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Are you considering runaway mail service? this review has everything you need to know.
It’s not easy to carry your mail on the road.
And what’s even harder is finding a courier service that understands the intricacies of the travel lifestyle.
That’s what makes Escapees RV Club’s mail forwarding service so unique!
I’ve been a customer for five years and in this article I’m sharing everything I know, including the pros and cons of fugitive mail service.
what is the escapes motorhome club?
Escapees RV Club is the best RV club on the planet. More specifically, they are one of the oldest, largest, and most well-loved membership clubs for the RV lifestyle.
escapees rv club started as a small print newsletter for people living in trailers in the 1970s to stay connected with each other before the internet.
Today, it’s a booming RV club with dozens of offerings and a vibrant community of over 70,000 RVs worldwide.
escapees describes itself as a “full support network for all rvers”, which is correct. They don’t care what kind of RV you have; Even if you don’t have an RV and camp out of a car, you can still join in if you want. and they really are a total support network. This club covers everything from RV roadside assistance to RV mail forwarding and much more.
Interested in joining the escapees motorhome club? learn more here.
runaway RV club benefits
I have been a member of Escapees RV Club since 2017. Although I am now “in between RVs”, I keep my membership active because I love the community and the benefits.
escapees has many mobile vehicle support services like mail forwarding, roadside assistance, mobile vehicle education both online and in person, and much more.
In addition to support services, there are other incredible benefits. These include a free magazine, access to Getaways and Xscapers events and RV rallies, discounts on camping and RV-related products and services, and more.
Today we are talking about the fugitive mail forwarding service, which I think is one of the best and most unique benefits of this RV club.
runaway mail service review from a client of more than 5 years
I’ve been using the escape mail service for over 5 years, this is what I really think about it.
In short: the runaway mail service is amazing. Honestly, I’ve never had a single problem with it. It’s been so convenient to get my mail wherever I go.
I am writing this escape mail service review for one purpose only. that’s to share the great experience I’ve had and help you take the plunge if you’re still on the fence.
about escapees rv club mail forwarding service for rvers
In this runaway mail service review, I share everything I know about club mail service.
escapees rv club mail forwarding service began in 1985. this service was devised by cathie carr, daughter of escapees founders joe and kay peterson. cathie saw a need in the full-time rv community for a reliable mail service run by people who know and understand the rv lifestyle.
It was a big dream and an incredibly lofty goal, but he did it!
Today, Escapees Mail Service is the largest private mail service in the country. It’s also one of the cheapest, with prices starting at around $0.39 cents per day.
They are officially licensed by the US Postal Service. uu. And they have a huge mailroom located at Escapees headquarters in Livingston, Texas. members can also visit and tour the facility.
address with fugitive mail service: what is it?
Screenshot from the Escapees RV Club website
All commuters and full-time travelers must have a legal address. domicile is your legal state of residence. this is the state you use for taxes, legal purposes, vehicle registration and insurance, and more. the only way to have a domicile is to have a physical address in the state of your choice.
As a full-time traveler, the road is home. You don’t have a full-time physical address to use as your home address, so what do you do?
The Fugitive Mail Forwarding Service provides Travelers with a physical address to be used for domicile purposes. customers can choose from three popular states of address: tx, fl, and sd.
This address can be used for taxes, your driver’s license, vehicle registration, car insurance, and more. You don’t get this benefit with most other mail services, which makes choosing Runaways a no-brainer for full-time travelers without a home base.
how does fugitive mail service work?
When you sign up for Fugitive Mail Forwarding, you can choose to have your address in Texas, Florida, or South Dakota. once you receive your address, you can change your mailing address with usps.
This address can also serve as your physical address for vehicle registration, tax purposes, your driver’s license, and more. Your address is a physical address with a number, like an apartment number. the number is your personal mailbox or pmb number.
When you sign up for the escape mail service, you pay the annual fee and also put down a $50 postal deposit. this covers postage for mail forwarding. When your balance drops below the $25 mark, you’ll receive emails reminding you to top it up. or you can select automatic withdrawal, it’s up to you.
Your mail is delivered to your personal mailbox at Escapees Mail Room in Livingston, Texas (even if you choose an FL or SD address). the mail service holds your mail until you decide to send it. they will even hold packages sent from ups or fedex.
getting your mail
When you’re ready to receive your mail at a local RV park or post office, simply go online or call the fugitive mail room and enter the forwarding address. You can choose to have your mail delivered in many different ways, including priority, fedex, overnight, or just regular.
It takes one business day for the mailroom to process your request, then your mail is shipped to your specifications using your postage balance to pay for reshipping.
At level x of the escape mail service, you can scan your mail and see photos of what’s in your mailbox before it’s delivered to you. this way you can choose to discard spam so it doesn’t take money from your postal balance.
There are three categories of mail services, each offering different benefits. Now let’s talk about them and the prices.
three categories of mail service
image source: runaway RV club
Category A is the lowest priced, basic mail service category offered by Fugitive Mail Service.
In this category, fugitives forward all mail they receive from you, including spam.
Categories b and c allow you to be a bit more selective about the mail you receive, and these categories open you up to optional mail scanning so you can view your mail online.
category b forwards only the mail you specify, such as first class, newsletters, catalogs, magazines, etc.
Category c also allows you to receive only the mail you specify, but it gives you a bit more customization. in category c, you can say “I only want to receive catalogs from x company”. With that instruction, the fugitives will only send you the catalogs you request and discard the rest.
how much does it cost?
Escapees RV Club’s mail forwarding service is only available to members of the RV club. The price of an Escapees RV Club membership is $49 per year and you get access to not only the mail service, but all the other awesome benefits of Escapees RV Club.
Category A mail service costs $95 per year. there is a one-time registration fee of $50 and a one-time postal deposit of $50, so the total price to sign up for a new service is $195. this is the category I have used for 5 years and I love it!
Category B mail service costs $115 per year. the same registration fee and $50 deposit is required, so this one costs $215 to register the first time.
lastly, category c mail service costs $135 per year. you also pay a one-time entry and deposit of $50 for this category, bringing the total entry price to $235.
categories b and c are eligible for the optional mail scanning service which costs a total of $10 per month.
You can upgrade at any time by calling Fugitive Mail Service Central.
are there additional charges?
There are no hidden or additional fees associated with the Getaway RV Club Mail Service.
Initially, you pay a $50 postage deposit. Every time your mail is sent to you, Escapees pays for your postage using your $50 deposit. once your balance falls below $25, you will receive emails reminding you to top up your balance. You can also choose to automatically add a certain amount (such as $15 or $25) to your postage balance once it drops below $25.
This is the only recurring fee you’ll pay as a member of the mail service, but it’s not a hidden or additional fee. you are only paying your own postage.
how to use fugitive mail forwarding service
Image Source: Escapees RV Club
In all the years I’ve used escapees mail forwarding service, I’ve never received a notification that my mailbox is too full. and sometimes I have gone 2 months without my mail being sent, which is crazy!
after you sign up and receive mail at your new fugitive address, here’s how we send it to you.
Depending on where you are, you should check with your RV park or campground and make sure you can receive mail there. If not, check with your local post office and see if you can receive mail there under general delivery.
never assume you can get your mail at a local post office or campground; some campgrounds charge fees or will return your mail to sender. And not all USPS locations allow general delivery.
schedule your delivery
Once you have your mailing address approved, you can alert fugitives to send their mail to you. you can choose to submit your application online or you can call and speak to a real person who will schedule the submission for you.
To submit your resend request online, log in to the escapees member website (easier on a computer). once you are in your member panel, navigate to “view mms panel”. mms stands for “my mail service”. On the mms dashboard, scroll down to “my shipping instructions” and click the button that says “update shipping instructions.”
On this page, select the dropdown menu where it says “I’d like to” and select the option that says “Set a mailing schedule.” then fill in all the details. be sure to check the dropdown menu that says “set a delivery frequency” and choose the option that best suits your needs.
If you would like someone to schedule shipping for you, simply call escapees at (936) 327-8873.
where can you get mail as a traveler or full time traveler?
photo source: runaway RV club
Keeping your mail on track can be a bit tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy.
The easiest and most common way to get your mail as a full-time traveler is to have it delivered to your campground or RV park. always check with the office manager to make sure it’s okay to have your mail sent there. they will give you the mailing address and any special instructions to include in your mail forwarding request.
If the camp won’t let you get your mail, you have other options. Please check with your local post office first. Most USPS locations allow mail to be sent under your name and “general delivery.” They offer this service for free, usually for travelers and people who are temporarily in the area.
If your local post office allows general delivery, they will have a form for you to fill out before you can receive your mail there. they generally only allow you to receive mail under general delivery for 6 months. if you are going to be in the area for more than 6 months, they will ask you to rent a post office box.
If you can’t receive mail at a campground or local post office, check neighboring towns for their post offices or ask local fedex and ups offices if they allow it.
Can those who live in vans use the fugitive mail forwarding service?
yes, anyone can use the fugitive mail forwarding service! escapees does not control who can register and use its services. if you need it, they provide it.
Even if you only need a courier service part time, you can still sign up.
other ways to receive mail on the go
There are other ways to receive mail on the go. I think Escapees is the absolute best way for travelers to get their mail because this club is family owned and operated and they understand all the ins and outs of RV living and experience.
But, if my review of the escape mail service hasn’t convinced you yet, here are some other options.
other mail forwarding services
There are other mail forwarding services. I’m not familiar with any of them personally, but a quick google search should return several results.
If you decide to use another mail forwarding service, please note that they may not provide an address that you can use as a “physical address” for legal purposes. runaways do!
usps general delivery
You can receive mail in USPS General Delivery, but you must have someone deliver it to you. you can’t change your address to a general delivery location, and usually you can only use a local post office for 6 months.
If you travel very slowly, you can rent a PO Box for 6 months at a time.
friends and family
Finally, you can request to use friends or family as your personal email service. This would mean that you change your address to your home address and ask them to hold your mail and then forward it to you wherever you travel.
This is a free option, but it can become a burden on your loved ones if it is long-term.
pros and cons of escape mail service: pros
This wouldn’t be a proper runaway mail service review if it didn’t include some honest pros and cons of the service. these are my favorite advantages of using this mail service.
family owned and operated
escapees rv club is family owned and operated. It is currently run by Travis and Melanie Carr, the founders’ grandson and his wife. they are amazing people that I am proud to know personally, and the whole organization has a family feeling! from employees to members, the entire club feels like family. and the family that founded the escapees motorhome club are amazing and selfless people. I wouldn’t trust my mail to anyone else.
the largest and oldest private mail service in the us
what started as a dream in the head of cathie carr became the largest and cheapest private mail service in the united states. It is also licensed by the US Postal Service! wow!
Not only have they been doing this longer than other private mail services, they do it specifically for commuters and travellers. no other mail service can say that.
made by rvers for rvers
You can’t go wrong with a mail service that understands the unique challenges rvers face. This service was created by a full-time rver specifically for the full-time rver crowd.
pros and cons of fugitive mail forwarding: cons
I have to be honest with you, I’m not at a disadvantage when it comes to fugitive mail service.
but, if I had to think of one, I’d say it would be nice to have an app.
but the reason the club doesn’t have an app for its mail service is that an app is incredibly expensive for a family business to have built. Not only that, but the mail service is so detailed and fine-tuned that an application developer would have to be intimately familiar with every aspect of the mail service to create a properly working application.
for me, the fact that there is no application is not a problem. If I’m on the road and can’t get to my computer, I just call them to send me my mail. otherwise it’s not a big deal to log into my computer and program it; it takes less than 5 minutes.
Is runaway mail service worth it?
in my opinion: absolutely 1000% worth it. If you didn’t notice this runaway mail service review, I’m a huge fan. not just from the mail service itself, but from the entire club. It’s one of the best RV clubs for money savings, community, and more!
If you decide to join the Fugitives just for the mail service, do yourself a favor and check out the club’s other offerings. you have access to all of them!
sign up for fugitive mail forwarding service here
Have you decided Fugitive Mail Forwarding is right for you?
Join the coolest RV club on the planet here and get started!
If you have any questions about the mail service or the club in general, leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you. In addition to being a client for 5 years, I have worked for fugitives for almost 2 years and love sharing the club with the traveling community.
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