Recently, one of our RV Lifestyle members, Jan, posed this question to our group:
“What do you think about Harvest Hosts? Thinking about joining, we are getting ready to full-time RV.”
As many of you know, Jen and I love Harvest Hosts (HH)! We have often recommended this camping membership and gladly became affiliates years ago so we could offer our readers a discount.
Using this link and the discount code: RVLIFESTYLE15 you get 15% off Harvest Hosts annual membership.
But don't take our word on how great a membership is. Listen to your fellow RVers and members of our RV Lifestyle Facebook group!
If you buy something through our links, we may get a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps keep our lights on so we can continue to provide helpful resources for RVers. Read our full affiliate disclosure here.
What is Harvest Hosts?
In short, Harvest Hosts is a unique camping membership. You pay a membership fee to join, and then you can stay overnight at different locations for free. While you don't get charged for the camping, members are usually expected to patronize the place they are visiting.
For example, if you stay the night at the winery, purchase a bottle of wine. Are you staying at a fruit farm? Buy some fruit! It's a great way to support small, local businesses!
Not all locations are businesses, however. There are a growing number of private properties, often belonging to fellow RVers. They open their property (or even driveway) to help out or commune with fellow travelers.
The annual membership fee is akin to a two-night stay at a campground, which is well worth it, in my opinion.
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And if you liked that video you'll love all the others we've created through the years about our experiences with Harvest Hosts.
But of course, don't take my word for it! Check out what our RV lifestyle members had to say…
What RV Lifestyles Members Say About Harvest Hosts (Reviews)
When Jan asked about Harvest Hosts, she received a significant number of replies from our followers. They spoke about many different benefits of the membership. To see all of the Harvest Hosts reviews, visit the Facebook thread.
Design a Unique Trip
One member, Jess, wrote, “I love it and almost exclusively stay at HH places. You pay for the membership and then have access to a bunch of breweries, wineries, farms, distilleries, etc. I’ve stayed at alpaca farms and olive farms, lots of wineries…
If you don’t have a destination or aren’t in a rush, this is the perfect way to plan your route.
Typically you stay for one night, but a lot of places will let you stay longer as long as they aren’t booked up. Some offer hook-ups as well.”
Jess’s response was very insightful and brought up some excellent points.
One significant benefit of using the Harvest Hosts membership is that you can plan a long trip around unique camp spots that not everyone can access. If you want to take your time driving from California to Florida, this is a great way to do it.
You can stay a night or two at different types of places along the way, picking up specialty wine, cheese, beer, or other goods.
Great Membership for Long Road Trips
Another excellent benefit is that this membership is great for long road trips. Since many locales only allow you to stay for a single night, it is excellent to use along a long road trip route.
Stephanie did just that. She said about HH, “Absolutely love it! We did a 13-state trip last summer and used so many for our in-between destination spots. Highly recommend!”
When traveling across many states, HH is an excellent option for those quick overnights in areas that you don't plan to spend a long period of time in. Then, you can set up camp at your main destinations before using HH again while traveling through other parts of the country.
You Can Save Money
Staying for FREE at different places obviously saves you money on camping fees. It can really help stretch your travel budget. Quite a few of the Harvest Hosts reviews mentioned this.
However, you also want to consider the other side. Steven said that you would want to watch yourself. He stayed overnight for free at a winery in Kansas but ended up spending $140 at the place he was staying. Oops!
Other members also chimed in about joining winery clubs and spending more money than they had intended. So, you just want to make sure you stay in balance! If you keep to your budget, then you can save money with this membership.
Consider Your Type of Travel
Another RV Lifestyle member, Cathy, said that HH is good for overnights. But she also warned that some of the spots are off the beaten path.
If you like wandering and checking places that are a little out of the way, then you'll probably enjoy the membership very much.
If you are looking to join to travel across the country and want locations very close to the highways that you are traveling, then you might want to do a little research to make sure it is a good fit.
Keep in mind, though, that some host locations are in cities and neighborhoods. Some hosts even open their driveways for passers-through. It's like a more comfortable form of Wallydocking or Barreldocking.
One More Thought
Our member, Amy, brought up an excellent point. She said that she “love, love, love(s) HH.” But sometimes, she cannot find anything to purchase where she is staying. So what she does is leaves a $20 bill in an envelope for the hosts.
This is a good idea, especially if you stay at a place that does not offer something you want. We want to make sure we keep hosts happy so they continue to let us RVers stay there!
Even with the membership fee, HH is the clear savings…and you get to stay at cool, unique places! For example, if you stay at even a cheap campground that costs $30 per night on average, you will pay $420 for a two-week trip. If you remain at HH for two weeks and leave a $20 each night, you only pay $280.
You can still see how this would be a good cost-saving for you if you use the membership more than a few times.
More Harvest Hosts Reviews
We'd love to hear your personal Harvest Hosts reviews in the comments below. Let us know how you like your membership and if you think it's worth the cost.
If you're not a member, scroll down and you'll likely see even more Harvest Hosts reviews to consider…
Want to Try Out Harvest Hosts for Yourself?
If you think that you want to try out Harvest Hosts, we have a deal for you! Use this link and the discount code: RVLIFESTYLE15. You get 15% off Harvest Hosts annual membership.
RV Lifestyle recommends Harvest Hosts and CampersCard
We LOVE Harvest Hosts! It’s a membership program that connects RVers with unique places to stay overnight for free, such as farms and wineries. Members pay an annual fee and can stay at any of the participating host locations for one night at a time.
In exchange for the free overnight stay, members are encouraged to support the host location by purchasing products or services. This is a great way to save money on camping reservations while experiencing unique and memorable locations.
You can use this link and the discount code: RVLIFESTYLE15 you get 15% off Harvest Hosts annual membership.
The Harvest Hosts CampersCard is a NEW discount program we’ve already benefited from. You can see in the video above how we used it while camping out at an incredible hidden gem campground.
CampersCard members get benefits, including early check-in, late checkout, and discounts on nightly rates.
July 08, 2022at9:26 am, Bill Weaver said:
We are traveling from Arizona to Alaska this year and took a look at the HH map. Joining would not make sense for this trip as the host sites appear to be severely limited once to get into Canada and Alaska. Looks much better for traveling in the connected 48.
July 08, 2022at8:58 pm, Team RV Lifestyle said:
That is understandable. Maybe when the Alaska trip is over it will be something to revisit. Meanwhile have a wonderful trip to Alaska! Team RV Lifestyle
July 08, 2022at7:55 am, Mark Buhrow said:
We lived about a year in our RV prior to and into COVID. We stocked up on things in our RV, many of which we never used. So we have refigured what we need. I would love to know, what other RV’ers stock in their pantries, refrigerators and freezers on extended trips.