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Question / Opinion on premium membership


Warnerspot

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Okay so my wife and I have finally discovered the joys of finding geocaches. We bought an Explorist GC and have fun going out on walks and finding caches on the pathway. My question / opinion request is what the pro's and con's of getting a premium membership to geocaching.com. I seem to think it can be more helpful when out on a cache site but wanted to see what other people think. I know that getting opinions on forums like this can be dangerous but oh well I will chance it. Thanks for the help and opinions!

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As I recall the Explorist GC supports paperless geocaching. Without a premium membership you won't be able to take advantage of that feature. Also both do not need to buy premium membership. The one without can still log the PMO caches with express logger or geocachingadmin.

Edited by jholly
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Hello there, I'm also new and have the GC. After 2 days, I went to premium member. The pocket quireies are great once you learn to create and download them. Also, when you are out, you can read the logs, descriptions, and hints.

 

One other item, look in your box again, I didn't notice it until I was already a premium member, but they offered a 1 month free trial of the membership---you must be like me, pull out the new toy, toss the instructions to the side, and start hitting buttons.

 

Matt

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One other item, look in your box again, I didn't notice it until I was already a premium member, but they offered a 1 month free trial of the membership---you must be like me, pull out the new toy, toss the instructions to the side, and start hitting buttons.

 

Matt

You may be able to backdate it... ie get another 30 days added to your PM

 

It's worth it, for the Paperless abilities, Pocket Queries (if you do more than 2 or 3 caches at a time!), and Caches Along a Route if you travel!

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I got the premium membership so I would have access to all the caches.

 

More and more caches are going premium around here.

 

After I got the membership, I have been taking advantage of the other benefits one by one.

 

The pocket queries are fantastic!!! Those are really worth it.

I also really like the "off-topic" forums for a good laugh.

I also like being able to vote on favorite caches. I really think that system has great potential to increase the quality of geocaches everywhere.

I love the challenge caches. You can't find challenge caches without being able to create bookmark lists.

 

I also use the instant notifications. I'm not a great FTF hound, but I sometimes like to try to be first to find a newly published cache. Often I just go after the new caches to meet other cachers in the area and be social.

 

And I do like the idea of supporting Groundspeak.They put a lot of work into this website that I enjoy a lot. 30 a year is a really good entertainment value. Think of how much most people spend on movies or TV per MONTH, when geocaching is so much more fun and gets you out of the house visiting places you've never been.

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Of course, it depends how much you enjoy Geocaching,and how long you plan on doing it.

After a couple of years entering coords by hand, and printing cache pages, I got the eTrex Vista HCx. Gupy has the cache coords for 10000 caches. Anywhere I might roam. (That's 65 miles, plus all of New Jersey.) Plus the hints. For the full cache page (sans pictures), I load 700 cache pages (or so) into the Palm Pilot. I'm ready for almost anything! Planning a trip to the heartland... I'm making a Bookmark list of all caches I want to find on that trip. (Not as extensive as the local caches.)

I greatly enjoy Geocaching, and cache every week. So, for me, it's worth the $30 a year. Plus, it does support the people who make it possible.

If you're only going to hunt one cache a month, well, it still does support the people who make it possible.

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Okay so my wife and I have finally discovered the joys of finding geocaches. We bought an Explorist GC and have fun going out on walks and finding caches on the pathway. My question / opinion request is what the pro's and con's of getting a premium membership to geocaching.com. I seem to think it can be more helpful when out on a cache site but wanted to see what other people think. I know that getting opinions on forums like this can be dangerous but oh well I will chance it. Thanks for the help and opinions!

 

The premium membership is OK. When I made the switch into Premium, I really was expecting a more refined product given the advances in technology.

 

If you leave out the challenges of the product, you are left with an opportunity to save time. If time is a commodity, and geocaching is something you will enjoy even moderately, then you may benefit from this product.

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How many people out there have memberships to various organizations, Costcos, clubs, etc.?

 

The majority of organizations charge a fee or dues just to help maintain the club/group.

I pay $50 a year to a gun club to use the shooting range, another $150 a year to an archery club to use the range...

Licenses and tags are required to go fishing or hunting.

Bowling leagues aren't free either.

 

The bottom line is that all things considered, this is just a way to help support the organization that provides us with entertainment.

There will always be people who complain about being charged for anything because they have an entitlement issue.

 

If nobody paid, how long would this site last? Advertising dollars only go so far when you have to pay for overhead such as payroll, rent, insurance, servers, power supplies for those servers on and on....

 

Some people in Groundspeak have to get paid or they would eventually need to leave in order to work...

 

$30 a year is not much compared to what people spend in other organizations...

Costco! I can't imagine paying a store to let me shop there.......

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I concur with everything said above. This is a wonderful site to learn all about Geocaching and everything in between. The PQ are really worth the money. I love being able to download all of the caches into my Garmin and then get out and about. Try loading 100 caches by hand and you'll soon pay the $30, as long as you have it.

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Not sure if they still do, but when I went premium, money was tight, and I opted for the $10, every 3 months. Yes, I know it's more for a year, but even $40 a year is highway robbery for the enjoyment, fitness, and family time we get out of geocaching. Yes, you can do it for free, but I honestly wouldn't know what to do without PQ's, and having to load caches one at a time???? I am far too lazy for that. (Convenience makes membership even more worth it.) Ultimately, it's a decision you need to make. But, like most people have said, if you're going to cache with any type of regularity, you will greatly appreciate being a premium member.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Later!

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I can't think of any cons. It's a fantastic deal I think. $30 for a whole year, is really quite affordable for most people, I think. You spend that much on a dinner and a movie date in one night. $30 for a whole year for tons of opportunities for my husband and I to have great adventures? Heck ya!

 

The things I like best:

*Supporting the website and keeping it running.

*Pocket Queries. These alone make it for most people, and they are just fantastic. They make caching SO MUCH easier.

*Premium Member Only caches. Okay, so this one's not as important to me, but it is nice to have access to all caches all the time.

*Notifications: I love getting notified about new caches and events in my area. I'm not much of an FTF chaser, but it's fun when I can!

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