Let battle commence

We also got those e mails from the Clubs today, we just MIGHT be tempted to take up an offer or two in September, but will not be booking too far ahead if we do.

We have friends to visit in Fife, where there are no nearby suitable  CLs, but Balbirnie Park, which we have used once before, would be about £23.50 per night from late September.  Only problem is that it is only that price from rather later in the month than we would like.

Will need to see how that would fit in with going elsewhere first, and ending up at wherever DD & co decide they want to go in the school October week.  

Getting a decision out of them is never easy!

It isn’t just an option of one Club or another, or CL versus CS.  There’s a wealth of other family owned independent sites.

We tend to visit both as they have different advantages, one year we stayed at both! Cherry Hinton has the edge for getting into the City by bus and there is a pub nearby where you can have a meal. The C&CC site has a more open aspect and still good bus connections but is a bit further out from the centre. Don't know what will happen when or if Cambridge introduce their congestion charge as I suspect the CMC  might be in it but not the C&CC. But perhaps more to the topic of this thread I was surprised at the price difference and it can't all be down to the over 60's discount. I somehow doubt the CMC want to go down the route of an OAP's discount but they could offer a discount based on years of membership? The problem with the current rash of offers is they are not universal. I looked at East Anglia and I can get 10% of at the Norfolk Broads site but not Seacroft which would be our preferred choice. A month or so ago we took advantage of the discount offered for Cayton Village which was good but the Club do make everything so over complicated. 

David

Lots of threads on here about prices and the complex ( compared to previous) booking system.

For us the reluctance to book is not the price of sites but the new inability to cancel easily.

We are both still working full time, both have elderly parents we have to care for, transport to hospital appointments etc, our own  medical situations  and working children for whom we provide childcare to our grandkids. Add in the weather, work commitments suddenly changing etc and the 3 week rule just doesn't work for us.  I have already  had to pay the cancellation fee on one booking but I'm cautious about getting caught again. 

The club have basically changed the whole nature of our camping from something a little bit spontaneous and casual to something that needs planning with the commitment and precision of booking a "proper" holiday like a cruise or something.

It might be too early yet to hope that the club will abandon the less popular elements of its new system, but hopefully these emails YT is getting show that someone, somewhere is starting to realise that all is not well......

I don't think that Young Thomas understands Dynamic Pricing on Club sites. The price per pitch per night rises on a number of sites as availability for that date reduces.

 Prices do not go down on empty pitches at the last minute. The idea is to encourage members to book early to secure the lowest price. 

 This is the approach that the C and CC have taken for many years - albeit with a longer free cancellation notice period (30days) and a higher percentage deposit (25%) than the CaMC..

Same here, received both emails this morning.  Up until this year I've never received as many emails from the CAMC trying to entice me to book one of their sites, especially not during the summer months.

Might well be tempted by C&CC's offers now you can book right up until day of departure, but not by CAMC's T&Cs of booking - 14 days in advance for summer discounts or 21 days in advance for autumn discounts.

I can only agree.    We have not been on a CAMC site for 2 years now, instead using CLs, commercials, and CCC sites.  We only take caravan holidays, no hotels or cruises, pension not big enough unfortunately, but we are happy with what we do.

Prices on CAMC sites have now  gone beyond what we can afford while still spending a total of 11-14 weeks away each year, and since we stopped using site facilities after lockdown, they are no longer value for money as far as we are concerned.  If we do not make good use of our caravan, we might as well sell it.

We actually find it much easier just to use our own shower etc, so why pay for site ones that are not needed!

We might use the no facilities sites, but though some of the offers are quite good on price, the "book before" restrictions and the overall 21 days loss of deposit puts us off.   CAMC have lost their unique selling point.

We don't have elderly parents to care for, we are the "elderly" now, but we do have 2 grandchildren we look after 2 days a week, and more often should it be required, generally in an emergency, so cannot be planned for. Daughter works full time in a managerial position, SIL is a teacher, so not easy for them to take time off if the children (2 & 5) are not well.

Being in our 70s and 80s, we have increasing medical problems, one never knows when something is going to go wrong!    I have been on the waiting list for a small operation for 18 months now, no idea when I might get a date, possibly at short notice.......would that be a factor in getting deposits back.......who knows?     

I wonder if the upcoming summer of flight cancellations etc. will see some people returning touring again. I think that most of the UK leisure industry is suffering from low occupancy, not just this club. But the current 'economic crisis' doesn't seem to have affected the record numbers taking overseas holidays at the moment.

Nothing in writing DD but it's true that the C&CC  site prices do get more expensive as the availability gets less. Even at last minute.

The earlier you book the better the price. Couldn't comment on CAMC as I have no intention of paying their prices.

Love the new offer from C&CC might just use that and do a wee your up here.