Good Sam Club- Happy Trails, Happy Campers
Written: Dec 08 '02
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Knowing we would be buying some type of travel trailer, we joined Good Sam Club about one month ago.
About the site and what is Good Sam?
The only information you can obtain without joining Good Sam is minimal. You can learn what the Club is, what the membership benefits are and what services are available. If you do not know what the Good Sam Club is, briefly, it is a club that began in 1966 when a group of recreational vehicle (RV) owners put Good Samaritan bumper stickers on their campers so other campers would know they could get help on the road. Their goal is to make traveling in or towing a trailer safer and fun and save members money.
The benefits include a one-year subscription to Highways magazine, a 10% discount at over 1,600 parks and campgrounds in the U.S. and Canada, discounts on many RV related books and services, discounts on long distance telephone services and even discounts on eye exams, contact lenses and eye wear. Some services include: free RV trip routing (Which can be gotten if you have AAA, which we do.), members-only rates on RV and auto insurance, a Good Sam VISA credit card that can earn you points toward discounts on RV-related products and services and mail forwarding.
Again the only way to enter the site is to become a member. We did join. For $19.00 a year, I don’t think we can go wrong. The website itself has more information that one can imagine. There is almost nothing about RVing or camping not covered. I can find campgrounds and make reservations, buy merchandise, find events such as Virginia Winery Holidays, Dec 01, 2002 - Dec 31, 2002 (We will be passing through VA during that time!), get the weather, or join a very, very active forum where I can learn from real people things I may not know about camping or our trailer.
We knew that Virginia would probably be our first stop so all I had to do was type in Virginia (I didn’t type in a city because we are flexible.) and I found a whole list of campgrounds one of which I made reservations at. I was concerned that the area in which my mom lives in Florida may not have campgrounds but in fact I found two.
The links are very easy to understand and the site is very easy to follow. You can’t make a mistake or get lost here. (Getting lost on the Good Sam Club website would be very frustrating since helping people not get lost is one of their goals!)
What happened after I joined:
I got an e-mail almost immediately telling me that my order would be processed in 3-5 days and I would receive my Good Sam Member Number in that time. I joined on a Thursday and received my membership number on Sunday. I was told that I would receive my membership kit in several weeks which I did but was assured that if I needed help before then I could call and was given the 1-800 number along with their times, which include Saturday. I could e-mail them also but I had no need to do either.
I was enticed to buy their roadside assistance but since we bought a travel trailer rather than a self-contained unit we have no need for it and we have AAA for our truck. (A travel trailer gets pulled with our truck and has no engine. A self-contained unit is driven.)
My final thoughts:
The only negative about this website is that you can’t access any information without joining. There are many sites that are the same way, but there are also sites that allow you to peak into them without joining. For example, it would have been nice to see what Highway magazine looks like and to see the number of campgrounds in their directory. But as I said, for $19.00 a year, I don’t think you can go wrong if you camp. The site is simple, amazingly comprehensive and I find the forum to be one of the friendliest and most helpful I have seen. I received my confirmation and membership kit on time and am very pleased with the site.
Recommended:
Yes
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