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Thousand Trails Zone Pass


rynosback

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I am planning to head out west for a year or two.  I was looking at buying the South West Zone Pass and the trails collection.  With this pass I can reserve up to 60 days out.  14 days in then 7 days out.  My concern is that there are a lot of memberships that can book much further out.  Plus with all of the fires I worry about being able to get a spot with this membership.  Thanks for you feedback and thoughts.

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I would try it and see how it goes. You can upgrade after the first year if it doesn't work well with the 60 day window.I like the pass +TC because of the low cost, no up front investment, and 7 days out forces one to try state parks, other private campgrounds etc. Folks on the lifetime memberships don't have 7 days out, can stay 21 or 28 days. Except in TC parks, there is always a 7 day out before you can go to another TC park.

Encore acquires parks in a wide range of conditions. Then makes various upgrades and improvements. They vary considerably from park to park, most are pretty darn good.

1 or 2 14 day stays pay for entire cost of the pass.

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Just for fun I tried booking two southern California Thousand Trails properties - Pio Pico and Palm Springs for one month from today.  Pio Pico had sites available and Palm Springs did not.  

So far as Trail Collection, everyone is in the same boat with them so your chances of getting a spot are as good as even those with the highest level of memberships.  

If you are good with the quality of the properties and don't intend to travel beyond the zone, I'd say the ZP is at least a good starting point for you.

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4 hours ago, ToddF said:

I would try it and see how it goes. You can upgrade after the first year if it doesn't work well with the 60 day window.I like the pass +TC because of the low cost, no up front investment, and 7 days out forces one to try state parks, other private campgrounds etc. Folks on the lifetime memberships don't have 7 days out, can stay 21 or 28 days. Except in TC parks, there is always a 7 day out before you can go to another TC park.

Encore acquires parks in a wide range of conditions. Then makes various upgrades and improvements. They vary considerably from park to park, most are pretty darn good.

1 or 2 14 day stays pay for entire cost of the pass.

I have read where some of the parks could be run down and needed of an update.  For the most part we just look for FHU.  Thanks for the feedback.

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2 hours ago, scouserl41 said:

https://banbrv.blogspot.com/2017/11/thousand-trails-good-and-bad.html

Just my take on TT. Look online you might be able to buy a membership cheaper. Fires shouldn't be a problem but high demand might be on holiday weekends.

Brian

I do not mean the CG being on fire.  But when I have volunteered at Red Cross after disasters.  Camping can be hard to come by as contractors and displaced people tend to go to campgrounds and live while there homes are being rebuilt.  I looked into Thousand Trails when we first started FTing.  At the time, they did not seem to be In the areas that we wanted to travel to. Plus with HUNDREDS of different memberships out there.  I knew I would have to call TT with the membership number to found out the specific details of that membership.

I have been fulltiming for 3 1/2 years now and have not needed it.  But traveling the West coast and the cost of CGs it just made sense to me to investigate Thousand Trails.  I might even opt for the NE zone for $49.

Thanks.

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2 hours ago, GR "Scott" Cundiff said:

Just for fun I tried booking two southern California Thousand Trails properties - Pio Pico and Palm Springs for one month from today.  Pio Pico had sites available and Palm Springs did not.  

So far as Trail Collection, everyone is in the same boat with them so your chances of getting a spot are as good as even those with the highest level of memberships.  

If you are good with the quality of the properties and don't intend to travel beyond the zone, I'd say the ZP is at least a good starting point for you.

Thanks for posting about those two CGs.

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20 hours ago, rynosback said:

Thanks for posting about those two CGs.

Pio Pico nearly always has sites but only half the park has full hookups. The partial hookups are also across a fairly busy road from all the facilities too. There are very few spots that can get a cell signal or a TV signal.

We stayed there fairly regularly before we went full time.

BnB

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12 hours ago, scouserl41 said:

Pio Pico nearly always has sites but only half the park has full hookups. The partial hookups are also across a fairly busy road from all the facilities too. There are very few spots that can get a cell signal or a TV signal.

We stayed there fairly regularly before we went full time.

BnB

What type of hookups are on that side?  Are there a lot of TT parks that are like this?  If  I want to bondock I would not even think of buying the TT pass.  

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We use TT in the NE and SE zones +Trails Collection nationwide. Most parks have FHU. Worst case scenario is W+E with a dump station in the park. TV varies, some have cable available for a fee. Some free. Some NO TV. No comparison to boondocking. Some parks have overflow parking to accommodate campers during peak periods. Getting into popular parks during peak periods is an unknown for us as we travel Labor Day-Christmas. We can get in to any park we want during these months. 

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10 hours ago, rynosback said:

What type of hookups are on that side?  Are there a lot of TT parks that are like this?  If  I want to bondock I would not even think of buying the TT pass.  

I've been in over 30 Thousand Trails over the past few years and had FHU it all but 6-7 of them.  However, all of those that were water/electric only were in the northwest.  Also, in some places I got FHU but it was the luck of the draw - arriving at a time when there were some FHU sites available.  We've also been in some places where we didn't have 50 amps, and, again, that was more often in the western US.  

Spend time on rvparkreviews.com looking at the parks you think would fit your travel plans.  You can see what amenities, etc. are available and also read the opinions of people who stayed there.  Then, balance out the reviews with the cost savings to decide if the zone pass will work for you.

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On ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 9:43 PM, rynosback said:

What type of hookups are on that side?  Are there a lot of TT parks that are like this?  If  I want to bondock I would not even think of buying the TT pass.  

Water and electric with 2 dump stations on that side. In the whole of Pio Pico there are probably only about 20 sites that can get any cell signal and a OTA tv signal. Oakzanita  nearby is very similar but much smaller and extremely tight for large RV's except for a few spots.

BnB

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  • 2 months later...

One thing I just learned about TT is do not bother wasting your time trying to book online.  I tried for a week to book a site.  It stated that it was not available for the time that I wanted it.  I called and BAM, I have a reservation.  You would think that booking online would be better for them as they do not need to spend man/woman power to answer thousands of calls.  Just my 2 cents.

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15 hours ago, scouserl41 said:

I'm exactly opposite. I only ever make reservations online, I've never called in. Dont remember ever being turned away. Maybe it depends where you are looking for a reservation?

BnB

I would much prefer to do it online as it takes a lot less time.  But when things come up like below, I have no option but to call.  And the two times I could not book online I called and BAM, received my reservation.  I wish I was making this up...

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 11/13/2018 at 6:30 AM, scouserl41 said:

Water and electric with 2 dump stations on that side. In the whole of Pio Pico there are probably only about 20 sites that can get any cell signal and a OTA tv signal. Oakzanita  nearby is very similar but much smaller and extremely tight for large RV's except for a few spots.

BnB

Which 20 sites should I be looking for?  On Rvparkreviews Verizon is checked and ATT is not.  A lot of mixed reviews on there also.  Some not so good. 

I was able to book Pio Pico tonight for late March.

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On the partial hook up side you can maybe get an ATT signal all the way in the back as far as you can get. On the full hookup side there's a spot up by the adult pool where there is an ATT signal but you may need an antenna and signal booster on either side. The "locals" know the spots and they fill up fast.

You can usually get into Pio Pico anytime but you end up on the partial hookup side and have to get on the crossover list to move to the good side. Ask the rangers about how the crossover list works.

Brian

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bnbrv.blogspot.com/

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6 hours ago, scouserl41 said:

On the partial hook up side you can maybe get an ATT signal all the way in the back as far as you can get. On the full hookup side there's a spot up by the adult pool where there is an ATT signal but you may need an antenna and signal booster on either side. The "locals" know the spots and they fill up fast.

You can usually get into Pio Pico anytime but you end up on the partial hookup side and have to get on the crossover list to move to the good side. Ask the rangers about how the crossover list works.

Brian

I read where the have a lottery att the crack @ss of dawn.  And I am not a morning person.  Thanks and I will ask them for sure.  ATT would be best as my hot spot is with them.

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7 minutes ago, scouserl41 said:

I think the lottery is 9am but at 8am you can go and look at what's becoming free that day. You can call but they dont assign specific sites, its first come first served.

BnB

So there is no list like you first thought?  I called TT and they said that they have 150 spots open right now.  But the park has over 500 sites.

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It all depends on how full the park is. I have on rare occasions just driven up and got into the full hookup area.

There may be openings today but tomorrow they may be full. Usually they have openings but nearly always on the partial hookup side.

Read my blog post it's pretty detailed.

BnB

2009 Monaco Cayman DP 38'

bnbrv.blogspot.com/

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