Update on 2020 Prices
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I will agree your thoughts with one important proviso.
Yes I don't mind walking to the showers in my shorts and washing up outdoors when its hot and talking to others BUT this is desirable when we are abroad but is definitely not what I do in this country when the weather is, normally at best, average.
No, in Britain I prefer to climb out of bed, walk 8 ft to our alde heated bathroom and shower in our guaranteed spotless own facilities. Similarly in almost all cases I don't want to walk in the cold and wet weather to the washing up sinks.
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My email finally arrived late last night, although interestingly, was timed as leaving Club HQ at 15.26. Academic anyway, thanks to Ro’s post the information was out in the Club grapevine far earlier.
Without more information than that that given in the attachment, it’s hard to do more than speculate why some prices have remained the same, while others have had eye watering nightly raises. Sadly some of those we like are affected, such as Nunnykirk (up £3 per night). This puts it above what CLs in area charge, often with more facilities available, although it remains a lovely location.
I have no doubts that electrical usage is a big factor in raising prices, it’s something CL owners mention frequently when we are having a bit of a natter. But that’s how outfits are designed now, and with more and more folks coming to touring without a long history of camping, it’s probably what they want and are used to having, the ability to use similar gadgets and devices while away. And while some might embrace the challenge of off grid life, I suspect in reality the take up is a small percentage, most will just want to hop in, take off and plug in at the other end. Neither option should be criticised, it’s a matter of choice.
Site upgrades? Club is damned if they do, and damned if they don’t. Some sites are over 60 years old, of course they need refurbishment. Some are nothing more than a swamp in bad weather (Rosedale), but the HS pitches put in have made visiting a lot easier. Work like this is possibly done knowing that the Club is facing harder times in terms of retaining and recruiting Members.
I know our holidaying trends have altered significantly in the last fifteen years, and long lucrative bookings for the Club at one site are no longer what we choose. We remain in Club for CL network, others choose Club for ease of getting abroad, others for different reasons. But the Club gets little direct income from us beyond the Membership fee and the odd Club Site one or two nighters. I wonder how many others are like us?
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We have found that many commercial sites of the same standard and offering more facilities are cheaper than using club sites. Also it seems that more commercial sites have fully serviced pitches with water and waste water connections than the CC.
At the moment we are only members for the CL network which is outstanding. Next year we will probably switch breakdown cover to Mayday.
Also maybe I wrong but the CMC seem to have more peak and longer peak seasons than many commercial sites?
We also use ACSI sites which are a lot cheaper than CMC and they are available in the UK.
Last year we used an Airbnb cottage with lounge, full bathroom and separate bedroom and while the cost was more expensive per night than the CMC per night, the saving on fuel not towing made up for the difference plus no trekking for water etc. We also had the benefit of Netflix included with all the other luxuries.
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But the Club gets little direct income from us beyond the Membership fee and the odd Club Site one or two nighters. I wonder how many others are like us?
Pretty much the same TTDA, my use of what the Club offers has certainly been declining over the years of membership. In fact this year has seen me give up centre membership and I have actually started thinking is membership still worth it?
peedee
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We have always had cottage breaks, done four this year. You can get some top class bargains if your circumstances are right. 😁 Like you, we vary our site choices as well.
Despite having both a van (under refurb) and a MH (used monthly) we don’t have huge sums of money tied up in a brand new outfit, so we don’t worry about not using it for a while, or taking an alternative holiday. We have never been the Club’s staple core membership.
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Still worth it for us PD, access to CLs alone is worth it. Plus we are canny operators, never fail to claw back our Membership fee via some of the offers Club negotiate.
Funnily enough, we have visited more Club Sites this year than ever before, but only for filler nights in between other options. We don’t balk at prices anymore if somewhere like an event at York comes up, it’s a convenient place and cheaper than other options. But we don’t do the three weeks at one site like we used to do with van. Mind you, even that was somewhere like Marazion, which has never been expensive anyway.
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I wonder if the C&CC have these mid season adjustments? Have only just joined and given the complexity of their charging, I suppose they could sneak one in and nobody would be any the wiser.😂
Just a thought though, perhaps they don't need to because of the guaranteed income from the non returnable deposit. I made a booking for next year on the 24/10 and another today. Assuming the booking ref shows number of bookings, they have taken £1.47 million in deposits since then.
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I wonder if the C&CC have these mid season adjustments? Have only just joined and given the complexity of their charging, I suppose they could sneak one in and nobody would be any the wiser
They probably could because their site prices are run much like Easyjets, depends on demand. I note in their annual report they also single out the cost rises in utilities especially those of electricity.
peedee
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Looking at my site cost stats over this year they have increase by £1.50 a night compared to 2018 but interestingly 2019 the average is a £1 less than 2017. My costs this year would have been less had I not booked a service pitch on two sites just to guarantee a hardstanding. Price increases are inevitable so why we get so animated about them I don't know. The Club are always going to work within the structure they think is best so I suspect we have two choices, put up with it or vote with our feet and go elsewhere. Even within the club there are choices of basic site and CL's with a considerable saving over the cost of main sites. There are also those mythical commercial sites which are both cheaper and better than Club sites according to some, which I have yet to find and the people that mention them seem very reluctant to name them, perhaps because they don't stand up to closer scrutiny? Many on here have alternative holidays away from camping. We like the occasional cruise but what we know is that even a 7 night cruise will cost us a jolly sight more than 70 nights on any Club site so I think we need to keep it in perspective. I think it was Steve that mentioned that as individuals we invest what some might consider vast sums in out caravans/towcars/motorhomes without question but if a site goes up £1 a night it's a national outrage
Just my perspective on it.David
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Slightly off topic now, but although our vanning was exclusively UK based we never once used the shower in our van?
Reason? Well here's the choice, nice long relaxing hot shower in the facilities block (even if, horror of horrors, someone's used it before!
) or, act like a contortionist in a tiny cubicle, water on, off, on, off, on off, possibly hot, more likely lukewarm then dry off in equally cramped conditions! Always seemed a no brainer to me - almost always shower in the afternoon after a day's walking and can't remember ever having had to queue! 
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As stated in the Club email about price increase for 2020, that no increase of price for Cadeside. In 2019 price £i5 per night, but if you book for next year it will cost £20 per night for two adults. And that is classed as a small increase. We have always stayed at Cadeside overnight, but a 33% increase,, no thanks.
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Absolutely agree , I'v stopped using club sites for two reasons, they are expensive and not always up to standard one can find on Cls. The club needs to reflect carefully in hiking prices which are already not cheap and instead of building the gold plated facilities which tend to be in the south of england concentrate on the provision of sites with good services with extended opening periods, as many of us use our caravans/ motorhomes when club sites are closed for the winter !
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As they do when we stay in hotels, cruises etc. I don't think my extra 3 or 4 minutes in the shower is going to have much effect, particularly since I won't have been heating up water in the van anyway! Holidays are for relaxation, comfort and enjoyment aren't they? We left our days of cold water washing on bleak camping fields behind many years ago!
Anyway, to get back on thread, with inflation running at around 2% (currently) and I think someone said state pensions going up by 3.9% next year, maybe everyone should just wait and see what the actual increase figures are when they're published.
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Not really the point I was making. That £1.47 million is income that is known about and in their bank account now. The CC just have the bookings with an expectation of money at the time of arrival. Perhaps in the end they end up with a similar number of no shows. However, the C&CC have that banker, which might make planning of prices a year in advance somewhat less risky. Personally I wouldn't want the CC to go down the route of deposits, but that's another thread.
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That reminds me of the discussion a couple of years back when a former poster complained about the club's showers and taps that weren't up to the standard of the (literally) gold plated ones he/she'd used in a 5☆ hotel in Egypt!
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The CCC deposits are not all non returnable, if you cancel over 30 days ahead, you can request a refund.
I have also heard that even after that point, if you have a good reason for the cancellation, your deposit can be held to be used on a future booking.
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CL/CS owners are obviously feeling the pain as well. One owner on FB asks for opinions on electric and charges for use. So far there have been nearly 400 responses. 66 percent think charges should be made with 54 percent preferring metering and 12 percent preferring a two tiered supply (6 amps inclusive pay extra for an increase) Only 8 percent wanted to see increases in pitch fees and finally 23 percent would not use the site if electric was charged for.
Other owners seem to be taking a keen interest in the responses!
I wonder if the above viewpoints are reflected right across both Clubs' membership.
peedee
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