None of my local fields cost anything to fly at, the main two are owned by Parks and Recreation and open to the public with an AMA membership. I also have a private/opened field just down the road from me that I fly at once in a while. For the most part I fly at a dry lake bed and avoid the park fields. Reason is simple, the people I fly with on the lake bed I like better then at the other local places. I have a lot of choices in my area so money doesn't enter into it at all. I drive a little farther to fly with the better group of people. You spend more time talking with friends in the pit area then you do flying so the people count.