Passport America: The World’s Largest 50% Discount Camping Club

By Sal & Rebecca, The Tin Can Travelers – We use affiliate links. When you click an affiliate link, we may receive a small compensation at no cost to you.

As full-time RVers, we travel thousands of miles a year, and frequently from one coast to the other, making several stops along the way to visit new areas or to simply rest. And while this lifestyle is quite fun and exciting, it ain’t cheap! There’s lots to budget for, but fuel and campgrounds account for our biggest expenses. So, if there’s a way to save money in either of these categories… we’re all about it!

The Hookup!

In January of this year, Passport America offered us a discount card to use during our travels in exchange for feedback on the quality of the membership. And we have to say… the offer couldn’t have come at a better time! In March, we were set to embark on a 5,000-mile trip up the east coast, over to the mid-west, back down south and then across to California. If there was ever a time to save money on lodging, this was it!

Life Before Passport America

We’ve been full-time RVing for over three years and just recently became members of Passport America. Because Sal is retired military, we’ve always just camped on military bases. They’re cheap, typically provide all your conveniences, and offer a sense of security. You can usually snag a full-hookup site, on average, for around $25.00 a night. The only times we haven’t stayed on base is when there wasn’t one located in or near our destination. In those cases, we camped at state parks. Unfortunately, state parks can sometimes be inconvenient due to their lack of hookups. So, while we genuinely enjoy both types of campgrounds, we were limiting our options by relying primarily on just the two. Now that we’re members of Passport America, however, we have more options than we ever thought we would!

 Putting Our New Membership To The Test

Once we received our Passport America membership card in the mail, we started making reservations. We used the discount card at three campgrounds, each in a different state, and all centrally located to where we wanted to be. And as we’re sure you can imagine, we were pleasantly surprised to either pay the same or less than what we typically pay for a site on base. This was a really big deal! Why? Because the reason we only used military bases and state parks in the past is because private campgrounds were too expensive. Well… not anymore!

Passport America Affiliated Campgrounds

Below are the Passport America affiliated campgrounds we stayed at during our five-week excursion. We’ve included some pictures, site rates at the time of our stay (March and April, 2021), and the amenities offered:

River Creek Campground

River Creek Campground is located in Rutherfordton, NC and tucked in the foothills along the Broad River. It offers a small store, bathhouse, laundry area, playground and propane fill station. The staff is very kind and helpful, too. This campground is in close proximity to many historic NC attractions including the Biltmore, The Blowing Rock, Grandfather Mountain and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Also nearby, you’ll find hiking trails, waterfalls and wineries. The regular rate for our full-hookup site was $35.00 per night, but with our Passport America membership, we only paid $17.50. Our total for a 5 night stay was $87.50, which is much cheaper than a military base!

Sky High Camping Resort

Sky High Camping Resort is located in Portage, WI, in a wooded bluff top and set within a farming community. It’s about an hour from Milwaukee and less than that from Madison. This campground is very family oriented and offers something for everyone. You’ll find a heated swimming pool, nature trails, a playground, miniature golf, volleyball and other activities. There’s a laundry room, bathhouses and a camp store. The campground is nicely landscaped and very dog friendly, too.

We stayed here during the off-season, so all pull-through and full-hookup sites were $33.00 per night. But because we used our Passport America discount card, we paid $16.50 for the first two (Wednesday and Thursday). Since the majority of campgrounds will not apply the discount to Friday or Saturday stays, we paid the full rate our last two days. We paid $99.00 for our 4-night stay, which is right on par with a military base!

Pontchartrain Landing Marina and RV Park

Pontchartrain Landing is a gated marina and RV resort located only minutes from the French Quarter in New Orleans, LA. It features a restaurant and bar (with inside / outside seating), vacation rental villas, a pool, general store, RV sites with full hook-ups, boat launch, laundry room, bathhouse, and shuttle service to the French Quarter. The regular rate here for our full-hookup site is $82.00 per night. With our Passport America membership, however, we got it for $41.00 AND for our entire stay. This included a Friday! This campground has a different policy regarding the discount.

Although this campground was more expensive (even with the discount) than the average military base or state park… it’s a resort! It has a ton of amenities and is in a location that can’t be beat. But remember when we said the average price for a base site is around $25.00? That means sometimes it’s much more than that. Before staying at Pontchartrain, we paid $55.00 per night for a spot on base in Maryland. So, in that case… it was still cheaper!

So Why Write This Post?

Because we can’t believe we’ve been full-time RVers for more than three years and never signed up for Passport America membership. When we look at what we saved over just a five-week time period, we shutter at what we could have saved over the last three years. And don’t think we’re writing a positive review for Passport America just because we got a free one-year membership card valued at $44.00… because we’re not. Had we been dissatisfied with any part of the membership, you’d be reading something quite different. Our reviews and opinions on any product or services we represent will always be one-hundred percent honest. You can also trust that when we discover something we think our readers/followers would benefit from, we’ll share it! And that’s why we’re sharing this with you!

Don’t Limit Your Options OR Savings

If you’re not already familiar with Passport America, you need to be. It doesn’t matter if you’re a full-time RVer, weekend warrior or a once-a-year vacationer. Chances are, you’re going to make back your membership fee, and then some, the very first time you use it. So why wouldn’t you have it? In our opinion, you can never have too many options. And thanks to Passport America, we now have access to a whole new world of them! We are no longer limited to military bases and state parks for cheap lodging. We’ve got something else to add to our savings arsenal. Passport America… It’s in our wallet! What’s in yours?

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