Thousand Trails Membership Upgrades
Thousand Trails memberships offer cheap year-round camping across the country!
And whether your full-time, part-time, seasonal, or a weekend warrior- you can get the most bang for your camping bucks with a Thousand Trails membership upgrade that fits your travels!
Thousand Trails offers many different ways to camp. (Check out this Ultimate Guide to Thousand Trails Memberships if you’re not familiar with the club!)
If you’re already enjoying the camping benefits of the Thousand Trails Zone Pass and maybe the Trails Collection add-on, you’ll love what’s in store for you with the more detailed upgrades, like the Elite Basic, Elite Connections and Ultimate Odyssey which we’ll cover in this post.
Enjoy the endless camping options all across the country with access to all 81 Thousand Trails Campgrounds and RV Resorts with longer stays, no out of park time limits, extended advance booking windows, and some great additional perks for cabin camping and family benefits!
Ready to find out what you need to know about upgrading your Thousand Trails Zone Pass?
Let’s Go-
What is a Membership Upgrade?
A Thousand Trails membership upgrade is the next step after enjoying the basic Zone Passes! Providing more camping for less in the long run, these membership upgrades provide full-time camping freedom for RVers who the most for the best price possible.
There are 3 membership upgrades and we’ll discuss each of them below.
- Elite Basic
- Elite Connections
- Ultimate Odyssey
The Thousand Trails Elite Basic is the membership we usually recommend for most people. It’s the membership we chose for ourselves and has provided everything we needed and more for about $10 a day, when we break down our camping budget.
All the upgrades offer longer reservation booking window, more time great parks like this Thousand Trails Campground right outside Gettysburg, PA, and more chances to share the great camping options with your family and friends.
Thousand Trails Upgrades
| Elite Basic | Elite Connections | Ultimate Odyssey | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | around $7000 | around $9000 | around $13,000 |
| Payment Options | 1 Time Fee or Monthly Payments | 1 Time Fee or Monthly Payments | 1 Time Fee or Monthly Payments |
| Discounts | $500 (+$600 thru 08/10) | $500 (+$1100 thru 08/10) | call for details |
| Campgrounds Included | All 81 Campgrounds | All 81 Campgrounds | All 81 Campgrounds |
| Overnight Camping Limit | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Days In Park Limit | 21 Days Each | 21 Days Each | 21 Days Each |
| Days Out Of System | None | None | None |
| Day Use/Passes | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Frozen Dues | At age 62 | At age 62 | At age 62 |
| Advance Booking Window | 120 Days | 180 Days | 180 Days |
| Encore Park Discount | 20% off nightly rate | 20% off nightly rate | 20% off nightly rate |
| Additional Weeks | 2 weeks @ $29 each | 2 weeks @ $29 each | 2 weeks @ $29 each |
| High Usage Weeks | None | None | 2 weeks @$99 |
| Inactive Status | up to 5 years | up to 5 years | up to 5 years |
| Standard Cabin Rentals | up to 50% Off | up to 50% Off | up to 50% Off |
| Cabin Rebate | 1 week per year x5 | 1 week per year x5 | 1 week per year x5 |
| Getaway Cabin Rentals | $85 p/night | $60 p/night | $60 p/night |
| Getaway Cabin Rebate | None | 1 week free x10 | 1 week free x10 |
| RPI Membership | 1 year free | 2 years free | 2 years free |
| Vacation Credits | None | None | 6 @ $500 each |
| Courtesy Camping Cards | 8 @ $109 p/year | 8 @ $109 p/year | 8 @ $109 p/year |
| National Camping Passes | Gift up to 4 | Gift up to 4 | Gift up to 4 |
| Willed Memberships | up to 8 | up to 8 | up to 8 |
| Annual Dues | around $500 yearly | around $500 yearly | around $500 yearly |
Membership Upgrades Explained
Thousand Trails provides a vast number of ways to camp. Memberships range from small to large and include everything from basic weekend type camping to full-time freedom to hop around as you please!
Based on the chart above, we’ve detailed what each benefit listed means and includes to help you learn more about the membership upgrades and how you’ll benefit from having one!
Price
This is an estimated figure based on the fluctuating cost of the membership upgrade cost. It’s by no means exact, but is very close to the retail cost of a new Thousand Trails upgrade.
Payment Options
You have two options when upgrading your Thousand Trails Zone pass to one of these upgrades. You can either buy the membership with one full payment, or you can setup a monthly payment.
Monthly payment for the Zone Pass and the Elite Basic costs about $200 per month.
Discounts
Our friends Jim & Brand from Thousand Trails can offer the best discounts available regardless of if you’re being the entry level Thousand Trails Camping Pass or you’re upgrading to one of the above mentioned memberships.
We’ve listed the discounts that are offered from Jim & Brandy year round, as well as those that are being offered during this special August promotion!
Campgrounds Included
Thousand Trails Camping is spread out across the country in 81 campgrounds. With the zone pass, you can choose your zones and pay for each of them. But with the Thousand Trails upgrades, you’ll get all 81 campgrounds included.
Overnight Camping Limit
With a Thousand Trails Membership Upgrade you can actually camp as many nights as you want each and every year! That can mean 365 nights, or 30 nights or 3 nights every weekend. With a membership upgrade camping is unlimited.
Days In Park Limit
If you prefer to set up and breakdown camp at a slower pace without the need to move every 14 days, this option allows you to use your membership to stay at one preserve for up to 21 nights consecutively.
Days Out Of System
With the basic Thousand Trails Zone Pass, members have to be out of the system for 7 nights before returning to another park for more FREE Camping. With the membership upgrades listed above, Thousand Trails members do not have any time constraints for leaving the park system. They are allowed to travel ‘park-to-park’ based on the maximum days allowed in each park.
Thousand Trails Day (Use) Passes
If you’re not interested in staying overnight and just want to visit a Thousand Trails property for the day, you can ask for a Day Pass. The Ranger will provide you with Day Use privileges, allowing you to enter the property and use all on site amenities without any additional charges.
Frozen Dues
Annual dues are paid on every membership. They amount to a few hundred dollars a year and prices increase pretty much annually. When you purchase a new Thousand Trails membership, your dues will be frozen at age 62.
This means you’ll see no additional annual dues increases past the age of 62, which is pretty substantial.
Advance Booking Window
Instead of the basic 60 day reservation window- you’ll have at least 120 days with the Elite Basic and up to 180 with the Elite Connections and the Ultimate Odyssey to plan your Thousand Trails camping reservations.
Encore Park Discount
With a Thousand Trails Upgrade you’ll receive a 20% discount at Encore Parks. Many parks included in the Trails collection will be covered under this 20% discount.
Additional Weeks
Sometimes camping for 21-28 days in one park just won’t be enough. For instances like these, you’re membership upgrade includes 2 bonus week-long extensions for just $29 each.
High Usage Weeks
High usage weeks come in handy during peak seasons when you want to stay longer at a park with a high use restriction. High use restrictions are usually the exception to your camping limit and are short time periods when you may only be able to stay for 14 days at a high use park.
Not a typical situation, but one that you can definitely run into while camping across the country on a Thousand Trails membership.
Inactive Status
If you find that you’re not using your membership for an extended period of time, you can put it into an inactive state for up to 5 years without paying any dues.
The membership must be fully paid off, before this benefit can be utilized.
Standard Cabin Rentals
Rent a standard cabin rental for up to 50% off per night. To verify the final amount per night, you’ll just call the Thousand Trails membership number and get a final quote for your stay.
Cabin Rebate
Each year for the first 5 years, you’ll have the ability of booking a rental cabin and receiving a reimbursement for the amount of 1 full week! That’s HUGE! Stay in a rental cabin for FREE for the first 5 years of having your membership, just because you can!
Getaway Cabin Rentals
Getaway cabins are a little upgrade from the standard cabin and can be rented at a discounted rate based on the membership upgrade you choose.
Getaway Cabin Rebate
Works the same as the rebate not he standard cabin. These cabins can be rented for 1 FREE week for the 1st 10 years of the Elite Connection and the Ultimate Odyssey memberships.
RPI Membership
RPI is actually Resort Parks International . A Vacation club offering not only RV camping, but also resort stays, condos, and cruises. The membership offers discount travel in North America, including crazy low reservations fro Thousand Trails members at just $10 per night.
Vacation Credits
Vacation credit vouchers to put towards your travels.
Courtesy Camping Cards
Courtesy Cards are similar to the basic zone passes, but actually only allow the receiver to camp for 3 weeks each year. They include the same campgrounds you have, which is all of them and cost only $108 for your family members each year!
National Camping Passes
With your membership upgrade you’ll have the opportunity to gift 4 Thousand Trails Zone Passes with dues starting at just $199 per year.
Willed Memberships
Allows you to will up to 8 memberships that are identical to your own to family members to use for themselves.
Annual Dues
Every Thousand Trails Membership has annual dues. These dues increase each year and are either paid in full, or just rolled into your monthly payments.
More Locations: Your membership includes all the Thousand Trails campgrounds plus some Encore properties and you also get an additional camping membership trial with RPI Camping for one year, that offers camping at $10 a night. (We really used this on long trips across country- where a Thousand Trails campground was too far from our stopping point.)
Travel Club Benefits: If you enjoy renting a cabin every once in a while, you’ll be pleased to know your Thousand Trails rentals will be 50% off with your membership! You’ll also get (5) 1 Week FREE Cabin rebate coupons that you can use yearly for even more savings!
Family Benefits: With your membership you can actually give away 4 Camping Passes to family members which will include all the Thousand Trails campgrounds for just $199 per year with a 5-year commitment! That’s a huge savings and a great way to encourage family to come camp with you…
How to Upgrade?
Since Thousand Trails offers so many membership options, you’ll really want to talk to to someone who has inside knowledge of how they all work.
My friends Jim & Brandy are part of the Membership sales team and can help you not only sort through the membership details and pick the one that is right for you, but get the best price.
I’ve teamed up with them for years, sending all my referrals over to get the best services and price quotes available ANYWHERE! Seriously- it’s a pretty sweet deal!
Just tell them Sharee from Live Camp Work sent you over and you’ll get the lowest prices available on new memberships. And don’t worry about being pressured into buying anything! Jim & Brand y are so confident in the value you’ll see in the Thousand Trails camping options, they won’t have to haggle or pressure you into ANYTHING!
So just call, get the details and let them discuss the pricing options with you without an obligation to buy.
You’re Next Steps:
- Call or email Jim & Brandy 770-622-4188 or brandy_reneau@equitylifestyle.com
- Discuss the Thousand Trails camping options.
- Ask all your questions regarding Thousand Trails camping options
- Decide if you want to buy now or have them contact you later.
- Choose between a 1-time payment or smaller monthly payments.
- Get a price quote for both scenarios.
- Tell them Sharee sent you over to get the HUGE discount on your upgrades/zone passes.
Other Thousand Trails Posts to Read:
Ultimate Guide to Thousand Trails
28 Day Poconos Itinerary for Thousand Trails Campground Timothy Lakes
How To Enjoy A Month In Cottonwood, Arizona at Verde Valley RV & Camping Resort
