Trying to reenter the RV life

rbyham · January 11, 2017

A job change moved us across country and away from our former RV life about 6 years ago. Previous to the move we pulled a series of TTs all over the western US for many years and always thought we would come back to an RV.

However as I prep for an RV future my present research leaves me with the following concerns that I hope folks here might be able to enlighten:

1. Wow have overnight campground costs gone up. I have credit in some of the areas I currently frequent on business travel and can rarely find a campground for much less than the hotel rates I currently pay. It seems any more that for full hookup one is challenged to get under ¢60 a night. Am I missing something? I know about the clubs and those would be an option but truly I am shocked at the idea of paying $60 for site rental.

2. It seems no easier today to find last minute nearby campsites. I thought the Internet changed everything. ☺️

Is there really no nationwide database of campgrounds that would automate the reservation system? In current travels I have numerous apps that with 3 clicks will get me a motel room so I never preset them. I just hit 3pm see where I am and fire up an app. Can anyone point me to something like that for campsites? I would find it very tedious to have to call individual campgrounds to make a reservation.

Well those are my challenges for now. Thanks for any help folks here might be able to provide.

RB

Barbaraok · January 11, 2017

Where are you looking for parks, in big city areas? Yes some may be $60/night. we stay away from big cities and do day trips to see the sites in the car we pull.

No the RVing world is not set up for 3 clicks and you're done. Slow down and smell the roses. Check out Passport America and Allstays RV andCamp apps. Read RV park reviews, Maybe RVing isn't for you

Smitty77_7 · January 11, 2017

On the same path as Barbara. Also look to see if Escapee's parks in your projected travel regions. And some still find good values into buying a used 1000 Trails membership, to augment their travels economically.

Yes, you can spend big money in some parks. But weekly and monthly rates bring costs down. And, City, County, State, National, COE, BLM options can lower the costs down to zero dollars overnight:)! If you want, you can usually find lower costs options... and still have a blast!

Best of luck to you,

Smitty

Pat & Pete · January 11, 2017

The highest we have paid for a single night was $35 , once , in 6 years of full timing . No boondocking and only a few nights at Walmart when there was nothing else .

chirakawa · January 11, 2017

The highest we have paid for a single night was $35.

Ditto.

Also, I don't stay in motels very often, but the few times I have they were way over $60.

2gypsies · January 11, 2017

Are you working? Do you need to be in a good data area? Do you have your own data program (not relying on public Wifi)? Do you need to be in a major city?

If you answer yes to the above then you are not in the same class as a casual RVer and therefore, your cost 'may' be higher/night.

If you can be flexible in your locations then you would have many very reasonable choices for RV park stays. If you would be staying shorter term, such as 1 or 2 weeks then even better. You wouldn't need full hookups in that case and rates can be even cheaper.

Rates are all over the place and it just depends how you, yourself, will be RVing.

Kirk W · January 11, 2017

Welcome back! Looks like you joined back in 2010 but we are happy that you have come back and we will do whatever we can to help.

1. Wow have overnight campground costs gone up. I have credit in some of the areas I currently frequent on business travel and can rarely find a campground for much less than the hotel rates I currently pay. It seems any more that for full hookup one is challenged to get under ¢60 a night. Am I missing something? I know about the clubs and those would be an option but truly I am shocked at the idea of paying $60 for site rental.

The price of an RV site varies quite widely, depending upon where you go. This past summer we traveled from east TX to KY, to VT, then through NY to Niagara, to Detroit & lower MI, then south to IN and from there to KS and back to TX again, over a period of 3 months. Over all we spent 5 nights for about $25/night, and the highest nightly cost was $48 and that was in Detroit where hotels are much more than $60/night. Only one night was $48 with the second most expensive was two nights at a park that was $40/night and our average per night cost for places that we stayed on a nightly rate was $31.76 while we spent less than that in the parks where we stayed for a week or longer. The most that we have ever paid for a night in an RV park was $76 and that was in a high tourist traffic area of CA that has very few RV parks and this one was upscale. We have also found that FL is one of the most expensive states for RV parks with many of them costing in excess of $50/night but hotels and motels are significantly more than that in those areas. To make a recent comparison, in Council Grove, KS we just had a motel room for $64/night and the local RV park charges $26/night.

Is there really no nationwide database of campgrounds that would automate the reservation system?

I am not aware of one. There are discount groups that you can buy into that get half off in selected parks and there are some other discounts available but none that I am aware of have a reservation service. There are several phone applications and internet sites that supply a directory to locate parks but I do not know of any that have a reservation service. I suspect that the reason is that parks would have to pay a fee to be listed and RV parks are not a high profit margin business and so do not join into them, but that is only a guess.