For those of you interested FMCA, Family Motor Coach Association, has recently amended their charter and will now accept towable RVs as members. The 1st year cost is $50 which includes numerous benefits which are listed on the website.

Boy! I bet that really urks a lot of those motorhome owners to let trailer trash invade their club!

Boy! I bet that really urks a lot of those motorhome owners to let trailer trash invade their club!

I've actually been watching that blog for some time...The members voted for this.

I'm not saying that it was a 100% vote. But enough agreed. They had been losing membership for a long time. It would not have been much longer and they would likely have disbanded. There is strength in numbers. Perhaps they wanted to keep the influence...and discounts...

While I would have expected a huge membership to make it easier to enlist vendors offering discounts, that hasn't been our experience. So why does FMCA need trailers to keep them afloat???

With only 1 year of operations and 200+ paid members, the ROG started investigating member discounts in November and received a positive response from all vendors we contacted. Paul is doing an amazing job enlisting discounts for our paid members.

In my opinion, if Motorcoach is in their name, if they want to expand into non-motorised RV's, maybe they should change their name.

In our travels I can't remember how many times while visiting with fellow rvers that someone in a motorhome said to me "Oh, your in a fifth wheel!". It's too bad if they can't make it, but sorry it will be without my help.

I like options. Different clubs have different discounts (and information).

Here are a few articles about that vote.

http://rvtravel.com/?s=fmca

http://rvtravel.com/fmcas-future-unclear-your-thoughts-please/

https://site.fmca.com/

Danny, I'm sure you ran into a few who are "Motorhome ONLY" folks as indicated by the vote:

"Approximately 13 percent of the membership voted, a total of 9,801 votes. Of those, 6,820 voted to accept owners of towable RVs, with 2,981 opposed."

But is does appear that the vast majority are welcoming folks.

With a pool of over 11,000 members (versus <700), there are bound to be additional benefits available. ROG will grow over time, but it is a club that is still limited to just Redwood owners (past and present) and a few who are considering a Redwood.

It's another reason I am also subscribed to Good Sams, AARP, and a few others. Since I don't know everything about everything, I like to turn to others. There is valuable information available thru all of them (and discounts).

I don't mean to be offensive by any means. I just thought others might have an interest in knowing that there are also other options available.

I'll admit that this one is not for everyone as their club fees are pretty steep:

First year dues include membership identification emblems
$10 initiation fee
$45 for one year's membership fee
$5 for a one-year subscription to Family Motor Coaching magazine.
Annual renewal is $50.

But for some, they may not have known this option was available and they would like to have considered this as an option.

I for one won't renew with FMCA because of the vote outcome, so if anyone would like a plaque with a higher seniority let me know :).

There is snobbery - no doubt, but it doesn't stop at the motor, it keeps going by Brand. Try stepping out of a Winnebago thinking you have a bond with the Prevost parked next to you, you don't.... (hahahaha)

Kidding aside - Many members say they sold their soul to save themselves, when all they really needed to do was look inside to see why the tree was rotting out.

With membership, you did get free travelers insurance but beyond that there was not a lot of benefit. The Michelin discount was not as deep as you could get doing a good job shopping, and it was actually a lot of paperwork to make it happen. Cell phone discounts? Who doesn't offer that?. As Andy says, it's difficult when the member's discount isn't even as deep as the sales discount the vendor throws out there to the public.

Kidding aside - Many members say they sold their soul to save themselves, when all they really needed to do was look inside to see why the tree was rotting out.

That is a profound statement that can be well applied to every organization or business. Prime example: Sears. And even after going through all their desperate survival maneuvers the writing is still on the wall.

RVTravel.com had an article on this move before the vote and they showed how membership numbers had drastically fallen in recent years. All organizations have to continually provide and improve value or they will cease to exist. There is no longer a sense of “brand loyalty”. Times are changing!

We stopped and talked with the folks at the FMCA booth at the Tampa Show, after looking at their brochure they didn't offer much that we didn't already have and since we're SkyMed members, Life Time GoodSam, and Life Time PassPort America and have the America the Beautiful Pass we passed on FMCA.

I went over the the Quartzsite RV show yesterday and I noted that the banner at the FMCA booth indicated the acceptance of towable members, it was highlighted.

They were pushing a similar banner at the Tampa Show.
We also found out that while you can join FMCA you may not be able to find a Chapter to Join if so inclined. Local Chapters do not have to allow Towables if their members don't want them. Can you imagine trying to join a Prevost Chapter, they don't even what other MHs.

Good Sam offers Travel Assist for $99.00. It comes as a part of your membership in FMCA. They are also offering a discount for new members now. We were members of Travel Assist, so joined FMCA to save money.