The easiest way to make touring cheaper

and + 1 for me, I agree money can saved in using cheaper sites, of course and everyone is entitle to decide for himself what to spend their money on.

I was objecting to is the belief held or shown by the OP that those that choose club sites and prices are somehow 'meek' and do not think about their decision to before spending their money. The OP cannot appear to accept that those that do pay the club price do so happily. This is evidenced by Tf giving further advice to all members on what to do before paying:

we as members should avoid paying whatever is asked of us without demure 

Now demure is defined as modest, unassuming, meek, mild, reserved, retiring, quiet, shy, bashful, diffident, reticent, timid, timorous, so I assume he means demur which means raise objections or show reluctance

So what we all should do before paying is to raise objections or show reluctance. I find that offensive.

TF - what and how do you want us all to do this? A sharp intake of breath when seeing the price? Or perhaps pay the warden with a stern 'well I'll pay it this time but...' Neither of which will make any difference to the club. The only thing that will take the club take notice of your 'uncontrolled' price rises is empty pitches. As many sites continue to be full many would seem not to share your opinion of these prices being uncontrolled or indeed high?

As Yoda would say

Pitch or do not pitch, there is no demur.

Hi everyone,

As always we value your feedback, thoughts and opinions but would ask that people please be respectful to others who may have a differing view. Please keep posts friendly and constructive as we want to keep Club Together a welcoming and informative place to be. 

At the Club we appreciate that many people love touring across the UK. We have our wonderful CL network but we also try and keep Club Sites competitive too and have some great site offers for the benefit of tourers, holiday makers and for short getaways. 

Have a look at our Great Value Summer Sites where we have sites from £14 per night or if you're holidaying with your children or Grandchildren check out our Family Summer Savers page with stays for a week from £98 for a family of four.

We also have a Mid Week Discount with 50% off standard pitch fees on any Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday night at selected sites and dates. There are up to 50 sites to choose from in 2018 and 2019.

And if anyone doesn't need EHU, we are also now offering a 50% discount on non-electric economy pitches on 13 of our sites. Non-electric pitches start from just £10.10 per night (2 adults and a pitch).

I hope these options help make touring more affordable and people continue to enjoy our great Club Sites. 

A good post CS....

For me the most important factors when choosing a site are location, size & surface of pitch and the quality of the toilet block....

Time off work for us both is very precious indeed and price is immaterial within reason......

As you say, if club sites were ever empty they may look at prices, but that's not going to happen anytime soon....

The site we booked today for May 2019 is 3.5% more expensive than this May. I don't really think that can be called an  excessive rise. The CAMC are having to gestimate a year in advance, it would be difficult, possibly foolhardy, to go with a lower figure.

thanks

Yes, I've just booked the same site at almost same time as this coming BH. My increase in the peak days on a SP is a total of 90p per night, that's 2.7%, hardly uncontrolled and excessive?

Well we certainly have seen a lot of strong opinions expressed in this thread. There’s a theme of “everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but mine is the only correct one”. Meanwhile, cost seems to have overtaken many poster’s thinking, when suitability is surely significant to us all. Having spent many thousands of pounds on a leisure vehicle, it’s argued that we shouldn’t concern ourselves with high overnight costs. Aheeem, surely a luxurious van renders fancy site facilities unnecessary. I have friends who regularly go on expensive cruises and others who could afford to, but would rather stay in a field and walk in the woods. Yes CLs are generally cheaper than full facility club sites, and they are increasingly well appointed these days. The last C&MC site we stayed on was Baltic Wharf. Tight packed pitches contrasted with superb access to a lovely city. The last break we had was on a very spacious CL, adjacent to a fishing lake in rural Norfolk. Nirvana for me would be free camping in one of those remote locations used in advertising, next to a river, grass clipped short by grazing animals, magnificent views and sunny weather - oh, and not another van in sight. But like car advertisements showing sweeping mountain roads and effortless driving, it’s an illusiory vision, shot after waiting hours for a clear road and an epic journey to such idyllic scenery. Back here on Earth, places like the New Forest campsites offer a pleasingly natural and economic environment, adjacent to full facility, slightly crowded C&MC sites which, unsurprisingly, cost more. Our lower expenditure goes on simple rurality with a cycle ride into the nearest village for stores. While the big money buys self contained luxury on wheels.

nice post, Jenny. like you, I've never subscribed to the 'you have a nice van therefore why do you complain about rising pitch prices? (all providers)'..

its to do with how you see value....many folk's investment in their van was to allow them to 'buy into' the illusory dream, to get away from it all, and stop where we choose (within reason), without the necessary £20-£35 expense for the privilege..

IMHO, to be charged this for an overnight parking space, no services required as all on board, would not be good value....and three such stops (each way) on a long drive south would add £150 to the trip costs, even at £25 a night on a full fat site.

the pictures below are three of the stops we made on the way here, all free, obviously....

you mentioned the New Forest...from memory, the C&CC Camping in the Forest sites (no facs) are as expensive as their (and other) sites...

...we've used a few of these and while it's akin to being on a large CL, it's certainly not a cheap vanning break....but it's lovely and 'less is certainly more' in these cases, so the value for money seems much better...for us...

you also mentioned Baltic Wharf, I totally agree with you...this is not a site for relaxing, it's raison d'être is its location, and we love the easy city access and would happily stay on other sites like this, thatbare more akin to city 'Aires' than campsites...again, BW is good 'value' for us as it gets us close to the city action, but in comparison to the way this service is (Mairie) provided 'elsewhere', it's a blooming expensive carpark

Couldn’t agree more Jenny- I have a nice van and an excellent towcar in a 23 yr old Toyota Surf. And because I have a nice modern van I have all the comforts of home. I don’t worry too much about whether the grass is 1” or 2” high- I am happy with a tap and a waste point- I really don’t mind walking to the water point- in fact, I quite enjoy it. Perhaps the loo emptying is not my favourite job but it’s called caravanning!  My grey water, through my sump pump, is automatically pumped into a nearby ditch or other disposal point and my batteries are always full due to the SP. £5- -£8 a night on some of the most beautiful sites- What’s not to like? Non EHU has given me effortless booking and, sometimes a site to ourselves. Yes, I dismiss Club sites due to cost and other factors. I simply enjoy this pastime for what it is, I don’t need surburbia when I’m camping. I need a big open beautiful space, water, gas and a decent SP- anything else is just a bonus. 🤣🤣

Those of us who camp alone often find that CMC main sites are better value than CLs or commercial sites as they (CLs and commercials)assume that there will be two adults in a unit and charge accordingly.  The club sites policy of charging per person works out better for us.  As a motorhomer aires are the best sites of all and more of them are being established in the UK.