Good Sam Membership

[Jim]

Anyone have a Good Sam membership? Or had one in the past? Did you primarily look for, and frequent parks that accepted the membership?

 

[Jabber Jaw]

Jim,
Have had a "Good Sam" membership for about 4 years, for a couple of reasons.
1) When I bought the Coach, it came with a one year membership.
2) Had joined when I had previous coach to avail the savings available at Camping World.
It was only 10 miles from my home in Virginia.
3) Get five cents per gallon savings on "GAS" from Pilot/Flying J
And they sometimes send a "special", where I get an additional five cents or ten cents "off", during that month.
4) If an RV park we select has the "GS" discount, it is used. But do not select RV parks based on "GS" discount.

Hope this "info" is helpful.

See you on the 2nd.."Pretty Girl" is looking forward to it!

 

[Jim]

Hope this "info" is helpful.

Very helpful!

 

[Neemer]

I used to, but let it go several years ago. I have never made CG decisions based on their ratings. Some more inexperienced might, but after staying at one of their highly rated CGs that turned out to be a dump, I don’t think their ratings mean anything.

 

[AbdRahim]

GS ratings seemed to be skewed to the high side. I find campgroundreviews.com to be more reliable. I don’t shop atCW anymore. I only use it for the 5 cent discount at Flying J.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

We have had it for 3 years.
It occasionally gives us a discount on a park, typically enough to offset the cost of Good Sam membership. When we used to full time in the RV we also found their insurance at that time to be the best bang for our buck.
A few times have purchased parts or supplies at a camping world and got the extra 10% off.
At this point, it is probably a wash in value. Not sure we will renew it next time it comes up.

 

[Texas Clodhopper]

In my opinion, save your money if you're considering being a Good Sam park. I take their ratings with a grain of salt unless of course, the salt is on a margarita glass. I decided several years ago the larger the ad a park buys for the magazine the better their rating is.

 

[John&Andrea]

We have used GS for years Jabber Jaw summed it up well. One place
In Navarre Beech stopped GS discount. She said it was not worth it, the amount they pay to be a part of it I’m guessing. The park I think is under new ownership and a younger group running things. I think GS is working to pull in the younger crowd. I guess mostly the older group uses it. I book at GS some but is not all I look for. We are life members so no renewal for us.
The magazine they put out is Wild Sam these days not GS and is geared for a younger group. I get it we ain’t living forever.

 

[redbaron]

the fees GS charge parks are hardly worth the expense Jim. Just offer a 10% discount if you are a member of "name your club" and you will save a ton of money!

Edit: AND BY ALL MEANS DO NOT JOIN UP WITH Passport America--PLEASE!!

 

[sheridany]

I agree with every comment made above. It's not worth it whatsoever.

 

[team bradfield]

signed up many years ago, before email and cell phones we so prevalent, got so much junk mail it wasn't worth it and all the above, dropped it asap

 

[John&Andrea]

Just give a 10% discount to members of RV Fourms

 

[purring along]

We have had it for ten years now, but don't see us renewing. When we traveled more it was worth it.

 

[LMHS]

Had Good Sam for 1 year because we saved the cost of joining PLUS more on a long stay in Nashville many years ago. Took me years to get rid of the junk mail.

I only join Passport America IF I will be using it for more than the 2 to 3 nights to recoup the yearly membership fee. In recent years, I have taken to staying in Sam's Club or Cracker Barrel parking lots when traveling. I rarely stay in a campground when traveling unless I need to dump tanks.

 

[Stuart W]

I have GS membership and between discounts at CW and resorts it has paid for itself +
I will say that CW’s storefront is a joke now and most items are cheaper on Amazon. I have gotten lucky on a few big ticket items that were on sale

Passport America has paid off in an offseason stay that broke us even, I would never renew it.

 

[redbaron]

Passport America has paid off in an offseason stay that broke us even, I would never renew it.

I used to be a fan of the passport, but like the other post about safety, I have seen the quality of the parks that need to give 50% off attracting too many of the wrong crowd.

All too often I will notice people paying the wrong type of attention to my 13year old daughter and my wife, and it is typically at truck stops, rest stops, Walmart's, and other high traffic areas.

I am now a fan of finding parks that use their price as a way to set the class of the clientele. It's no longer about the age of the coach but getting away from those that are looking for a handout.

 

[Jim]

I agree with every comment made above. It's not worth it whatsoever.

the fees GS charge parks are hardly worth the expense Jim. Just offer a 10% discount if you are a member of "name your club" and you will save a ton of money!

I agree @redbaron, I was considering it more for the additional exposure and SEO backlinks. We've been successful filling the park with our targeted clientele, but gaining/maintaining good search engine positioning can always be improved.

I was actually trying to find a tactful way of saying that we were afraid the Good Sam discount would bring the wrong type of guest. But while we are looking for a certain type of guest, I didn't want to come across as being snooty either. Anyone who has been here will attest to that.

But there is just no denying that the less the campsite costs, the more upkeep we seem to have to do when the camper leaves.

 

[Stuart W]

On the PA it just happened to be a site we occasionally stay at and it was the off season , otherwise we would not have used it at all. Definitely will not renew

 

[LMHS]

I didn't want to come across as being snooty either.

Too late. Perhaps your park should be closer to Highlands? They sound like the kind of people you would want.

Good Sam gives a whopping 10% off. That doesn't even cover the taxes. As for the "wrong crowd", I'm pretty sure that you would consider me one of those. Do you have any idea how elitist you sound? Just because someone isn't perceived to be in your tax bracket doesn't make them criminals, druggies and/or perverts. You can be filthy rich and still be a criminal, druggie and/or pervert.

 

[Texas Clodhopper]

Wow...you're certainly living up to your tagline.