Booking a specific pitch
Comments
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So how does it work so well on many commercial sites then?
The last two sites we were on, we booked a specific pitch. Didn't seem to cause them (or anyone arriving) a problem.
As I may have said earlier (can't remember now), I think it works for sites that often have spaces or for sites that are always fully booked. Those who frequently have spaces have the flexibility and those who are often fully booked are probably confident that they will have sufficient folk come along soon who are prepared to accept the right number of day slots they have available.
A couple of sites we are using (one in France and one in Italy) are like this. I rang up to book a pitch in January and I had the last pitch for my dates.
Another way which some sites get around it is by imposing other booking restrictions e.g. you can only book Saturday to Saturday, Sunday to Sunday etc. I have known sites that have done this before now. Some are well enough subscribed for them not to worry about the odd day or two empty pitches.
There are, of course many private sites who will not allow individual pitches to be booked. There are others would will use 'selective guidance': Whereby they will only offer a restricted selection of pitches in order to maximize their booking capacity.
Each to there own, I guess. We use a variety of different type of sites according to what we want at the time. It's good to have a different choice of systems, I guess.
David
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Some good points, David.
So I guess it comes down to:
a) Is it technically possible to have a system whereby you can book a specific pitch? I think the answer to this must be Yes - because so many operators do it.
b) Do we want such a system? Mixed views on this one. As I said at the start, I used to be fairly neutral on this, but now I think it would be a good idea......if only to avoid the 12 noon rush for pitches and to thereby spread the load for wardens and hopefully
to stop people arriving before 12.Of course, it would have the added advantage that people would definitely have to leave at 12 if their pitch was booked by a new arrival......not that this was part of my thinking, of course!
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Yes, we tend to gravitate to sites with only hard standings. However would consider grass if in drought conditions!
Thankfully we are a touring club which means we can book single nights or up to 21 consecutive nights and as such the system lends itself to a choose on arrival arrangement just as its always been.
We can also turn up 'on spec', although this may not be that easy these days, it can still be done!
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Some good points, David.
So I guess it comes down to:
a) Is it technically possible to have a system whereby you can book a specific pitch? I think the answer to this must be Yes - because so many operators do it.
b) Do we want such a system? Mixed views on this one. As I said at the start, I used to be fairly neutral on this, but now I think it would be a good idea......if only to avoid the 12 noon rush for pitches and to thereby spread the load for wardens and hopefully to stop people arriving before 12.
Of course, it would have the added advantage that people would definitely have to leave at 12 if their pitch was booked by a new arrival......not that this was part of my thinking, of course!
Another issue to overcome is when someone has been on a pitch for a week for example, the weather is glorious they decide to stay another couple of nights. pops down to the office to extend and we have to say "yes, by all means but you will have to move pitchs as the one you are currently on is booked" I would the answer would be okay thanks but no thanks and the end result is a loss of income.....
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Some good points, David.
So I guess it comes down to:
a) Is it technically possible to have a system whereby you can book a specific pitch? I think the answer to this must be Yes - because so many operators do it.
b) Do we want such a system? Mixed views on this one. As I said at the start, I used to be fairly neutral on this, but now I think it would be a good idea......if only to avoid the 12 noon rush for pitches and to thereby spread the load for wardens and hopefully to stop people arriving before 12.
Of course, it would have the added advantage that people would definitely have to leave at 12 if their pitch was booked by a new arrival......not that this was part of my thinking, of course!
Another issue to overcome is when someone has been on a pitch for a week for example, the weather is glorious they decide to stay another couple of nights. pops down to the office to extend and we have to say "yes, by all means but you will have to move pitchs as the one you are currently on is booked" I would the answer would be okay thanks but no thanks and the end result is a loss of income.....
A good point. I was looking for a booking a couple of days ago and noticed one site with one day free which is unlikely to be booked. Booking specific pitches would make this worse and for those without a specific pitch booked you would have the wardens having to list possibly thirty or fourty pitches you could or could not take which would also cause problems.
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Some good points, David.
So I guess it comes down to:
a) Is it technically possible to have a system whereby you can book a specific pitch? I think the answer to this must be Yes - because so many operators do it.
b) Do we want such a system? Mixed views on this one. As I said at the start, I used to be fairly neutral on this, but now I think it would be a good idea......if only to avoid the 12 noon rush for pitches and to thereby spread the load for wardens and hopefully
to stop people arriving before 12.Of course, it would have the added advantage that people would definitely have to leave at 12 if their pitch was booked by a new arrival......not that this was part of my thinking, of course!
Another issue to overcome is when someone has been on a pitch for a week for example, the weather is glorious they decide to stay another couple of nights. pops down to the office to extend and we have to say "yes, by all means but you will have to move
pitchs as the one you are currently on is booked" I would the answer would be okay thanks but no thanks and the end result is a loss of income.....No, I think most people would readily accept this situation.......in fact, we have seen this on a commercial site that we stay on. The people on our pitch were just moving to another pitch as we arrived.
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I'm darn sure I wouldn't accept it!
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A good point. I was looking for a booking a couple of days ago and noticed one site with one day free which is unlikely to be booked. Booking specific pitches would make this worse and for those without a specific pitch booked you would have the wardens
having to list possibly thirty or fourty pitches you could or could not take which would also cause problems.No, not the case actually.
The computer booking system would be able to allocate pitches far more efficiently than the random 'self select on arrival' method. This would result in higher occupancy.
The computer could also print out a simple plan showing what was available for new arrivals who chose not to pre-select.
It's definitely the way to go.
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Another issue to overcome is when someone has been on a pitch for a week for example, the weather is glorious they decide to stay another couple of nights. pops down to the office to extend and we have to say "yes, by all means but you will have
to move pitchs as the one you are currently on is booked" I would the answer would be okay thanks but no thanks and the end result is a loss of income.....I am guessing but I would think people extending their stay on an ad hoc basis like this is pretty rare on CC sites? Yes the retired folks might be able to - assuming the site wasnt booked up - but working folks are unlikely to be able to. The same could
easily also apply in the current booking set up if you were on a service pitch, for example, or an awning pitch if they were all fully booked etc.0 -
I'm darn sure I wouldn't accept it!
You might not have to.....if no-one had booked your pitch on your extended days. In fact, most probably you wouldn't have to move.
I'm sure I wouldn't have to move pitch! I'd move to another site if that was the case and leave CC - if it was a CC site we're talking about.
Are you aiming to create another Sunday thread, Ian?
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Bit drastic Tinners......would you also leave in a huff if the site was fully booked, preventing your extended stay?
Or you were on a specific type of pitch - eg service, booked hardstand, awning etc - that was fully booked so you would have to move or go?
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Another issue to overcome is when someone has been on a pitch for a week for example, the weather is glorious they decide to stay another couple of nights. pops down to the office to extend and we have to say "yes, by all means but you will have to move pitchs as the one you are currently on is booked" I would the answer would be okay thanks but no thanks and the end result is a loss of income.....
I am guessing but I would think people extending their stay on an ad hoc basis like this is pretty rare on CC sites? Yes the retired folks might be able to - assuming the site wasnt booked up - but working folks are unlikely to be able to. The same could easily also apply in the current booking set up if you were on a service pitch, for example, or an awning pitch if they were all fully booked etc.
I can assure you that on a daily basis we get members who come into reception and extend their holidays
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Bit drastic Tinners......would you also leave in a huff if the site was fully booked, preventing your extended stay?
Bit drastic Tinners......would you also leave in a huff if the site was fully booked, preventing your extended stay?
Or you were on a specific type of pitch - eg service, booked hardstand, awning etc - that was fully booked so you would have to move or go?
Ian, if the site was fully booked I would obviously have to leave. Why would you think I'd be in a huff?
The same goes for you, BMB, as you are talking about specific pitch types.
Sorry, but it's not the same thing at all even though you'll both doubtless say it is.
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Thankfully we don't have to book a minimum of a week or even two nights for that matter.
Thankfully we don't book a specific numbered pitch.
Thankfully we choose from what is available on arrival!
Can't see the current system changing either. I, and I'm sure many others, I guess, like the different ways in which the club and their competitors operate, variety is good and provided us with options.
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I remember our old mate Britdaz making the case for booking a specific pitch!
What is there to gain in this? Unless you're a regular visitor to the same CC site how are you going to select a particular pitch? I can see those folk who, allegedly, block book every weekend at Chatsworth/Rowntree/Baltic Wharf rubbing their hands with
glee.But, come on, how many of us regularly visit the same CC site time and time again. And what difference is there, at the end of the day, between one pitch and another?
The CC booking system has its faults, but to me this is change for change's sake. OK, let's go with choosing a pitch type, let's extend the cancellation period, let's have a financial penalty for late cancellation/non arrival, but booking a specific pitch?
Can't see any benefit at all to be honest!0 -
It would be handy if you could have a choice of hard standing or grass. We arrived at a site in wet weather and were told the remaining grass pitches were not suitable for motor homes and had to spend the night in late arrivale and wait in the morning till
someone left a hard standing. I not bothered about a particul pitch but a choice of standing would be helpful it wouldn't be that hard to do0 -
Just to be clear.....I'm not suggesting that you would have to chose a specific pitch - it would be an option. If you want to just turn up and chose, then you could do......so nothing changes for those who don't like change.
I would also suggest an extra charge of £5 to £10 for making a pitch choice - again, normal practice on the many commercial sites that offer it.
So it would provide extra income for the Club to invest in our sites network
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Just to be clear.....I'm not suggesting that you would have to chose a specific pitch - it would be an option. If you want to just turn up and chose, then you could do......so nothing changes for those who don't like change.
I would also suggest an extra charge of £5 to £10 for making a pitch choice - again, normal practice on the many commercial sites that offer it.
So it would provide extra income for the Club to invest in our sites network
I think that would only work, and even then not that well, if a block of pitches were set aside to be bookable, but then that would limit the choice for all.
If any pitch were bookable in advance then say I came to site X having booked for 7 nights, and chose pitch 23. Warden says "OK, but that pitch is prebooked in 3 days time so you will have to move then to pitch 25"
Nobody wants to be doing that sort of thing.
Pre- booking of individual pitches is bound to lead to less availability all round and more pitches sitting empty between bookings.
Only works on sites where the bookable dates are fixed, or there is over-capacity.
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Not that I can see the current arrangements changing but let's have a think, where would these prebookable specific pitches be, under the shade of the trees, near the playground, next to the dog walk? Who would decide which pitches would be designate as
such? Who would decide what percentage of pitches on a site be designated as such? Would that percentage change for quieter and busier times? Would they be only available to book for a short window of opportunity as I guess they would have to be a bookable
for a minimum number of nights. Finally, although I'm sure there are lots more issues to consider, which sites would be chosen for such attention and what facilities would be considered essential on such sites?No, we are a touring club, can't see it happening at all but if folk wanted this kind of booking then some commercials do offer that facility and probably a different type of holiday experience to boot.
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