Another reason I don't use KOA

I use military as a first choice, and then Feds, and the State Parks ... and one problem is they are not always where one wants to visit -- so, it's nice to have alternatives -- but have in the past stayed at KOA when nothing esle around and always thought too, too, too pricey ... would never make it a "choice"...only a "necessary" ... M44

In my previous reply in this string I mentioned that we are full timers. We live on the road therefor we are not campers and never use overflow or Wal-Mart parking lots or rest areas. We hunker down twice a year for 3-4 months. This past winter it was the foot hills of SC and our next long stay will be in Yuma, AZ for 4 months where we already have paid for our reservations. Our normal travel day is between 275 - 325 miles. We never make reservations when we are on the move because we never know how long we might want to stay at the next stop. We may spend 2-7 days depending on what we have planned for the area. If a military reservation is in our path we make a point of staying there if a site is available, if not, we move on. Twice a year we stay at NAS Jacksonville, FL for two weeks and make our reservations well in advance as that?s where our kids live. KOA like almost all commercial Campgrounds/RV Parks-Resorts get a fee for their sites and seldom have any land left over so yes they do have to turn you away but most will point you to a place that has a spot for the night. You know what? I just remembered staying at a military overflow site. It was at NAF El Centro, CA. It was a paved parking lot with a ball field behind it. It was a FHU with 30amps - see images 17 & 18 in the campground section under El Centro.

FastEagle

I looked at this thread and thought about it, I really can see the KOA point of view on this one. They get the Canadians in there with a discount that is steeper than the Military Discount, but then they get to hit the Canadians with currency exchange fees, and whatever other foreign fees they can. Plus you have to figure that they are probably trying to get Canadians to come into the area and spend money. Perhaps the local chamber of commerce or some other tourism body in the area is supplementing the discount for that particular KOA.

There are only two major chains of Campgrounds that I can think of and they are KOA and Jellystone park. Lets face it, when you are traveling in an RV and see a KOA or Jellystone sign you know that is like a person traveling long distance seeing a Holiday Inn sign. You expect that when you pull in there will be a campground that is clean, all the hookups will be working, there will be a pool, laundry, and some sort of activities, along with that some of them will have a lounge/bar. The biggest advantage to these campgrounds is that they are watched over by their parent company so that when guests arrive they are assured of a pleasant stay even if it is just an overnight. The problem with these campgrounds is that you do pay for it.