If you have been RVing for very long, you have probably been solicited for one of those membership campgrounds. In fact, you may have been given a free weekend at one as a fringe benefit when you purchased your rig from the dealer. The salesman or woman surely told you what a great deal it was and how much money you would save if you joined. Why you can travel all over these United States and stay for only a few dollars a night in five star resorts!

Well, what about it? How good a deal are these resorts? How much money will you save and how much must you pay to gain those savings? Is this just a scam?

The answer just isn't that simple. If the campground you purchase is one you enjoy visiting frequently, if they have affiliated campgrounds in areas you plan to visit, if you take advantage of these often enough, and if you don't pay too much -- then a membership campground makes sense. For many people, however, the costs are going to outweigh the benefits.

Remember that these campgrounds are owned by people who have to show a profit to stay in business. If the going rate for a campsite is $15 in their area, for example, they aren't going to do too well if everyone who visits them stays for free -- or even for $6.00 (the current per night charge for Coast to Coast). They make their money, therefore, with your initial purchase fee and with annual maintenance dues.

Consider the math. Let's suppose you purchase a membership for $4000 with $150 annual fees for the campground and another $100 for the membership fees. You stay in *that* campground for four weeks each year and visit affiliated campgrounds for an additional two weeks. Your cost for the camping itself would run only $84. Sounds like a good deal -- six weeks for only $84! Now let's assume you keep the same pattern for ten years -- that comes to $840. Now figure in your initial cost and the annual fees; that adds $5500, for a total of $6340. If you had paid $15 a night for those same nights, you cost would have been $6300. Your savings? Forty dollars!

You can quickly see that if you stayed less time, you would wind up paying more for the membership"free" camping than the regular fees.

But before you quickly decide -- "ripoff" -- consider the variables. If your per-night costs for the regular campgrounds were higher, and it is not at all hard to find $25 per night charges, the membership campground becomes more attractive. And if you find a resale and pay only $500 for the initial purchase, you can make up your costs with fewer nights on the road. Thus there is no simple answer. You have to determine what *your* costs would be for the membership, determine how convenient and frequent your stays would be, check your history to see what your costs usually are for a night, and then do the math. The cheaper the membership and the more nights you stay, the better bargain you will have.

You might also consider some other factors before making your decision. Consider carefully the locations of the membership campgrounds. Some areas of the country have goo-gobs of them, while in other locations you will have to really search to find one. If you are on the road, many of them are located many miles from the interstates; they tend to locate in rural areas for folks who want to get away from it all.

Speaking of locations, be aware that many of these campgrounds restrict you from visiting other parks close to your home park. Coast to Coast, for example, has a 125 mile limit. That means that if you purchase a park close to your home, you will be limited to that particular park for those convenient outings. For that reason, some folks purchase a park far from home so they will be able to access a variety of places nearby. Since your visits to your home park are normally free (other than your annual maintenance charges), you will need to decide which you want more - a variety of parks or free camping trips.

You also need to talk with other folks who have memberships in the specific campground chain you are considering in order to find out if they have problems getting reservations at the times they want. Many campgrounds reserve only a few sites for outsiders so their own folks will always have a place to stay. If you plan a two week stay at Beautiful Pines Campground and arrive to find out that all the sites are full and will remain that way for the next two weeks, you have a problem. On the other hand, if you plan to stay frequently at your own campground, you will enjoy the comfort of knowing you can go whenever you wish.

On a related issue, you need to be aware that campgrounds enter and leave the system with some regularity. Coast to Coast, for example, prints in their magazine a list of campgrounds that are no longer affiliated and those that have recently joined. Thus the campground that you like to visit while on vacation might not be available next year. It is also possible that your home campground might withdraw, in which case you would lose the ability to stay in the affiliates.

Let's assume for a minute that this has occurred and your home park is no longer affiliated. Would you be satisfied there? This is probably the best way to decide the value of the membership campground system. Like timeshares, the secret to happiness is not your ability to stay in other locations but in how much you would use your home park. If you enjoy going to that area several times a year, year in and year out, and if you like the amenities of the particular campground, you are going to find this a worthwhile investment. The ability to stay in other campgrounds at a reduced cost will be only a fringe benefit. If you don't want to frequently stay in the same place, you will not be happy with your investment.

There is also an intangible benefit of the membership campground: the comity of those who own. As one RV talker said, "We probably won't actually get our money's worth, considering the annual dues, but we do feel like family there. So it doesn't always have to do with money; some of it is more emotional, I guess."

What about the quality of the membership parks? Most folks indicated that the majority of the parks they visited were satisfied, but some said they were disappointed with what they found. One club member said, "We have been disappointed in the quality of the majority we have been in. I guess I expected certain standards and to be consistent, but I don't feel they are. But I guess we have been spoiled. My interpretation of most that we have been in is that they have great potential and were no doubt great campgrounds 20 years ago but haven't kept up with the times too well."

Another member, however, was quite satisfied with what they had found: "So far we haven't been in a C2C park that was run down but I'm sure they exist. But then you take that chance when you visit any campground for the first time. We paid over $200 to stay six nights at a regular campground in New Jersey and this is what we found there." The message goes on to describe the proverbial vacation from hell!

So, is it worth it to you? If you asked those of us who belong to membership campgrounds about our experiences, you would get a variety of answers. Consider the costs and your own lifestyle to make an intelligent decision.