Booking difficulty for pre covid members

Posted on 04/09/2020 09:25 by DavidKlyne

The way I have looked at prices this year is that I know that the amount of time will will spend away will be a fraction of what we spend in a normal year. With that in mind we have booked three stays of four nights each on Club sites on serviced pitches. One stay completed two to go. I am likely to spend somewhere in the region of £1400 less this year on site fees than I did last year. With the exception of a few hardy souls who are trying to catch up with their touring I imagine many will be in a similar position. I can't see it worth fretting about prices. There are always cheaper alternatives. As most Club sites seem to be pretty full since sites reopened their prices can't be that much out of line otherwise there would be a lot of spare capacity.

David

Posted on 04/09/2020 09:25 by DavidKlyne

The way I have looked at prices this year is that I know that the amount of time will will spend away will be a fraction of what we spend in a normal year. With that in mind we have booked three stays of four nights each on Club sites on serviced pitches. One stay completed two to go. I am likely to spend somewhere in the region of £1400 less this year on site fees than I did last year. With the exception of a few hardy souls who are trying to catch up with their touring I imagine many will be in a similar position. I can't see it worth fretting about prices. There are always cheaper alternatives. As most Club sites seem to be pretty full since sites reopened their prices can't be that much out of line otherwise there would be a lot of spare capacity.

David

Posted on 04/09/2020 10:23 by SeasideBill

I don’t fret about prices, I’m prepared to pay what something is worth. However, I object to being overcharged or getting poor value for money, just because market forces mean they can take advantage.

If, as you say, there are always cheaper alternatives it does say something about CMC prices and the benefits (or not) of membership. I don’t really follow the point about overall spend. Taken to its logical conclusion you’d be happy to spend whatever as long as overall, it amounted to less than your anticipated budget?

Posted on 31/08/2020 21:55 by

Excuse my intervention then.

But in these weird times, when we are all being constrained, I was trying to offer an alternative, namely: seek outside the Club. It's an option. Or stay home. That's another. Does it have to be CAMC sites or bust???? 

 

Posted on 04/09/2020 10:30 by GTP

 

Does it have to be CAMC sites or bust????

Of course not..I have two excellent BoB upcoming bookings....with very large / level / spacious / fully serviced pitches ( one is also a 'Tranquil' site for adults only, but that's not the reason I booked it..) Both are in fact cheaper than CaMC sites for these dates...

But of course there is a deposit to be paid...and most CaMC members don't like deposits.....

Posted on 04/09/2020 10:16 by KjellNN

I think the ease of booking, altering or cancelling If necessary, is a great selling point for the  Club and will attract bookings in these uncertain times, we have already booked and had to cancel twice, earlier in the summer, but hope we can get away soon.

With the above in mind, we have booked all Club sites for this proposed trip, though some are not exactly where we ideally would want to be, so we may alter 2 or 3 to CLs once we are certain the trip can go ahead, plus the possible swap to CCC at Malvern, though that is one of the not ideally situated stops.

Our time away this year will be about 28 nights instead of a possible 90, so money saved on that, but increased fuel bills at home of course.  Plus all the extra time at home has lead to quite a bit of unplanned spending on various things around the house, so the bank balance is about as usual and site fees are still something to be considered, though the VAT reduction is helpful.

The last 12 months have been quite an expensive time anyway as we have had 13 new tyres within 5 months, 2 cars plus caravan, and also the usual servicing and insurance costs, so we would have been planning our trips using mainly CLs this year.

Posted on 04/09/2020 10:23 by SeasideBill

I don’t fret about prices, I’m prepared to pay what something is worth. However, I object to being overcharged or getting poor value for money, just because market forces mean they can take advantage.

If, as you say, there are always cheaper alternatives it does say something about CMC prices and the benefits (or not) of membership. I don’t really follow the point about overall spend. Taken to its logical conclusion you’d be happy to spend whatever as long as overall, it amounted to less than your anticipated budget?

Posted on 04/09/2020 12:25 by DavidKlyne

The point I was making about total spend this year compared to other years is likely to be a lot less overall so if someone is concerned about how much they spend generally, that shouldn't be an issue this year. I don't have an annual budget I just spend what I need to. When planning trips first and foremost it is the location of any site that is important and I will often pay more for a commercial site it the location is better than a Club site. Sometimes I will use a CL if the location suits. 

Your mantra seems to be that Club sites are not worth the fees charged for them. However tens of thousands of members, who are perfectly capable of going elsewhere, stick with using Club sites. I would really like some examples of sites that you feel are better and cheaper that similar Club sites so I could form my own opinion.

Posted on 04/09/2020 13:17 by SeasideBill

OK, take at look at Old Oaks Glastonbury an award winning site, masses of positive reviews. Contrast that to nearby CMC in Cheddar, a nice site, but very ordinary in a popular location.

Random pricing example; 20/21 October (2 nights)

Old Oaks: super pitch (serviced) £51, standard pitch £47

CMC Cheddar: standard pitch £54.60

Not a massive difference, but don’t need to pay £64 membership to use the former and if I did I’d expect a discount. There are other examples, but hopefully that illustrates my point - CMC are expensive and not good value for members.

Posted on 04/09/2020 13:41

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I agree that Old Oaks is a superb site, Seaside. I’ve stayed there. There are a few things to note though such as minimum stay, deposits/full payment up front, charge for dogs, adults only.

I think Old Oaks still represents value for money but I don’t believe it to be better value than CAMC. In fact, when you take all things into consideration, I’m not sure the two sites are comparable - being AO would make it unusable for families.

Btw, I assume your figure quoted for membership is just a typo.

Gallery

Posted on 04/09/2020 13:41 by Tinwheeler

I agree that Old Oaks is a superb site, Seaside. I’ve stayed there. There are a few things to note though such as minimum stay, deposits/full payment up front, charge for dogs, adults only.

I think Old Oaks still represents value for money but I don’t believe it to be better value than CAMC. In fact, when you take all things into consideration, I’m not sure the two sites are comparable - being AO would make it unusable for families.

Btw, I assume your figure quoted for membership is just a typo.