Posted on 25/11/2021 11:54
The Club have released more details of the new Booking System here
There are still finer details still to be arrived but the link (thanks Harry) sets out how the new system will work.
I have closed the previous thread on when we will get details of the new booking system and opened this one to allow comments specifically on the new system rather than discussing what they might be.
David
2 people like this
Posted on 10/01/2022 14:47 by SteveLI can’t see the issue of weekend pitch availability is ever going to be resolved, unless you don’t allow 2 day weekend bookings and force folk to have set arrival days for longer stays, as some commercials do at peak times. Not something any of us would wish for I presume. When we were working our holidays started and finished on weekends, plus we booked a few separate weekends throughout the year. It is therefore hardly surprising they are the first to glow orange, particularly the Saturdays.
Posted on 10/01/2022 16:06 by WherenextKJ, our bank account gives worldwide insurance cover. It also includes breakdown cover plus other bits and pieces so is quite competitive if one takes a few holidays per year. Unfortunately they do have an age limit, which thankfully I have not yet reached.
I have just spent the best part £400 on deposits for cottage holidays this year so it will cover that, but I wouldn't be bothered with it for CAMC deposits but it might come in handy if you pay upfront and are in danger of forfeiting a larger amount.
Anyway for CAMC bookings the problem for me is moot as I tend to use CLs for most of my UK trips with the occasional CAMC site and Independent one thrown in. I have found a lot more CL owners now asking for deposits, again due to no shows, and I have a lot of sympathy with their problem. Last year nearly 50% of CL trips had a deposit paid and a couple of stays had to be paid a few days in advance of arrival.
As Brue said upthread we have been fortunate having no deposits for a while but if the CAMC are losing a lot of income through not letting pitches then something has to be done. A few people will throw a tantrum and leave but the vast majority will continue IMO.
Posted on 10/01/2022 16:23
Yes, we used to have such a bank account, but I am now well beyond the age limit and have health problems.
We only take caravan holidays, or stay with family, so it has not really been a problem until now.
Happy to pay a deposit for a CL, but have avoided any sites that want to be paid in full something like 4 weeks ahead.
Posted on 10/01/2022 16:09 by SteveLWell, one reason. I’ve just changed one for later in the year to one close to our original choice, but where I could guarantee a HS pitch, given that earlier bookers are going to be second class citizens when it comes to getting such a pitch during this first year of pitch type booking.
Posted on 10/01/2022 16:32
That is a circumstance which might be brought about by the new booking system. It is not really representative of the conditions prior to the recent announcements. I have bookings but I am not overly concerned that I might end up on a grass pitch!
Arch, I can well understand someone wanting to move on under such circumstances but I was refering to changes made prior to arrival on site. Even so, in the past I have stuck poor weather out under the delusion that it cannot be bad for all of the stay. I long ago learn't if weather is a concern, don't holiday in the UK.
peedee
Posted on 10/01/2022 15:30 by Huw EdwardsWell that is your opinion. I'm lucky enough to be able to plan my year ahead with some certainty and I make few changes over that period anyway .. so I'm anticipating little impact on me. Or would you prefer a system that only opens up all pitches 3 weeks ahead and go back to the free for all that we had a few years ago which clogged up the CAMH booking system? For me, be it 36, 24,12, 6 or 3 weeks ahead I can (largely) cope with that but it won't solve the problem of those who missed out on booking a pitch because they weren't organised enough to log-on in time....
Posted on 10/01/2022 16:44
Only once but we moved sites after one night, it was Balbirnie Park and while it was the usual club site and nothing at all wrong with it we just didn't like the lack of light from the trees. It would have been fine for a short stay but we had booked for over a week. In those days there were no rules on leaving early and I wonder if the current rules will still be applied?
Posted on 10/01/2022 14:13 by ArchI think block booking is a valid term I'm not so sure it's much different from speculative booking when booked up to 12 months in advance, I book 2 to 3 two week holidays well in advance with the full intention of taking them and consider that a block booking, my point was that this discussion is about coming changes to the booking system and there are more reasons for lack of pitch availability than speculative bookings such as weekends being fully booked preventing full week bookings, I am not anti working people booking weekends but can see no reason for not recognising it as a pitch availability also.
Posted on 10/01/2022 16:47
What happens if you book a grass pitch for the summer months and when you arrive the site has had heavy rain for 3 days and the pitches are out of action and the hardstanding pitches are all taken. What happens then. With the weather in this county you cannot guarantee dry spells.
As for this new system you should be able to book a specific pitch number this would stop the scramble for the better pitches.
Posted on 10/01/2022 14:46 by Huw EdwardsWhilst I have some sympathy for the CAMH Club with respect to the number of cancellations, one of the key selling points that encouraged me to sign up was the flexibility on holiday planning. This now seems to be being eroded. I'll be very keen to learn of the detailed T&C around cancellation through a change of site (rather than a total cancellation). I'd like to see the deposit credit applied to a site-change within the 3 weeks - as in my view the CAMH have not 'lost' any money by me moving from one site to another for the same nights. I also think (but have no basis for this assumption) that a significant proportion of the 25% cancellation rate is due to people changing sites rather than no-shows.
They say "it’s not just a small minority of ‘block bookers’ who are cancelling, almost half of all members who make a booking each year make at least one amendment or cancellation too" as if it is a bad thing. I don't believe it is & the 'flexibility of the offer' is a key part of selecting this organisation to provide a camping pitch for my caravan. After all they charge a £56 annual fee for something. My year is planned out now but if the cancellation charges are too steep in 2022 then I'll have to review my 2023 renewal.
Posted on 10/01/2022 17:06
Huw
I suppose the Club can only give the broad details of cancellations. We tend to book fairly late and often find that not all days are available so we book what is available and keep an eye on availability., over the coming days and weeks If I see the whole period I want is free I would cancel the odd days and then book the complete period I want. In the eyes of the Club I have made a cancellation, maybe more than one if I booked odd days at separate times. So am I part of the problem? The Club have gained more from my perseverance! I can't recall a time when I have booked a site just in case.
Perhaps the current system is just a victim of it's own success in that allowing members to book a year ahead it encourages optimism with people fully intending to honour bookings until something better comes up? Some on here have admitted that they book a couple of slots at the same campsite in the full knowledge that one booking will be cancelled. Despite all this discussion we will have to wait and see how it pans out as I don't image the Club is about to make major changes until they have more data on how the system is running.
David
DavidKlyne
Motorhomer from Buckinghamshire