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Joining an RV membership program like the Coast to Coast RV club can be a great way to meet others in the RVing community and get special discounts. But sometimes, the many options can feel overwhelming. You’re trying to get the best bang for your buck, and it can be challenging to weigh the pros and cons of each option.
This unique RV membership is one many RVers consider. Others may overlook it, but we think it can be one worth considering, depending on your circumstances. Let’s take a closer look at what this membership offers.
What Is the Coast to Coast RV Camping Club?
The Coast to Coast RV club, which began in 1972, is a network of RV parks and resorts throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It’s a part of a larger company that includes Good Sam, Camping World, Gander Outdoors, and Overton’s.
It works similarly to a timeshare where members select a home park and receive a discounted rate to other locations. However, becoming a member of a participating resort can be rather expensive, and memberships are not available to the general public. Once you join, you’ll have access to over 200 locations participating in the program.
How Much Does the Coast to Coast RV Membership Cost?
The cost to join is $90 per year. However, you must also have a home resort membership to be a member. Your home resort is usually where you’ll spend most of your time while RVing, whether it’s for seasonal vacations or full-time living.
You’ll purchase a lot in this resort that gives you exclusive use. Typically, you’ll pay maintenance fees as well, which vary from resort to resort. There might be other fees as well, so the sticker price of a lot isn’t an accurate reflection of how much you’ll actually pay.
There are three different tiers – classic, deluxe, and premier. Each home resort sets its own fees, and so the cost for each tier typically varies considerably. The cheapest classic tier can be as low as a few hundred dollars, while the most expensive premier tier can be several thousand dollars annually.
Pro Tip: Looking for the right RV club to join? Check out The Ultimate Guide to RV Clubs to help make your decision.
Why the Coast to Coast RV Membership Is Worth the Money
There are a handful of reasons why you might consider joining the Coast to Coast membership network. Let’s look at what might be appealing about this discount program.
Affordable Annual Membership
Some RV membership programs can have costly annual memberships. However, joining the Coast to Coast program only costs $90 per year. This fee is less than a single night at some RV parks across the country. However, instead of a single night, you’ll get steeply discounted rates at amazing RV parks and resorts across the country.
Significantly Discounted Nightly Costs at Resorts
If you like discounted resort camping fees, you’ll enjoy the Coast to Coast RV membership. You can even get resort-style campsites for $10! This typically includes 30/50-amp electric connections, water, and sewer connections. It’s hard to find a discount program that offers sites at such a discount!
Extra Amenities and Activities
If you like resorts with plenty to keep you busy, Coast to Coast resorts will do just that. Many offer aquatic activities, mini-golf, and game rooms. However, they also host barbecues, dances, trail rides, and other activities during weekends and holidays.
Secure Family Environment
You can never undervalue safety. When you stay at these parks, you don’t have to stress about your safety. That’s because many of these resorts have gates and security to help increase campers’ safety. So from the moment you check in to your resort, you can relax knowing that those passing through the gates are vetted to enter the campground.
Good Quality Facilities
Coast to Coast wants its members to have a vacation experience worth talking about for years. To make that happen, they’ve partnered with Good Sam and Coupon Guide to provide an experience like no other. They inspect the facilities, amenities, and cleanliness annually, so you can rest assured that your resort meets high standards.
The Downsides of a Coast to Coast Membership
RV membership programs can sometimes overemphasize the good and gloss over the negative. We think you should know a few things before buying a membership.
More Fees Than Other Memberships
While joining Coast to Coast is only $90 annually, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of fees. They briefly mention that memberships are not available to the public and that you must be a member of one of their network resorts to become a member.
However, they fail to mention that joining one of their network resorts can cost several thousand dollars. Fees vary but typically include annual maintenance and HOA-type service fees.
You could buy “used” memberships through third-party resellers. Because you must buy into a specific home resort, finding a used membership for a resort near you can be challenging. Prices can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars based on the resort and the benefits included.
Smaller Reservation Windows
While some popular RV clubs let you make reservations for 90 to 120 days in advance, Coast to Coast has a shorter reservation window. Depending on your tier, it can be anywhere from three days to 120 days. Thus, it can be challenging to secure reservations in resort locations with short camping seasons or high tourist traffic.
More Limitations at Campsites
The limitations of many RV memberships can be tricky. Coast to Coast limits the length of stay depending on your tier. Members with a classic membership can stay for seven consecutive days, deluxe 14 successive days, and premier guests 14 days during peak season and 21 during non-peak season.
However, that’s not the only tier-based limitation in place. The membership restricts how many times you can stay at a specific resort in a calendar year. Classic members can only stay at the same resort twice in a given year. They must also keep 30 days between resort stay.
Deluxe and premier guests can stay twice during peak season and unlimited times during non-peak season, and there must be seven days between stays.
Pro Tip: Find out which camping membership has saved RVers the most money.
Why We Think the Coast to Coast Membership Is Worth It
This RV membership can be a great option, especially if you’re traveling full time. Having several RV memberships can help you save each year and avoid expensive camping fees.
It’s great for those who like the idea of staying in resorts or getting discounts on camping. Many travelers love the flexibility and freedom it can provide while traveling the country. It may surprise you how many Coast to Coast parks you’ll pass during your travels.
A membership to this club isn’t for everyone, but if this sounds like your RV lifestyle, you might love it!
Are you members of any RV memberships to save on nightly camping fees?
We are longtime Coast To Coast members through travel resorts of America. We booked 4 days at Briarcliffe RV Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC. Check out their ads and brochures. It’s gorgeous here. We arrive and they put us on a site in the back of the campground. We are surrounded by storage units, chainlike fence and a dirty old mobile home that they rent. We are also under a large old tree that has so many dead branches hanging in it I am afraid to sit under it.
This is a shame. This is a week that we have looked very much forward to. We love Myrtle Beach. it’s not going to ruin our week, but it definitely put a damper on it. We will think twice before we book at Briarcliff again. Perhaps Coast To Coast needs to look at them and see if they’re worthy of affiliation.
I agree that coast to coast a ripoff. Once you buy in – how do you get out? This article should have covered that! If it’s a timeshare you are screwed!
Coast to Coast doesn’t care. We inherited our membership from our parents years ago. We’ve used it as much as we could but living in Colorado there’s only 2 parks in the entire state neither are that great. On long rv trips out west and back east we tried to stay at coast parks and each one had 1 or 2 spots for c to c members and they were terrible spots. We’ve reported issues to c to c as well as Good Sam and they just don’t seem to care. Next aggravating issue is last year our home park bailed on c to c and pushed us over to another park with no notification. Best of all, this new park doubled our annual fees. This isn’t what we signed up for and the program has changed for the worst since our parents sign up in 1973. So anyone looking for the truth don’t join the Coast to Coast camping membership it’s terrible!!