Good Sam Club Membership Guide

What Is Good Sam Club About?

What does an RV club mean?

An RV club is a membership with benefits for those who love camping and want to benefit from savings via group affiliation. With an active Good Sam Club membership comes a plethora of perks that one can enjoy, from savings on fuel or camping gear to RV insurance or even financing options for a new RV.

How big is the Good Sam RV Club?

Good Sam Club used to be somewhat exclusive, meaning that not too many RVers knew about it, or took advantage of the perks it offered. Since the 1980s, the Club grew from 450,000 to over 2 million members as of today. There are over 2,000 participating RV parks US-wide, as well.

Is Good Sam Club Owned By Camping World?

Brief history of the organization:

The Good Sam Club was acquired by the founder of TL Enterprises Art Rouse in 1966. TL Enterprises was the publisher of Trailer Life magazine and MotorHome Magazine. Rouse expanded the benefits of the Good Sam Club after the acquisition. Rouse sold TL Enterprises in the 1980s and passed away in 2007. The umbrella company, Good Sam Enterprises LLC (formerly Affinity Group), is a separate company that also owns Camping World Holdings Inc. since 1997. Over 2,100 RV parks participate in the Good Sam Club discount (10%) and over 2.185 million members benefit from all the membership perks that Good Sam offers.

List of Good Sam RV Parks or Campgrounds:

There is an app that catalogs all actively participating RV parks by state and city. With over 2,000 participating RV parks, there is a Good Sam park in most bigger cities in every state all across the United States.

The Good Sam Club membership is for everyone, although it was largely used by older, affluent and mostly retired (and mostly Caucasian) RVers in the past. With the rapid growth and increased popularity of the RV travel and lifestyle among younger singles and families, as well as different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, the Good Sam Club is now more diverse in membership than ever.

How To Join Good Sam Club?

To join the Good Sam Club, go to their Website and select the desired length of membership: https://www.goodsam.com/club/join/default.aspx.

You will have to fill out your personal information and pay the membership fee plus the sales tax (which varies by state). After you complete the online registration process, you should receive a confirmation email, as well as a membership certificate and member welcome packet (incl. cards) in the mail within 2-3 weeks.

There is a separate application process for the lifetime membership: https://www.goodsam.com/club/member/life/; one must sign up for the annual membership (and pay the annual dues) and then upgrade to a lifetime membership (and pay separate lifetime dues).

Note: Roadside Assistance and TravelAssist are both separate programs and need to be signed up individually, separate from the Good Sam Club membership. The same applies for financing, insurance or credit card products, as well.

How Much Does Good Sam Club Membership Cost?

There are three main different memberships: one year for $29, two years for $55 and three years for $79. The annual membership renews automatically unless canceled.

The annual membership gives the member the perks of a Good Sam club; the two-year membership includes a $15 merchandise certificate and the 3-year membership includes a $30 merchandise certificate and Elite membership perks.

There is also a lifetime membership option at $399, including a $100 discount incentive for sign-up.

As mentioned above, the 3-year membership sign-up automatically includes the Elite membership perks. What do they entail? As a Good Sam Elite Member, one receives the highest level of service and discounts available. Elite members have exclusive access to the Good Sam Elite Concierge Service and the Good Sam Elite Tech Helpline. They also save an additional 5% on installation on top of the already low member rate.

What Does Good Sam Club Membership Include?

The Good Sam membership also includes perks at the following companies:

• Camping World and Gander RV
  • Member savings
  • FREE shipping
  • Propane discount
  • Installation & service discount
  • Members only specials
  • Extended return policy
  • Product protection discount
  • Campground and coupon guide
  • Free RV and boat dump station privileges
  • Annual multi-point RV inspection

• Overton’s
  • FREE shipping
  • Members-only discount
  • Product protection discount
  • Campground and coupon guide

• Pilot/Flying J
  • 5 cents/8 cents off gas/diesel (instantly)

• Good Sam
  • Camping discount
  • Good Sam perks
  • Online trip planning
  • Autio discount
  • Exclusive price on RV Magazine subscription
  • VIP assistance with Roadside Assistance & TravelAssist
  • Good Sam Mail Service (25% discount)
  • Good Sam Extended Service Plan (RV warranty)

            (Source: https://www.goodsam.com/club/#benefitsscroll)

The Good Sam Website lists additional perks that one can utilize through the Good Sam Club product family:

There is an option to locate an RV rental for anyone who is considering trying out the RV travel experience before committing to a purchase.

The Good Sam Club also offers a Good Sam credit card with additional perks, such as points and cash rewards for purchases. Further, the Good Sam Insurance Agency is an umbrella company for all the insurance offers for RVers, such as RV insurance, health insurance and even life insurance. One can even use the Good Sam Finance Center to get a selling offer, a purchase quote or obtain financing or refinance (subject to approval and qualification).

Is Good Sam Club Worth It?

With the current gas and diesel prices, the savings at the Pilot/Flying J pump alone will pay for the annual membership fee very fast. In addition, the savings of RV park stay fees at participating parks often cover the membership fee after one visit.

Since the Good Sam membership is the most widely accepted one among the RV parks all across the USA, it’s a no-brainer when it comes to joining.

What is the experience of past/current Good Sam Club members?

With all the obvious savings alone, many Good Sam members try to take advantage of every perk that is offered by Good Sam. That being said, each perk does not always serve each member best. The mail service, for example, is now available free of charge through USPS as an “Informed Delivery System”, where one can sign up to receive daily scanned images of the mail you receive (or hold at a post office).

Another perk that is hit-or-miss and might have better options outside of the Good Sam umbrella is the extended warranty: more seasoned RV owners often share within RV groups that the Good Sam warranty is not worth the hassle and the extra money spent, due to the lack of coverage or poor customer service. However, this is a preference and personal experience for the most part.

It should be noted that many Good Sam benefits do cost extra and are not included in the $29/year membership (Source: https://www.getawaycouple.com/good-sam-membership-regrets/).

Prior to signing up, one should carefully read through the membership perks to fully understand what is and is not included in the annual membership.

One annoying thing about the Good Sam Club membership is that when not opted-out, the contact info gets sold to third-party vendors, and members end up getting spammed with emails and calls.

There is an opt-out link on the Website, as well as the option during the sign-up process to not allow the sharing of your information with third-party companies.

Anyone who spends at least one weekend a month at a participating RV park (on average), should get a membership as soon as possible. The perks, discounts and overall savings are absolutely worth it. Any participating RV park can be located either on the app or on the park’s Website to make it easy to claim the discount during site booking.

All participating parks also display their Good Sam member decal at the park office or at the entryway to the park.

A savings example for someone with a $29/annual membership would look like this: on average, one night at an RV park in a desirable destination location costs about $50 with full hookups and nice amenities. With a 10% discount, one saves $5/night, which brings the break-even point after 6 stays in that year.

Several long-term members of Good Sam who used to enjoy the membership perks have commented that lately, the service and “grandfathered-in” benefits are being changed since the acquisition of Good Sam by Camping World.

In addition, the customer service quality and response time is in a decline, as well. This often happens with fast growth. Good Sam membership count went from 450,000 in 1985 to over 2.185 million members today.

How To Cancel Good Sam Club Membership?

There are two ways to cancel: one option is to turn off the auto-renewal so that your membership does not automatically renew at the end of your subscription. You can do that by contacting Customer Service at 1-866-205-7451.

The other option is active cancellation, which can also only be done by contacting Good Sam Club Customer Service, as well.

However, the membership dues are non-refundable. Because of this, it makes most sense to use up the prepaid membership and to simply discontinue the automatic renewal until the expiration of that membership.

FAQs:

Is Good Sam the same as Sam’s Club? / Are the two affiliated?

Good Sam Club and the Sam’s Club are not affiliated in any way. While the naming is similar, this is purely coincidental and should not be confused. Good Sam is named after the Bible parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. The founder of Good Sam is Art Rouse who passed away in 2007 at the age of 89.

Does Good Sam Club have an app?

The Good Sam Club has a Good Sam Camping app that can be used by anyone, even with no membership login required.

Is Good Sam Club part of Walmart?

No, the Good Sam Club is not in any way connected to Walmart. Good Sam is part of Good Sam Enterprises, founded in 1966 by Art Rouse and affiliated with Camping World and NASCAR.

Does KOA take Good Sam discount?

KOA and Good Sam are two different memberships and they are mutually exclusive. Good Sam discounts are only available at participating Good Sam RV parks, whereas KOA has its own network and membership.

Where can you use your Good Sam card?

The Good Sam card can be used at Camping World, Gander RV, Overton’s, Pilot Flying J and any RV park that is a Good Sam campground.

Does Good Sam have a lifetime membership?

Currently, Good Sam offers an annual, a 2-year and a 3-year membership. Each membership comes with additional perks and is cheaper the longer one signs up for. There is also a lifetime membership available for $399. However, the acquisition from Camping World brought some growing pains and corporate policy changes (source: https://www.rvtravel.com/good-sam-club-promise-to-members/).