Inflation and the Cost of our Hobby

Wherenext didn't quite understand what you meant by  "I detest the current pricing structure" I assume that refers to the Club's pricing structure but as far as I am aware that has always been in place in the forty odd years I have been a member?

DK - David, there was indeed a price structure in force in the 90s but it was one where "shoulder"  increases were restricted to a long weekend for Easter and BHs not for the 4 weeks either side of them found nowadays, where the daily rate was not increased by £0.10, sometimes just for a day or two, because some Algorithm had indicated a slight upturn in booking for that particular day, where prices were for 2 adults  and where a price for virtually all non facility sites were set in stone at a fixed price.

Now I'm sure someone will post a photocopy of a guide price disproving some of the above but that won't stop me hating the penny pinching attitude that prevails at present.

"I suppose next you'll be telling us you drank tea out of a rolled up newspaper as you had no cups, not even cracked ones; when you could afford tea that is, other wise you just sucked on a damp cloth. And you lived in one room in a house with no floorboards (so you had none to varnish) and later you lived in a shoebox on the road and worked 29 hours day down mill?"

Didn't imply that at all WTG.  All I was saying was that we seemed to have different priorities.  In actual fact, as a young PC and a then wife who was a Staff Midwife, we were probably better off than many - especially after I was promoted to Sgt and then Inspector within 5 years of joining.  What we couldn't afford to start with - we did without and waited until we could afford those things. I'm sure many people on here know what I'm saying as they probably went through it themselves - whereas today - as DavidK says - the world has become much more materialistic. Apologies for going slightly off-topic.

Wherenext

I see what you mean now and tend to agree that peak periods tend to extend beyond what they used to. Commercial sites I have used tend to be much more transparent with their pricing in that there are usually three bands for clearly defined dates. With the Club you have no idea what you will be paying until you actually try to book. I wonder if Experience Freedom works on the same basis or the more usual date bands?

David

Hi everyone, A polite reminder to keep conversations on topic, avoid politics and abide by our Community Guidelines to keep Club Together a friendly environment for all to enjoy contributing to. 

With regards to the OP, we recognise that higher costs of living are challenging many members - that’s why we’re doing everything we can to make booking a trip at one of our sites as accessible as possible, including a price drop on over 1.5 million pitches. You can book your 2024 stay at 60 UK Club campsites with a new lower price. Learn more about this here: Price Drop

What saddens me is the change over the years in attitude. We first joined the ‘camping’ clan a lifetime ago it seems, partly due to the need to watch the pennies whilst still enjoying at least a few affordable much needed family holidays. How things have changed, the ethos of the club then seemed vastly different. No longer can my daughter’s family afford to use their caravan anything like as often as we did and the overall cost of ownership, maintenance and site fees are now becoming both a burden and unaffordable to them in these modern times. We, at their age, it seemed, were welcomed into ‘our’ club and we felt like members amongst fellows. My daughter today does not hold that same common sense of belonging as we did and I now wonder how much longer she can remain caravanning. I offer this only as my observation, admittedly maybe through my rather old rose tinted glasses.

Tell her to forget any misplaced loyalty Micky, and mix and match her pitch choices across the whole touring sector. I suspect that Club ethos exists only in the regions, amongst those who rally predominantly.

We had no illusions as to what we were joining nearly 40 years ago, not having the most friendly and welcoming of starts. Mid 20’s, very old, very unusual outfit, with a big Rottweiler along for the ride. We were inspected every time we pulled into a Club Site, talk about snobbery. Club Sites were never our first choice. Thankfully, the customer care on site has improved greatly, but there’s a computer system running things nowadays, (when it’s not having essential maintenance, or an enforced “rest”) Treat it with all the suspicion, mistrust, derision it deserves, and grab each meagre offering of “help in these challenging times” as best you can. So far, there’s only the once in a 40 year period, only in Winter free night to go at for us, but we shall rock it with glee, then go back to hunting around for better value.

Loyalty is earned, easily lost, and very very hard to win back. That’s not an alogarithm built into any programme yet👍