Do you miss the “new rig smell” in your RV? Do you want to enjoy the RV lifestyle without the financial responsibilities that come with ownership? Then Freedom RVing might be the solution.
Freedom RVing is a business that offers its members vacation access to brand new RVs for the price of an entry fee and monthly dues. It opened for membership in June of 2018. With two locations situated in Venice, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada, the company is expanding this spring by adding the Pacific Northwest and the Mid-Atlantic regions as club locations.
“I can say we are growing at the rate we intended to in our business plan,” said Chief Operations Officer Louis Chemi.
That business plan has been tried, tested and proven.
Freedom RVing is patterned after the Freedom Boat Club, which has been operating since 1989. It is the nation’s oldest and largest boat club, with more than 20,000 members in 31 states and Canada, according to the boat club’s website. The mission of the business is to “provide an affordable option to boat ownership and to deliver a hassle-free recreational boating experience for its members.” And that’s what the sister company is hoping to do with RVs.
“We have proven this business model in the boat space with over 175 clubs in operation – and now we have started the RV expansion,” Chemi said. “In a nutshell, we buy, maintain, store, and insure the RVs.”
Boat ownership and RV ownership are similar.
“An RV is quite like a boat – a large capital asset that is physically limiting in terms of where people can store it, it requires regular professional maintenance, and the average RV is used 2 weeks each year… similar to a boat,” Chemi explained.
The typical member is someone to whom the RV lifestyle is appealing.
Louis Chemi (COO), Kevin Van Horn and John Giglio (President and CEO) of Freedom RVing. [Photo by Bill Bittner]
“These are folks with young families who want an RV vacation or two each year, plus maybe a couple tailgating weekends at the big game or the kids’ soccer match,” Chemi said. “These are folks who love the RVing lifestyle and want to experience the fun parts of RVing, without the associated maintenance and hassle of owning their own RV.”
Just as a timeshare offers a vacation experience for the price of a membership, Chemi pointed out that Freedom RVing is similar in its operations, but also has a significant difference.
“The concept of a timeshare means that a member pays for a certain amount of time in the RV (or whatever type of timeshare it is…). In the case of Freedom RVing, the member is free to reserve an RV as often as they like – practically unlimited.”
Members are permitted to make two reservations at a time through the online system. The first seven nights are included as part of the monthly dues. Members can reserve up to 28 nights per reservation, with an added cost of $150 per night above the first seven.
Chemi explained: “As an example, the member can have seven nights reserved for Thanksgiving week. That member can then reserve seven nights for next week. When the member returns the RV at the end of next week’s trip, they can reserve another available RV for another seven nights 24 hours later. Essentially unlimited RV usage for a single, fixed cost. This is very different from a timeshare where you only have the one or two weeks a year you pay for.
“To be clear, the member isn’t limited to only 28 nights in a year, but the two ‘active’ reservations on the system are limited to 28 nights,” he said.
Freedom RVing’s membership-only fleet is comprised of about a dozen Thor Four Winds Class C RVs. All of these are no more than 12 months old. The company takes shipment of about two new rigs each month.
Members incur no extra costs, such as mileage or generator use, and have access to driver training and 24-hour concierge and road service assistance.
“We work with our members to train them in all the systems in the RV so they are as knowledgeable as if they owned the RV,” Chemi explained. “The members have the opportunity to use the RV – just like if they owned it. There are no additional mileage limits, generator costs or nickel and diming over linens to worry about. The member picks up the RV and uses it like it was their own.
People who are interested in trying out the RV experience have few options. Rentals are available from large companies, or through individual owners who rent out their units. Another option is ownership, but this can be cost prohibitive for a lot of people and an expensive option for the experience.
“There is now this third option for those in between buying and renting,” Chemi said. “Maybe they are new to RVing and want to see if the RV lifestyle is really something they are ready to own? Maybe they are folks living in a city where storing and maintaining an RV is ultra-expensive or inconvenient? Maybe they just prefer to spend their time RVing and not caring for an RV.”
This is the group of consumers Freedom RVing is striving to reach.
Perhaps the club experience will also encourage these members to take the leap to ownership. Freedom RVing sells the units that reach 12 months of service.
“We aren’t against ownership in any way – either in RVs or in boats. We work hand in hand with boat dealers to help bring prospects to them who want to use a boat more than the club model enables. We are doing the same with the RV business.
“We love to see members living the RVing lifestyle. Some are ready for ownership, others are loving this new club model we have brought to the market.”
Business, Camping Club, Florida, Industry Edge, Nevada, RV Lifestyle, Travel