Booking difficulty for pre covid members

Redzed32 replied on 30/08/2020 10:25

Posted on 30/08/2020 10:25

With the onslaught of the covid virus and the massive restrictions on foreign travel , it appears not only that the existing membership are filling up club sites , but I suspect also a large influx of new members are too . This is great for the campsites , as they have all faced a very difficult season this year . However , I am experiencing that finding pitches now is very difficult , and a great deal of the sites that could be booked a month in advance previously are full to the end of the season . This obviously makes me question whether membership is actually worth it now , as so far this summer after about  6 weekend breaks , I have realised that none of these were possible through the club . 

This is obviously very disheartening , but there is a much bigger concern at play here , and that is next years bookings . No one has a crystal ball regarding the impact of covid , and we cannot predict what will happen next month , far less what will happen next year . We have the possibility of much of next years sites being booked up by people who would normally holiday abroad , and taking advantage of the booking system . If this occurs , and next year we have little or no travel restrictions , we will end up with a situation again where pre covid members cannot get pitches , and the sites will have a whole load of pre-booked vacant pitches . 

Can I ask ; are other members here experiencing this as well ? And Also ; Does the club itself have concerns about the possibility of the above situation occurring , and how to address this ? 

peedee replied on 04/09/2020 13:55

Posted on 04/09/2020 13:55

Gawd TW, Cheddar is absolutely souless compared to Old Oaks. The only thing going for Cheddar is the easy walk to the main area.

Just had a look at Polmanter October rate £26.50, Godrevy £26.70. There is also an offer on at Polmanter, book seven nights and get £15 off. Ok you pay deposits or even all up front. That is no big deal if you have every intention of fulfilling the booking.

peedee

Goldie146 replied on 04/09/2020 13:55

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.

Posted on 04/09/2020 13:55

£2.25 per dog, per night!

Tinwheeler replied on 04/09/2020 14:22

Posted on 04/09/2020 13:52 by SeasideBill

Adults only and disincentive for multiple dogs makes it even better value in my view. As for deposit, not a problem for me. Even offers a peak season 60+ discount! 

Posted on 04/09/2020 14:22

Ah, I get it now. Whereas I’ve been looking at the bigger picture of sites being better/worse cheaper/dearer for the LV population as a whole, you’ve been taking the narrower view of only what works best for you. In that case, never the twain shall meet because we're all different with varying priorities👍🏻

Tinwheeler replied on 04/09/2020 14:24

Posted on 04/09/2020 13:55 by peedee

Gawd TW, Cheddar is absolutely souless compared to Old Oaks. The only thing going for Cheddar is the easy walk to the main area.

Just had a look at Polmanter October rate £26.50, Godrevy £26.70. There is also an offer on at Polmanter, book seven nights and get £15 off. Ok you pay deposits or even all up front. That is no big deal if you have every intention of fulfilling the booking.

peedee

Posted on 04/09/2020 14:24

See my previous post, PD. The Old Oaks simply will not work for some folk.

SeasideBill replied on 04/09/2020 14:44

Posted on 04/09/2020 14:22 by Tinwheeler

Ah, I get it now. Whereas I’ve been looking at the bigger picture of sites being better/worse cheaper/dearer for the LV population as a whole, you’ve been taking the narrower view of only what works best for you. In that case, never the twain shall meet because we're all different with varying priorities👍🏻

Posted on 04/09/2020 14:44

Doesn’t change the reality. As PD says, if you don’t have a dog, it’s a fair comparison. This is one example. If I could be bothered there are others. However, we could argue all day long about what constitutes a fair comparison between sites.

brue replied on 04/09/2020 14:46

Posted on 04/09/2020 14:46

Coming from Somerset it wouldn't work for me either...cheaper to stay at home, especially for the dog! wink

Half term prices are being quoted for CAMC when there's always an increase. Either side of that the mid week reductions help bring the prices down.

eurortraveller replied on 04/09/2020 15:00

Posted on 04/09/2020 15:00

Easy on line booking, easy on line cancellation, no payment till you get there, unlimited number of dogs for free, the comfort of knowing what the standards will be. -   all those things make Club sites very popular.

Trouble is that after families left at the end of their hols I always found Club sites soulless, silent, unsociable places. 

JVB66 replied on 04/09/2020 15:06

Posted on 04/09/2020 15:00 by eurortraveller

Easy on line booking, easy on line cancellation, no payment till you get there, unlimited number of dogs for free, the comfort of knowing what the standards will be. -   all those things make Club sites very popular.

Trouble is that after families left at the end of their hols I always found Club sites soulless, silent, unsociable places. 

Posted on 04/09/2020 15:06

I think that applies to most companies sitessurprised

Upside being less litter and mostly cyclists are slower wink

Unsociable? have you been to the mainly men  only dishwash areascool

moulesy replied on 04/09/2020 15:06

Posted on 04/09/2020 15:06

This discussion, or a very similar one, has been had on CT time and time again over the years. 

To summarise - there are cheaper sites than club sites, there are also dearer ones.

There are better equipped sites than club sites, there are also more, shall we say,  basic ones.

If you have children or dogs or an awning, club sites almost always work out cheaper, if you just have a basic unit they possibly don't.

If you're a single person club sites often work out cheaper than commercials with their "up to 6 adult" offerings.

If you want to be flexible (buzz word for some) the club booking system and lack of deposit (returnable or not) allows you to change at relatively short notice (arguably a good thing).

At the end of the day, all such comparisons are pretty pointless - don't most folk choose where they want to go first and then look at available sites?

To pretend one or the other is always best is too simplistic - it's all down to personal preference.

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