation as soon as my booking window opened.
The week before my booking window opened I had checked both Lake and Shore and Sea Pines on the Thousand Trails website and sites were available the week before I planned to go. On the day my booking window opened I logged in and went to the Lake and Shore page to make my reservation.
There were no sites available.
I thought I would double check by calling the reservation number and see if maybe the site just wasn’t working. I spoke to a representative who told me that Lake and Shore was indeed completely booked, but Sea Pines had availability. Knowing that Sea Pines was already my backup location and not wanting to lose out on it too I made the reservation over the phone and quickly received an email from Thousand Trails confirming my reservation.
After booking our site in New Jersey we spoke to another family with a Thousand Trails membership. We found out that it is best to arrive early to have more sites to choose from. We decided to leave Ohio Friday and stay overnight somewhere in Pennsylvania so we could get to the campground early Saturday afternoon. Looking at campgrounds along our route we decided that Timothy Lake South would be a nice stopping point.
About 2 weeks before our trip I logged in to the Thousand Trails website again and made a reservation for Timothy Lake South.
Summary of the reservation process
- Book as early as you can! Especially for high demand locations in peak season.
- Making a reservation is quick and easy. Both over the phone and on the website.
Review of Timothy Lake South in East Stroudsburg, PA
Our stay at Timothy Lake was only 1 night on the way to Sea Pines. We planned to leave Friday afternoon and arrive in time to get settled in, have dinner and then get to bed so we could finish our trip to NJ in the morning.
We got off to a later start than we had planned so when we arrived we had about 1 hour of daylight left. We knew we would need to get in and find a site quickly or we would be setting up in the dark.
Checking in and finding a site
When you arrive at Timothy Lake South there is a gate with a keypad and a call box. Press to call button and you will get someone in the camp office. They will open the gate and you can pull up to a parking area near the office (if you are already registered you are given a code for the keypad).
Once inside the office I was given a list of about 5 sites that were not usable because either the water, electric or sewer was not working (all sites at Timothy Lake South are full hookup). I was told that other than those sites I could choose any open site and that there were plenty available. She also told me that after I got settled in I should come back and let her know which site we choose and she would give me my pass for the car.
As soon as we began driving though the campground I realized 2 things.
- There were a lot of seasonal campsites with permanent structures.
- Many of the sites were heavily wooded with branches sticking out over the parking pads.
Will we ever find a site?
The right side of the campground appeared more open so we started there looking for a site. Unfortunately, it appeared there were no sites open. We circled that side of the campground about 3 times before deciding to give up and try the other side.
By now it was getting darker and we need to find a site quickly. I circled 2 or 3 roads again not finding somewhere to park my 37’ fifth wheel. Finally, we found an open pull-through site that looked large enough, but the trees had grown over the site making me a little un-easy about parking there. We decided to go for it, so my wife got out with a flash light to watch the branches while I pulled in.
The site was pretty level, so getting parked and leveled out was no problem. Most of the sites appeared to be level which is a nice thing to see.
After getting setup I went up and checked in at the office. On my way, I talked to a gentleman who had just arrived with a 41’ triple axle toy-hauler. Knowing what I know now, if I were him I would have stayed in the parking lot overnight and found a site in the morning.
Timothy Lake South Facilities
Bath Houses: I visited one of the bath houses. I would rate it a 3 out of 5. They are about average for a campground, but since every site has full hookups I expect most campers don’t use the showers.
Camp Store: The camp store was a nice size and seemed well stocked with both food and gear essentials. If you forgot something at home you should be able to find it there.
Swimming Pool: We didn’t use the pool, but I did take a walk around. The pool was large clean and had a lot of seating.
Playground and other activities: There was a nice playground for kids near the pool. There were a couple horse shoe pits, as well as a pair of shuffle board courts that app looked to be in good condition. I believe equipment could be rented from the camp store for free.
Overall Opinion of Timothy Lake South
I only spent 1 night, so I may have missed a lot, but the campground seemed to be well maintained and I would probably stop again if I was passing though. One thing to note is that although the map shows over 300 campsites, about ½ of them are taken by seasonal campers so the options open to someone stopping in are much less.
- Arrive early to make finding a site easier
- Wi-Fi and cable are available, for a fee to at third party provider
- Watch out for sites with low hanging limbs
- Nice Pool and other areas for activity
Review of Sea Pines in Cape May Courthouse, NJ
We arrived at Sea Pines around 3pm on Saturday. The traffic through Philadelphia and on the Atlantic City Expressway delayed our arrival by about 2 hours.
When pulling into the campground the road splits into 2 lanes, the right lane has a keypad for registered campers and the left lane takes you up to a small ranger station where you check-in.
The ranger was friendly and welcomed us to Sea Pines. She explained that it was a busy day and there were about 10 other campers who were driving around to find a site.
I was given 2 maps and some advice to help find a site.
The first map was the official map of the campground printed in full color on glossy paper. One thing I noticed right away is that the map online showed 2 types of sites, Full Hookup and Water & Electric. This new map had 3 types, Seasonal, Full Hookup, and Water & Electric. I didn’t do the math, but I would guess that about 80% of the full hookup sites are taken by seasonal campers.
The seasonal sites are shown in yellow on the map below.
The second map was a photo copy of the first. It had about 8 sites highlighted. The highlighted sites were ones that were possibly available (if someone else hadn’t taken them yet). Only 1 of the sites highlighted had full hookups. I was told that they offered free pump-outs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for campers in the water & electric sites.
Checking in and finding a site
We decided to head toward the full hookup site first hoping it was still open. After entering the campground, you must turn left or right, once you turn off the main entrance the road quickly changes from asphalt to packed sand. The entire campground is heavily wooded and some of the turns are tight in a larger RV. The abundance of trees does make the campsites feel more private, they are also trimmed to keep branches away from the roads and parking pads.
We made it to the full hookup site and discovered it had already been taken. We decided to check some other areas that showed full hook sites on the map, hoping a site had opened that the ranger station didn’t know about yet.
Unfortunately, after about 30 minutes of driving the campground we decided to take a water & electric
site. The site was rather narrow and it seemed as if the seasonal sites behind and next to us had encroached onto ours. Since we had planned to stay for 7 nights we decided to only setup the essentials. We thought that the weekend crowd would be leaving on Sunday and we could change sites.
After unhooking our 5th wheel and connecting the water and electric I walked up to the ranger station to notify them of the site we selected. I was given 2 car passes, the code to the gate and some park information.
Our stay
As I mentioned the site we had selected was narrow due to the expansion of seasonal sites surrounding it. As we rode our bikes around the campground during the week we noticed that most the seasonal sites were larger than the non-seasonal. Some of the seasonal sites were 2 to 3 times larger with patios, sheds and one even had a tiki bar and gazebo.
After settling our children were restless from all the time in the car so we went to let them burn off some energy in the pool. We arrived around 5pm and the DJ who had been playing all day was just wrapping up his set. The park seems to try and schedule some entertainment for the pool area on Saturdays. The pool, splash pad and playground are all together in a fenced in area near the camp store and arcade. The pool was crowded, but we were still able to find a couple of lounge chairs.
Changing sites, The race is on!!!!!
At about 10am Sunday we went for a bike ride to see if any full hookup sites had opened up. We found about 3 that were open. One of them was only 3 road back from the pool so we decided to move there. We had already seen a few new campers driving around looking for sites so we knew we would have to act quickly.
My wife stayed there on here bike to guard the site while I went back to pack up as quickly as I could. I threw our camp chairs, patio mat, table cloth, and water hose in the truck and then closed the slides and awnings. I asked our children to follow me on their bikes to the new site so they could help guard it while I hooked up the camper and drove over.
When we arrived back at the new site my wife told me that there had already been 1 person who stopped to see if the site was open. We set our gear down and set chairs in the middle of the parking pad for the kids.
I drove back to the old site and finished securing a few items inside the RV before hitching up and heading over to the new site. I found out that second camper had stopped and asked about the site before I got back. The site didn’t have a lot of extra length so backing in with all the trees was a little bit of a challenge. Once we setup our gear on the new site we were quite happy with our accommodations for the week.
Local Attractions
The main reason to choosing this campground was its proximity to the beach, but since we had never visited New Jersey, we decided to see as much as we could during our stay. In under and hour there are many places to visit and things to do. Working from north to south here are the places we visited.
- Atlantic City – Although it is not quite as busy as it once was, the boardwalk still has a lot to see and do. Our children loved the Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and my wife had a few minutes to hit the slots in one of the casinos. There is also an outlet mall in the middle of town as well as a new Bass Pro Shop. The beach at Atlantic City is one of the few free beaches on the Jersey Shore.
- Ocean City – If you are looking for something a little more laid back Ocean City might be the place for you. The boardwalk still has plenty to do including several mini-golf courses and a small amusement park. The beach is nice and not as crowded as some of the others.
- Strathmere and Sea Isle City – Both these ocean side communities have nice beaches and local shops and restaurants.
- Avalon and Stone Harbor – These communities are part of 7 mile beach. If you purchase a beach tag at in either community it is accepted at the other. Again, these communities have plenty of local shops and restaurants to visit.
- Wildwood – This community may be most active. The large boardwalk has a variety of shops as well as a water park and several amusement piers. This community also has the most hotels and things to do. The Wildwood beach is another free beach. The Wildwood beach is the widest I have ever been on. At the widest point on the Wildwood beach the water is about 5 football fields away from the board walk. Wildwood takes advantage of the large beach by hosting events right on the beach including, concerts, motor cross and monster trucks.
- Cape May – The opposite of Wildwood, Cape May is a historic town filled with colorful homes and bed and breakfasts. Walking some of the streets of Cape May is like stepping back in time. You can even take a horse drawn carriage ride through town. Cape May is home to several unique attractions including the country’s only Coast Guard Boot Camp. The Cape May Point State Park has a Light House, World War II bunker and 2 mile long nature trail. We got caught in a rain storm ½ way through the trail, but still enjoyed our time there.
cape may lighthouse 
cape may nature trail
Sea Pines Facilities
Bath Houses: Again I would rate the bath houses about a 3 out of 5. They about average for a campground. Nothing spectacular, but reasonably clean and well maintained.
Camp Store: The cap store was stocked with food RV supplies and some toys and games. The also had a large selection of ice cream and frozen treats for those hot days by the pool.
Swimming Pool: The pool was large enough that it only got really crowded on the weekends. Surrounding the pool were lounge chairs, tables, umbrellas and even a couple of cabanas if you got there early enough to snag one. Right next to the pool was a splash pad with several water features for younger children, although my 10 year old still had fun getting water dumped on his head from the buckets.
Lake: At the back of the campground is the lake, it is divided into 2 sides. 1 side has a sandy beach with lounge chairs for swimming and the other has a dock for fishing. Even in the middle of summer when some lakes get nasty with algae growth this lake was clean and free of algae.
Playground and other activities: Inside the camp store free rental equipment is available for use at the pool, shuffle board, horse shoes, and mini-golf. The mini golf course isn’t quite the same as the ones you will find in Wildwood or Ocean City, but it is very well maintained and we played it several times during our stay.
Overall Opinion of Sea Pines
We really enjoyed our stay at the campground. The facility was well maintained and is in a great location to visit all that southern Jersey Shore has to offer. The pool and playground areas are great for children and the wooded sites give you a sense of privacy even though you are in a very large campground.
The biggest negative of this campground is the small number of full hookup sites available. If you have a large RV, I would suggest driving the campground with a car or your tow vehicle or riding your bike to look for a site. The trees create a nice atmosphere, but I saw more than one large 5th wheel take several attempts just to make a turn in the campground.
Overall Opinion of my Thousand Trails Experience
Positives:
- Once you have purchased your membership you can camp for free.
- Easy booking process through a well-designed website.
- Choice of site when you arrive and the option to change sites if you don’t like where you are at.
Negatives:
- Camping Pass Members may have availability problems at peak season due to elite members being able to book earlier.
- Finding a site can be difficult and frustrating at a campground that is near capacity.
- If you are unable to stay enough nights or Thousand Trails doesn’t have a campground where you want to go, you have spent the money on a membership you aren’t using.
Conclusion
I have mixed feelings on Thousand Trails. The bottom line for me is I got a great 1 week vacation out of my free membership, but I don’t not think I will be renewing next year.
I enjoy the convenience of booking a site ahead of time and knowing exactly what to expect when I arrive. Most of my camping trips are within the state of Ohio and with only 2 campgrounds Thousand Trails doesn’t offer me many places to travel. Some things that would be included at other private campgrounds like cable or Wi-Fi connections are paid options at many of the Thousand Trails resorts. While not a deal breaker this is another factor in my decision not to renew.
If you think Thousand Trails might be a good fit for you and your camping style I would suggest starting with a Camping Pass membership. It is a great way to “test the waters” and find out if Thousand Trails is right for you.
If you have any questions about my experience with Thousand Trails, or if you would like to share your own experience, please leave a comment below.
Thanks for reading and Happy Camping.
At the least, I am very disappointed in Thousand Trails. About 15 years ago, my wife and I purchased a basic Tousand Trails membership. Over the years we have upgraded the membership, ending up with an Elite membership. Having reached old age and do not travel anymore, we have decided to sell our membership. We have invested about $12,000, not counting annual membership dues. Because TT has degraded what it takes for membership, much to the detriment to their present members. After consulting with a company that sells memberships, I am told to sell my membership, I have to pay a $750.00 transfer fee. Plus, my membership at this point is only worth $2,000. So, buyer beware when you spend a lot of money for membership in Tousand Trails!
Gene, Thanks for sharing your experience. If you don’t mind sharing, how many nights per year do you think you camped on average with your membership? With nightly rates above $50 for some campground, camping about 2 weeks per year over 15 years would add up to your $12,000 investment. I don’t know how much you spent in annual dues though, so maybe it would be closer to 3-4 weeks a year to break even.
Thanks again,
Jason
Hi – Good write up! Do they allow non-members to reserve a site at one of their campgrounds?
I am not sure if all thousand trails campgrounds do, but I know many of them allow non-members to book at a nightly rate.
Thanks, Jason
Your article was very interesting and well written. About 10 years ago, we also purchased a Thousand Trail membership for many thousands of dollars. One of the selling points was that the yearly dues were almost nil….well that is not true anymore. Every year our dues cost more than we can ever recover in camping fees. And our disappointment with the parks has also grown every year. Every park we have visited has the same problem: full time and seasonal campers on the full hook-up sites with very few, if any, sites left for the overnight-er or 2 week camper. We were not allowed to stay at TImothy Lake South in Pennsylvania, we were made to go to the sister park up the hill to Timothy Lake North, which was one of the worst parks we have seen. Several of the bathrooms were destroyed and closed, forcing folks to go a greater distance to shower. Many, many sites with permanent campers looked like pig-pens. We arrived on an early summer evening, but there was no one on duty at this huge facility to let us enter, and then we had to drive around and around to find an open site. They did have a huge indoor water park which was nice, but that was it. We’ve found the same problems in many areas. What a waste of our hard-earned money to ever buy into Thousand Trails!
Richard, Thanks for the compliment and for sharing your experience. I know we didn’t feel the membership was right for us and we experienced many of the same things you did. It’s unfortunate to hear that the same problems exist at more campgrounds. Thousand Trails could be a great option for a lot of campers if they made some simple improvements to their system and campgrounds.
Jason
Thanks for the updates and inputs, we are looking at purchasing a membership but wanted to read the reviews. I am worried about purchasing something that we wont be able to use due to TT being oversaturated with memberships and full time campers occupying the spaces.
Angelique,
I can’t speak for all TT locations, but the ones I visited had reservations available, but the selection of sites when I arrived wasn’t that good.
Jason
Do not purchase!!!
I’m an Elite Connections member and I’ve been full-timing for almost a year. This year I’m on track to use the system for at least 250 nights, which means I’ll more than re-coupe my initial investment in just the first year. I’ve heard a lot of similar complaints as those who commented before me. I’ve also had the privilege to be able to have in-depth conversations with TT management and I have a different perspective than maybe a lot of other members. I’ve learned about TT’s ups and downs throughout their 50 year history, even being on the verge of bankruptcy once or twice due to some bad acquisitions and downturns in the economy. TT was finally acquired by Equity Lifestyle Properties about 10 years ago and saved their ass. As we all know the RV industry is booming right now and so are TT membership sales. The new management is very solid and they’re getting the system and the campgrounds back on track, but rebuilding the very dated infrastructure won’t happen overnight. The company has very good cash flow right now and they’re investing it back into the parks, but members need to be patient. I’ve personally witnessed some very nice upgrades at some of the parks, but I’ve also been at parks that were kind of on the dumpy side. The point is it’s a slow process to upgrade what took decades to deteriorate but they’re moving in the right direction and I can see it. I’m not always pleased with every park I go to but that also applies equally to privately owned RV parks. Overall I’m very pleased with my membership and over the years it will save me tens of thousands of dollars in camping fees.
P.S. People that complain about their resale value are doing it for the wrong reason. If you use the system you’ll more than get your money back.
Andy, Thanks for sharing your experience. As we all know there are 2 sides to every story. I could certainly see the value in thousand trails, it just didn’t seem right for me now. It is nice to hear that they are working toward improving the facilities. I noticed a big difference between the locations I visited.
I also agree with your statement about doing it for resale. Like a timeshare, you need to do it to use the member ship, not to resell in the future.
Thanks again,
Jason
This seemed like a good idea when we joined the pass membership, but now that we have used it for 7 nights total, it is difficult to get in as a member. They also put us in the same site before we were members as after. also there are a lot of seasonal campers more than the 20% they seem to say is for nonmembers. I do not think we will renew.
Mike and Michelle
We’re about to get a sell call , I think they will up sale my membership. I’ve seen camp ground are not the spot we want to be.
Don, Thanks leaving a comment. I hope it works out for you.
Please add this to your blog. Thousand Trails sucks. Save your money. You will be better off going to private campgrounds. We pay $700 for dues every year for parks that are not kept up. Buyer beware!
Campsite Cancellation and No Show Policy
If a member or guest fails to arrive (a “no show”) for a campsite reservation, he/she will be charged a cancellation fee of $32.
If a reservation for a campsite is cancelled prior to the scheduled date of arrival, a cancellation fee will not be assessed, with the exception of Outdoor World members who book one year in advance and cancel. In this case, the following fees will be assessed:
Number of Days Cancellation Is Made in Advance of:
Scheduled Date of Arrival
Cancellation Fee
89-60 days
$10
59-30 days
$30
30 – 0 days
$50
Tom,
Thanks for sharing your opinion and the information on the Thousand Trails Cancellation Policy.
Jason
Thousand Trails was supposed to be private campgrounds when we bought the membership several years ago. $13,000 for a family-centered private campground. We were told that makes it easy to always get reservations, even during peak and holidays. What a bunch of bull. And…they’ve been saying they will be investing in the campground facilities every couple of years. After last few visits to a few parks, they resemble trailer parks. Not to mention they all were open to the public. Not-family-friendly. This year, couldn’t even get any reservations. Now that I think about it, in California, it’s a lot cheaper to have a “seasonal pass” than paying for housing. Cancelling our membership in Monday.
I agree it has become a disappointing membership. Was suppose to be private camping but is open to anyone. Do not feel safe letting our grandkids be free in the parks as who knows who is there. Would never had bought into this if we had known and fell for the lying sales pitch.
I bought my elite after using my zone pass in Florida for 2 winters. We then bought a house in Florida and decided to go across country on our bucket list trip. While the campgrounds in Florida are very nice, MOST of the campgrounds across the nation are absolute SLUMS !! SOME of them should be closed by the health dept. We found broken sewer drains exposed to standing water in two parks. VERY filthy sites, Campgrounds with electric that does not work on half the sites, and management does not even know which ones they are. We traveled for over two years and probably visited 80% of T.T. campgrounds. 80% of those I would NOT go back to for all the tea in China. Sadly , we are talking about basic maintenance here, they JUST DON’T DO ANY !! A zone pas MIGHT be worth it , BUT DON’T get tricked into ANY of the ELITE memberships. They are NOT worth the paper they are printed on !! I have just sold mine and am GLAD to be rid of it.
Thanks for sharing your experience
Jason
How did you sell it and for how much? We also have the elite. Cannot use, health issues, sold RV.
Members are allotted 30 nights of free camping in any of the Thousand Trails campgrounds covered by your Zone Parking Pass. Additional nights are charged a small service fee. Members may stay up to 14 consecutive nights at any one campground based on availability. Reservations are advised, particularly for longer stays and during holiday periods. Keep in mind that even though camping is complimentary with membership (first 30 days), last-minute cancellations or no shows will be charged cancellation fees. Campers who stay at any Thousand Trails campground for more than four consecutive nights must wait at least one week before camping at another resort in the chain.
Thanks for the info.
Jason
Just another little trick they play that they don’t tell you about; I received a free membership when i purchased an RV. I actually never used it as they didn’t have campgrounds in the areas I ended up traveling so obviously, I let it just expire. About 3 months later I met a group of campers locally and thought the membership would now be beneficial. I called Thousand Trails to purchase an annual membership which of course they we happy to help. What they didn’t tell me is they reverted my new membership date back to my original membership date. Meaning I paid for an annual membership that was only good for 9 months. Of course I called customer service and got absolutely no where. In fact their customer service are some of the rudest people I have ever dealt with. I have sent two written letters and have received no response at all. Horrible organization!!!
That’s disappointing, you would think the membership would cover a full 12 months unless the cost was prorated.
Thanks for letting us know.
Jason
Thinking about joining for full time retirement and travel in 2021. I have read a lot of complaints online about ruin down campgrounds, and lack of campsites due to full time, full hook up campers. Has there been any improvements to resolve these issues. Places like Arizona, and southern Texas are very popular in the winter. I would think this would cause difficulty in finding sites?
Just received free membership from a dealer I purchased a new r v from. I have tried to book a week in just about every campground in Florida. They are all blocked. However if I try to book as a non member I get reservations. I am glad I got it free since I not able to use in Florida.
Tom’s opening words say it all. Thousand Trails sucks!
I loved your detailed write up and the reason why is because the 2 campgrounds you stayed at (Timothy Lake South & Sea Pines) were ones that my family used to enjoy going to (Timothy Lake, the campground higher up the mountain from the one you stayed at has an indoor water park which is nice). Both campgrounds were previously Outdoor World campgrounds. When we joined Outdoor World, there were only like 7 campgrounds for us to stay at. Outdoor World grew to encompass 15 campgrounds before being bought out by Thousand Trails. Sea Pines we really enjoyed staying at many times a year (it was originally the Blue Dolphin Campground before Outdoor World purchased it. We stayed there several times when our children were young). We had never had an issue getting a spot in Outdoor World Sea Pines as this was the “overflow” for the Lake & Shore Outdoor World site. We had too many problems with ‘gang issues’ at Lake & Shore so we always stayed at Sea Pines which we loved because it wasn’t as busy and had a more laid back feel to it. We used to be able to call and make reservations about 2 weeks out and no problem getting a site. Our last experience that we attempted to find a site at either resort and nothing was available other then tent sites (no services). I had mentioned something to my middle son and he said he had no problem calling and ‘renting’ a site as a non-member. He did it and had no problem. Once he arrived he took a water & electric site which easily accommodated a trailer 25 ft or less. WE are members and were unable to get a site with our membership. More an more we have trouble getting sites because they are creating more “seasonal sites” and cutting down on the sites that members can use, they just make more money on ‘seasonal’ and ‘non-member’ fees. Forget that my ‘Membership Dues’ are now up to $629 per year and continuously increasing and yet we still have to wait the 60 day period before making our reservation, only to find out that the 2 resorts at the Jersey shore are booked to us, but if you want to pay for a site you can get one.
I still have all of my original purchase agreement info and what we are entitled to for our payments. I’m going to look to see if I can get some of this back, possibly with the help of a lawyer friend. My original sales agreement says the Membership Fees would only rise 5.00% each year. It seems as if Thousand Trails broke that agreement and the increase is much higher per year. Just looking at my last years Membership Dues to this years the amount has increased by more than 5.00% / year. Looking at my last available records starting in 2012 our dues were $293.43 through to our 2020 Dues which are $629.00 It seems as if we have almost doubled our dues in 8 years.
I am so disappointed with how Thousand Trails has changed what we had with Outdoor World into such a negative experience. Since getting rid of my truck & trailer, we have gone out to some other campgrounds in the NJ & PA area and went back to our family roots and tent camped as our children have all grown and have their own families now. We have been thinking of getting another truck & trailer but need to rethink getting out of Thousand Trails since they are useless to us at 2 NJ campgrounds we used to love that we just can’t go to during the summer now.
They have made calls to us several times in the past months trying to get us to ‘upgrade’ our membership. They try to hard sell us, but we’re not buying. I use my telephone call blocking settings and no longer get those annoying calls, lol.
I wish you and your family the best of luck in searching out other camping options. Summer is coming! 😉
Thanks for sharing your experience. Good luck to you too, hopefully things will get back to normal sometime this summer and we can all get back to camping.
Jason
Do not purchase!!! I am very disappointed. I bought the added on a Trailers collection because it included a park I love to go to but now I find out that is very rare I can get into that park unless I pay the full fee of course. I recommend you save your money and just pay whatever the fee is this place you want to go. I will not be renewing my membership’s
We started with a Camping Pass and upgraded to an Odyssey Membership the next year. We live in California and so we have several campgrounds to utilize. You have to camp enough to make your membership worth your fees. We do one big family trip and that trip alone pays for our membership. Then we do at least one long weekend a month from April to September. For the most part all the campgrounds have been very nice. Over the past 3 years only had one issue with other campers and the Ranger did try to fix it and finally our last trip to Yosemite was a bit rough with Ranger Dale being very rude and the bathrooms very dirty (sorry but Covid is no excuse). Overall it has been worth the price we paid… but you have to use it!
Mel,
I see a lot of negative comments about Thousand Trails, so it’s nice to hear that some people are enjoying their membership.
Thanks,
Jason
My husband and I are in the very early stages of contemplating selling our home and living full-time in an RV. A major concern I have is the cost of campsites. We want to be able to camp at a decent site for a season, or at least for a month or a couple of weeks, rather than having to pull up sticks and find another camping location. My late parents, who owned a Type C, always traveled to a nice campsite in Kissimmee every December with full hookups and stayed there through the first week of March – no problem. When I read through the sketchy information that was available on the TT website, an alarm rang in my head, “beware – time share!” I was appalled when I read from the comments above that one must wait days, or even weeks, before going to another TT resort (assuming one can find one in one’s “zone”, and that it isn’t booked. We’d already been burned by time shares – the places one wants aren’t available, especially at the time one wants, or there are added, undisclosed costs, and the time window for reserving is unfavorable to say the least. I will keep looking to see if there is a membership organization that doesn’t play these games. We live on a fixed income, and spending hundreds of dollars for nothing doesn’t appeal to me.