By Chris Smith
February 2018
FMCA Executive Director/CFO
The FMCA staff certainly has been busy over the past couple of months. As you probably have read or heard by now, FMCA has announced three new or revised member benefits since November 1, 2017.
First up, we shared new pricing and a new name for the FMCA roadside assistance plan. Roadside Rescue, powered by Saferide RV Motor Club, is now available for just $69 per year. This comprehensive plan covers your RV as well as all cars in your household. For more information, visit FMCA.com/roadsiderescue or call (877) 581-8581.
We also have two new offerings to help you stay connected while on the road. The first comes from Verizon. FMCA members can sign up for Connect-on-the-Go, an unlimited data plan that provides a mobile hotspot with up to 25GB of high-speed access for just $49.99 per month. For more information, please visit FMCA.com/benefits/Verizon.
The second is the Tech Connect+ benefit package. For $49.99 per month, members gain access to an unlimited Sprint mobile hotspot and can take advantage of member-only discounts from CellBooster.us, DishformyRV.com, and WiFiRanger. For more information about this exciting tech package, please visit FMCA.com/techconnectplus.
These benefits provide peace of mind and help you to stay connected while traveling. With these services in your RV arsenal, you can focus on what’s important — having fun on the road!
Speaking of having a great time while traveling, I want to mention another FMCA member benefit: FMCA Tour Connection, powered by Fantasy RV Tours. Unlike the others, this isn’t a new benefit. Fantasy RV Tours has been providing top-notch RV tours, caravans, and rallies to hundreds of FMCA members for a number of years.
They offer FMCA member-only tours at discounted rates. Members also can book any of their general tours and receive special FMCA pricing. These trips take RVers across the contiguous United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Alaska. Fantasy RV Tours participates in FMCA area rallies and international conventions, so please stop and talk with their friendly, professional staff for more details about the “bucket list” trips they organize. You also can check out FMCA.com/tour-connection for a full list of options.
Fantasy RV Tours is a wonderful FMCA partner, and I encourage you to book a tour with them for an unforgettable experience.
Fantasy RV Tours also provides a free one-year FMCA membership to anyone who is not a member yet but wants to sign up for one of the tours. If you know someone who might be interested, please spread the word!
As most of you have read by now, the vote to allow other RVs into the family passed by a large margin. This will result in some changes to how FMCA functions, but rest assured that our current members will be taken care of in the same manner they have come to expect.
One change we will be making relates to the magazine. With the broadening membership, we needed a name for the publication that reflects this. We have chosen Family RVing. This retains the word “Family,” important to our legacy and a key to who we are, but indicates that the focus of the magazine is on RVing. We’ll officially roll out the new name when we unveil a publication redesign that is in the works.
It has been more than a decade since the look of the magazine was refreshed, and we have retained a firm that specializes in publication design to help with that. We are excited about this, and if all goes as planned, you’ll be introduced to Family RVing with the May or June issue.
By the time you read this, we will be wrapping up registrations for “Southern Charm,” FMCA’s 97th International Convention and RV Expo. This event will take place March 15 through 18 in Perry, Georgia. The Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter is a beautiful venue, and FMCA conventions there are always well attended. So, make sure you reserve your spot soon! For more information, visit fmca.com/conventions-64/perry-ga.2018, or call our Events Department at (800) 543-3622. Hope to see you there! Meanwhile, enjoy the journey!