What is the advantage of being a member
I am a new caravan owner and member. Please can someone explain the benefit of being a member and if it is worth renewing my membership. I can stay on better camp sites than the CAMC at a cheaper price and I struggled to find a site with vacancies as it appears people block book and then cancel at the last minute, the insurance was less than half the price with an insurance company for the same cover that the CAMC offeted I just can't see any benefit in being a member, please enlighten me.
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You have answered your own question there Cat 19. If there are no benefits to you then don't renew. It really is that simple and only you can make that decision.
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It sounds to me like you've already made up your mind but here’s a list:
- A saving of £13 per night on club sites which are of a known standard.
- Access to around 2000 CLs for members only.
- Discounted ferry and overseas site fees.
- Numerous offers at retail outlets.
- Discounts on entry into numerous attractions.
- Various insurance products.
- A caravan/MH inspection service.
- Mayday breakdown & recovery service.
- Numerous pieces of advice and information available from this very page.
- A legal dept you can contact for advice.
- The pleasure of our scintillating company.
There's bound to be something I've forgotten.
Oh, yes. A superb booking system that allows you to book 12 months ahead and you can cancel/amend without penalty up to 72 hours of arrival. A booking system that doesn’t demand a deposit or payment in advance yet prevents abuse by not allowing double booking for the same dates.
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No deposits and easy cancellations
Free and unlimited dogs
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Cheers. I edited as you posted👍🏻.
Ooh, I forgot mid-week discounts and reduced or free stays for children.
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As CS has said, if you can't find it worthwhile then don't renew.
We are happy with paying about £1.00 per week for access to the C.L.s alone. We've had over £20 back this year through discounts on outdoor clothing and maps.
For access to nearly 2,500 sites I think it's value and don't intend to cut my nose off to spite my face. I do use Independent sites as well if and when needed so am not wedded to the club. It's just another vehicle for finding a campsite where I want to be.
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Cat 19, I think we have all asked the question and the answer is different for us all.
I have found car and caravan insurance used to be very competitive, but this is no longer the case and they are running at close to double independent suppliers. I still cannot fathom this out when you consider how big the club is.The site network is also expensive. Special offers are not really special unless you need them and usually 5 minutes on the net sees a better return.
What sells it for me is Europe, when we are allowed to travel again with ease. The discount on one return crossing alone can cover a years subscription. Add to this UK and European breakdown cover and things look good. Finally the CL's network is excellent.
Oh, the magazine, what can I say about it. Am I alone in thinking the balance has gone astray. I want to know about caravans and equipment along with tow cars. Others have a desire to know about motorhomes. We are all interested hopefully in sites and touring but I'm not into 6 page spreads on wildlife, butterflies, birds and dog baskets. I understand these are of interest to many out there, but why they appear in a caravan magazine is beyond me.
Colin
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You don’t say just how new a Member you are Cat19, but maybe you have been a tad unlucky not getting all the bookings you wanted, perhaps cannot be as flexible in your requirements as many others, and maybe haven’t given yourself enough time to make the most of what is on offer?
Lots of us find something that irritates us, or makes us question the value of membership every now and then, but most folks seem to do all right out of their Membership, and know how to use the various advantages that give plenty back in terms of paying that fee. We never fail to get our fees back on special offers, or very cheap CL Site fees, so it’s good value for money for us. A few have saved thousands of pounds on buying a special offer car, but it’s what suits your circumstances really.
Have a good think, make sure you ponder over the advantages listed above, and then decide?🙂
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Try going away for a weekend/few days midweek to a CL site.
A lot cheaper than a club site and you will probably need to rely on your on-board facilities however a greater degree of informality/flexibility, some with cracking views and usually a friendly owner/member.
Sometimes (by arrangement) arrival departure times are more flexible.
Enjoy your new hobby.
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Worth it for the CL network. If it was solely club sites then I wouldn't bother.
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I would appear the club is not for you, we like other members cherry pick things we like about the club and use them, yes we booked a site last year for next month but sadly needed to cancel it for personal reasons but noted it was soon booked again and we managed book another pitch on a popular site when a pitch became available and even manged to amend the booking for a longer stay all done on the web site. (very slowly of course)
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Which part of the country are you in? We could advise you of some excellent CLs in your area. We are going to one in Derbyshire next month, serviced pitches, hard standings, peace and quite and all within site of a large lake. All for £18 a night
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I struggled to find a site with vacancies as it appears people block book and then cancel at the last minute,
For a break, as long as your not fixed on one particular popular site, I don’t think it’s as difficult as folk make out. Clearly if your looking for a week, unless you can plan ahead, that is going to be more difficult. Particularly at the moment with less RV’s going over there. I don’t know where you are based, but as an example the photos show availability in our go to area of the Peak District, for the next 3 weeks. Except for the bank holiday, which is to be expected, it would be easy enough to get a short break away, even over some weekends.
For us the benefits are clear. We like the sites, ease of booking and T&C’s. Generally I think the prices are OK, however they do milk peak to excess.
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We had a big tour arranged and did all the bookings to be sure it could work in January of this year ,
Since then because of mostly venue cancellations in Scotland and health reasons ,we have had to rearrange a big part of it, and with it being school holiday time it was much more difficult , but here we are , after starting at the last week in June .we are now at Clumber Park after a trip via Cambridgeshire , Lincolnshire, and three sites in Yorkshire on the way home Via Ferry Meadows including the August bank holiday, so as spoken about on here and as the club have said what block booking? And the sites we have used have all been in popular areas
Too popular as far as Scarborough and Whitby were concerned, with very few of those visiting taking any covid precautions,
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How's about the use of the extensive CL network of 5 van sites , where the choices of destinations are massively greater than the club's sites alone, that is worth the membership fee by itself.
If you use your own unit's facilities, rather than the ones on club sites, which are included in the price wether used or not, the saving on staying on CL sites is massively less.
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Benefits for me are,
The CL network
The home insurance, 90 days out of home as standard.
The ferries/tunnel
Ease of booking and the T&Cs
The other discounts with suppliers, we saved more than the membership just on a tow bar. Then again on a washing machine.
Days out attractions are good value.
If it were just the sites I would have walked years ago due to the rising prices.
We have also met some wonderful people who we now regard as 'friends'
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