Wanderlust World Wanderlust World KOA Campgrounds offers RV travelers an online database to search for RV parks throughout the United States and Canada. Each park has to meet quality and service standards to be a member and are periodically inspected. Awards are granted to parks that have gone above and beyond in providing a good experience for their clients. One example is the Terre Haute, Indiana KOA, which received the President's Award for 2009. KOA RV parks are family oriented, with many offering swimming pools, game rooms and even mini golf. Most parks welcome well-behaved pets.
The user friendly website offers a trip planning feature to help plan your route, a vacation idea page to learn about areas you want to visit and an introductory page to explain it all. Membership is not required to search the website or to make reservations, either online or by phone. Membership does give you a 10 percent discount on camping fees and a points rewards system, redeemable at any KOA. There is a yearly fee to join.
Kampgrounds of America, Inc.
P.O. Box 30558
Billings, MT 59114
406-248-7444
koa.com
Good Sam Club has over a million members and roughly 1,600 RV parks and campgrounds in its North American database. These are privately owned facilities that have been inspected and approved by Good Sam Club. This also includes RV service centers. In addition to the parks that have the red Good Sam Club seal of approval, other campsites and parks in the area are sometimes listed.
Use of the website is open to everyone, but members get a 10 percent discount on camping rates at Good Sam Club approved parks, free magazine subscription to "Highways," trip routing service and access to RV maintenance and technical information. The club also offers RV insurance and a Good Sam VISA card. An annual membership fee is required.
Good Sam Club
P.O. Box 6888
Englewood, CO 80155
800-234-3450
goodsamclub.com
Escapees RV Club is a support network for those who spend all or part of their time touring the country in their RVs. The club helps with things like mail forwarding, insurance, a pharmacy drug program and identity theft insurance. There is also a community called CARE that provides a place for RV owners to stay while they are recovering from an illness.
Membership also includes a guide listing RV parks that offer a minimum 15 percent discount to Escapees members, access to RV and health insurance and an advocacy coalition that fights against pending legislation that could hurt the RV community. Memberships are charged on a yearly basis.
Escapees also owns eight Rainbow Parks in seven states. These RV parks can serve as a home base for fulltime RVers and offer weekly, monthly and long term leases on sites. Some of these parks also have RV sites for sale. Another option is to buy a membership in one of the SKP-Co-Op parks which gives the owner exclusive rights to a specific RV site.
Escapees RV Club
100 Rainbow Drive
Livingston, TX 77351
936-327-8873
escapees.com