10% off offer

Just off topic but we have a holiday booked with TUI for next February, very unhelpfully there's a family event just been organised so we looked into moving the holiday back by one week. Of course they said but a £50 admin fee for both  but the holiday would be £400 cheaper??? I asked why and they just said the magic words DP and they want to sell more holidays at that time. 

February and November are traditionally “quiet” cottage months Corners, so you can get some good bargains. Excellent result there though, simply changing your dates😁

My chosen modus operandi is to leave it as late as possible, then contact cottage owners direct (most have their own website away from booking agencies). That way, I can ask a few questions, negotiate and not pay any booking fees. It’s often possible to get a two/three bedroom cottage a good bit cheaper if it’s for a couple only using one bedroom. Been doing this for years, so have some good contacts at nice places to stay. The owners are usually very happy just to have someone filling in a late week, so happy to offer a very decent price. 

Edit…just realised it’s not a cottage you have booked Corners, but still a good result👍

Well, OH has finally managed to book Balbirnie for 4 nights in October........much more complicated than previous booking system of course, but not helped by the software automatically filling in my mobile number, then telling her it was not entered  correctly.  Took her a while to work out what it did not like.

£20 deposit paid and box unticked for paying on arrival.  £23.31 per night.

That sounds like a bargain, Kj 👍🏻

It is not bad TW, though it is a rather dingy site, a LOT of trees, but we have old friends to visit  not so far away and there are no decent CLs any closer to them.   There is a real shortage of CLs all over Scotland.

We have used Balbirnie once before, many years  back,  not sure if it has had any upgrade since then, I seem  to remember it was rather "rustic" !  No serviced pitches, not that we need one.  We will be out and about, so not too bothered about all the trees.

Just as a comparison, we have also booked a fully serviced pitch on a really nice holiday park just outside Crieff for the week before we go to Balbirnie, all their pitches are serviced, and that costs £26 per night, which is very good too.

Kjell, there is a nice open area on the left just after the toilet block before one goes down the  hill to the pitches at the back of the site. At that time of the year there will be few leaves on the trees anyway, so the site will not be over dark.

Friends of ours have just booked a very nice glamping pod, fully ensuite on East Coast for only £58 for two nights. Proper bargain. Meanwhile, we will be paying just under £74 for two nights at Clumber……….🤔 

It is quite a while since we were last at Balbirnie, but I think that may well have been the area we were pitched in last time, if I remember correctly there was maybe  a footpath through to the toilet  block at some point?

It was earlier in the year when we were there, so , as you say, would have been more leaves on the trees then.

From what I've seen, published prices for a year in advance will have increased in the way they always do, the club adds a percentage to its 'weekend/bank holiday/school holiday' prices for the corresponding previous year. The difference between todays 'this years' prices and next years is that this years have risen beyond their original level due to DP as we approach the due date.

This has given the impression that next years prices are lower than now. In absolute terms that's correct, but really this is the club raising this years 'last minute' prices for those who don't book early.

To my mind, this is the opposite of what DP should be doing...prices should drop gradually (in, say, the last week to 10 days) to attract last minute customers. However, the club prefers to 'discourage' last minute customers (those who don't/won't/can't book early) by raising prices and then send out an 'offer' email...🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

offers are great, but why there are always so many T/C attached I don't know. In some cases these alone will put folk off. Folk aren't daft, they will realise that these Club offers are really only offsetting the price rises that their version of DP has applied.

To continually bombard members with offers must mean that sales are lower than expected and this is likely to be a result of prices. The club must realise (you would think) that many customers are still finding things tight and are leaving decisions to tour (or not) close to the last minute.

For the club to be raising prices at the very point that these members are making this decision is only going to send that decision in one direction.

an 'offer' email a few days later won't save the day as the boat will have sailed for those looking for a specific date and finding the price too high.🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

That offer I mentioned above is via the Club. An Experience Freedom Glamping Cabin, booked very last minute at an excellent discount, because they haven’t filled the cabins, so DP working as I understand it.

The Club is aware that it has a captive pitch booking core, happy to book a pitch at whatever prices it chooses to advertise. Hence the ridiculous situation of being able to stay in a fully furnished, heated, TV provided, electricity provided, ensuite little unit, for £16 a night less than some squares of of hardcore, with a walk to the loo and shower, and bring your own bed, cooker, hook up cable and chairs. 

I would challenge the Club to do a trial of seriously discounting last minute pitches at a very good discount, and see what the results show. And don’t stick in all the ridiculous T&C’s that are so off putting.