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26 Jan 2007, 4:36 pm / Learning
Are Camp Club USA, Passport America and Happy Camper Club all the same thing? They are all three rv clubs that offer half price (50%) camping rates, but the similarities stop there... Compare Passort America and Camp Club USA with Happy Camper Club, and you will learn why Escapees and dozens of other RV clubs endorse Happy Camper Club vs. Passport America and Camp Club USA.
After some research, you will learn that there are big differences that distinguish the three RV clubs from one another. We will be adding a comparison chart to the Happy Camper Club web site, which will demonstrate why most RVers agree that Happy Camper is the most RVer friendly club available to the RV public today, compared side by side with Passport America and Camp Club USA.
Key points include the following club member benefits:
1. Happy Camper Club and Passport America each offer their members 1,200 locations to choose from, serving RV parks and campgrounds in every state in the US, plus many Canadian provinces. Camp Club USA is just coming into the half price camping community, and is thus far predicting only 500 park locations in the printed edition of their directory for 2007.
2. Passport America serves Canadian RVers with several hundred RV park locations north of the US border, while Happy Camper focuses on US travel, with approximately 40 Canadian campgrounds now participating. Full-time and seasonal travelers often find it useful to join both clubs. For under $100, they can access over 1,600 campgrounds - much less than the cost of "home park" membership programs, which provide just a few hundred locations at a similar price. Camp Club USA is still building its parks list, with 255 parks participating in the 2006 camping guide.
3. Camp Club USA is the only half price RV club that emphasizes "nearly all of our campgrounds are rated 3 Diamond W’s by Woodall's, the name in campground rating, or have an equivalent rating." A browse through either Happy Camper Club or Passport America's directory will reveal that this benefit can be claimed by all three clubs. Most participating rv parks also have amenities for big rigs.
4. Happy Camper Club is the only half price club that offers "real-time" membership sign-up, enabling RVers to join the club and access "instant" use of the membership via an online "create your card" feature, plus a complete online directory of rv park locations. Passport America and Camp Club USA do not offer this feature at this time. Passport America does offer its directory online.
5. Happy Camper Club is the only one of the three clubs that offers a free, customized RV trip planner, allowing members to create RV trip routes which indicate all the half price camping locations along their route. Happy Camper also offers exclusive monthly discounts at about 100 of its parks, an effort to serve full-time RVers and seasonal campers.
6. Passport America offers an optional (added fee) mail forwarding service. Happy Camper Club and Camp Club USA do not offer this feature. Happy Camper members can, however, receive a $10 discount on joining Escapees RV Club, the leader in mail forwarding for RVers, and the only RV mail service with its own zip code.
That is a brief overview of what is available to member of these half price rv clubs. Please feel free to share your experiences with any of the clubs by clicking "reply" at the bottom of the story.
** Happy Camper Club is not affiliated with Passort America or Camp Club USA.
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