Booking date for 2017 bookings

I had to pay up front for a 5 night stay at a site ealier this year £150!

dont you pay upfront for all your CC stays?....we, and every other user, does so

some 'other places' allow you to pay once you've decided you're going to leave 

The booking was made sometime in January I think although it might have well been December. It was for Kielder Water and we were going over the August Bank Hol at the start of a September trip. Most want a £20 or £25 deposit for our typical five nights.

I dislike sites that take a deposit and then want payment in full a month before you go. If it is for our Summer trip we are usually not back from our previous break until 3 weeks before we are off again. I think that the one at Castleton might have been like that. A nice site amd one of the few times I have sauntered into a local pub a couple of evenings. I was made very welcome by the locals. Shan't go again though as that is the site I was on when I woke up the day before departure to find that I had loct most of the site in my hitherto good right eye. Not superstitious but ......................

I had to pay up front for a 5 night stay at a site ealier this year £150!

I've just been ask for a full amount up front for a small commercial site in the Cotswolds. My response was no thank you I'll find somewhere else, and I have, with no deposit required either.

I have just checked my Brittany Ferries booking, although only taking a small deposit, they take the total 6 weeks before sailing and we accept that. I am not sure why a commercial campsite should be considered out of order for operating in this way. As N points out we have the choice of going to somewhere that does not require it. Like the CC. I am not sure I would want to pay a large sum up front by cheque, or bank transfer.  They could have gone out of business by the time your holiday comes round. At least if it is by credit card you will get it back eventually.

I have just checked my Brittany Ferries booking, although only taking a small deposit, they take the total 6 weeks before sailing and we accept that. I am not sure why a commercial campsite should be considered out of order for operating in this way.

I don't think anybody said it was 'out of order' Steve. I did say that I dislike (having paid a deposit) to give further payment 6 weeks or a month before arriving. It is not the money as such; it is having to remember to pay the additional.

I had to pay up front for a 5 night stay at a site ealier this year £150!

I've just been ask for a full amount up front for a small commercial site in the Cotswolds. My response was no thank you I'll find somewhere else, and I have, with no deposit required either.

Seems odd to require payment in full at this time of year when sites are less busy. However the Kielder Water site that we used require it when the site is open. We paid because it was where we wanted to be. 

I suppose for families their prices are reasonable given the location as £30 for a pitch peak season seems a good bet.

It depends to some extent on how far ahead you are booking. When I rented out our apartment in Spain, we took a deposit with the balance six weeks before the booked period. If the booking is not taken up, it leaves very little time to relet although this can vary depending on the time of year and the popularity of any destination.

A bit of a difference between somebody hiring out a single item and somebody letting a pitch when there might be a hundred of them.

I can see why it is done with an appartment. I have no problem with regards to a pitch other than that if all sites did it it would be a right pain remembering 6 weeks prior to each of 20+ arrivals to pay the remainder