Camping Cheques - The Future
What have others heard, know or think about the future for camping cheques?
This year I have used both camping cheques and ASCI to pay for sites and after hearing from caravanners and site owners I must say I have doubts about the future of camping cheques in their present format.
The first warning sign came from a caravanner returning home and he told me his chosen site on the Med Coast had stopped taking cheques mid way through the start of the season. Apparently for contractual reasons. (Finance & payment)
I used three sites paying with cheques and they are pulling out at the end of this season because they are fed up with the way the system is run. With increasing pressure because of changes to the rules has made them think again. Every one of them is going
over to ACSI
One site, which accepted both schemes, was also leaving camping cheques because of ACSI stipulating they couldn’t charge an ACSI fee which was more than camping cheques so they have decided to leave camping cheques thus allowing them to charge a higher ACSI
rate next year.
What worries me now is that to load up my silver card with cc credit will I be entitled to a refund if something goes wrong ie they cease to function. I think not, so next time I will be happy just to use ACSI
So as the topic says, is there any future in camping cheques.
Comments
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I don't know Harryb, but I was very grateful to ValDa for posting the list of sites dropped out this year. One of the sites that we stayed on was in both schemes, but is likely to drop CC as like you said they can't charge more on acsi than a CC would be.
Another site that we like was sooooo busy this year we only stayed long enough to use the 4 CC we had left on the card (usually its only half full at time of year) another site we stayed on was in CC last year but had dropped out for this year. There are so
many groups that now offer their own discount scheme maybe the CC will die out very soon.0 -
I hope both big discount schemes survive and thrive - they serve me well by mopping up the masses. I have said many times before that I find peaceful, near empty sites across France up to early July by avoiding sites in either scheme, and on throughout July by using municipal sites. And I don't mind paying a couple of euros more for all that.
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Over the last few years there have certainly been quite a number of sites which either changed from CC to ACSI, or accepted both for one year then dropped out of CC the next. I wouldn't load up a silver (or gold) card either HarryB. Let's face it, if you
did go to a site which still accepted CCs, and didn't have enough, you can then load the necessary amount of cheques there and then. You wouldn't be left with any unwanted in case they did go down the pan.0 -
We haven't used Camping Cheques for a couple of years now and unless there was a particular campsite that accepted them which I wanted to stay on I don't think I would bother. As I have said several times in recent times I don't see why I should pay an admin
fee to buy them. I do wonder what the actual take up of CC's would be if they were no longer available as freebies with certain ferry crossings. This year we used a mix of ACSI sites and sites we found in the Caravan Club European guides. We paid on average
£17 a site. That might seem a bit high but in Germany and Austria where the bulk of the stay was they charge a lot of extras. The cheapest site in France we stay in, not in ACSI was about £10 a night!!! I am sure that with the downward spiral of sterling
CC's will appear to be expensive for next year although in reality they will only be responding the level of sterling. In answer to Harry's question answers on a post card please.David
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This is a topic that comes up quite often and my response is always the same.
For me the massive,and yes I do mean massive, savings that I have made,and will continue to make if my recent quote on the CC site is anything to go by, make up for any other shortcomings. I have had holidays of over 4 weeks all on cheques sites but now
that would be highly unlikely due to the number that have dropped out. This year I used three cheques sites en route to our site in Spain and three cheques is all you need buy to get an ITX deal so saving, on the Brittany ferries routes I use, over £200 on
the price without an ITX package.Yes, if you are on other routes and wont use the cheques it may not be worth it but it has saved us an awful lot of money and long may it continue.
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Re my recent quote, I have just redone it and got a price from BF as well;
Brittany Ferries price;
Vehicle and Passengers 289.00 GBP Inside 2 berth cabin with ensuite facilities, bunk style beds 1 55.00 GBP
Return Sailing Vehicle and Passengers 259.00 GBP
Total 603.00 GBP
Ferry booking via Club with Camping Cheques
Plymouth to Roscoff ferry (Brittany Ferries)
Departs: 15/06/2017 20:45
Arrives: 16/06/2017 08:00
Ship Name: Pont Aven
2 Adults
1 x BRIT 2 bunk ensuite - inside
Ferry booking
Roscoff to Plymouth ferry (Brittany Ferries)
Departs: 09/07/2017 09:15
Arrives: 09/07/2017 13:30
2 Adults
Camping cheques-7 cheques
£346.55If you take of the value of the Caping Cheques-£104.65- that makes the ferry
£241.90 so a saving of £361.10.So even if you threw away the 3 cheques that you need to buy to get the deal you would still save
£316.25, on theses dates and sailings.0 -
We're on a site now, which is quite happy to accept our Camping Cheques (up until the 15th July), so we will download six to our Gold Card tomorrow, to pay our fees - including the admin fee this is still a considerable saving on the standard 'at the gate'
tariff.I'm not sure what the future is - Camping Cheques went wrong, in my opinion, quite a few years ago when ACSI was the 'rising star' and they didn't appreciate the opposition. However, I'm not sure that buying
an ACSI Guide will qualify for the 'ITX' rates which give such a good deal on the ferries. Let's hope for some sort or amalgamation, rather than the demise altogether of Camping Cheques, which started out with such noble aims - a consortium of four star site
owners who wanted to attract more low season business.0 -
I think the one thing that would make them more popular would be for them to be sold over the counter at face value. Some of you might remember that this happen some years ago when a large caravan dealer, can't remember which one, started to sell them that
way. If you think about it the Club run the franchise in the UK and they already have 200 ready made outlets for selling them. The system is over complicated, simplify the system and it might stand a chance of survival.David
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I have long been predicting the demise of Camping Cheques - they have been ripping us (and the sites) off for too long. Some of you may not realsie that they only pay the sites euro 11 against the near euro 20 which we pay for the cheques. And they make
the sites wait till the end of the season to be paid. And don't forget that we give CC an interest free loan of up to 2 years and lose the value of the cheques if we don't use them in 2 years. What about the admin fees?I could go on !!
I only buy CC to get the discounted ferry fares.
What a wonderful £4 million purchase of the Alan Rogers/UK Camping Cheque franchise made by the Club - most of which has been written off in the Club's accounts.
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I think the one thing that would make them more popular would be for them to be sold over the counter at face value.
Some of you might remember that this happen some years ago when a large caravan dealer, can't remember which one, started to sell them that way. In you think about it the Club run the franchise in the UK and they already have 200 ready made
outlets for selling them. The system is over complicated, simplify the system and it might stand a chance of survival.David
Yes, David, that was Discover Leisure, which is no longer. We live within walking distance from where one of their branches was, and I remember buying some cheques there some years ago. Straightforward, no fees, an over the counter purchase like everything
else in the accessories shop.In Holland, the ANWB (equivalent to the AA and RAC over here) has shops in various locations where you could buy cheques over the counter too. They stopped selling the cheques from 1 December 2014 and they can now only be bought from CC direct in Holland.
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We only once bought cheques outside a package deal but, if I did so now, the price would be £6.50 to be delivered. I do not like paying for such like but see no benefit in their being sold direct unless it was on virtually every site and caravan related
premises such as dealers as £6.50 would not get me far to collect them.Not sure how I would be giving CC a loan but fully understand that they are non refundable. Unlike most other purchases I could perhaps sell them on if not going to use but if out of date its into the bin as with other things I bought with the best of intentions
but I have not been able to use.0 -
I too take the minimum number of paper cheques as part of a package to get cheaper fares out of Plymouth, but never use them - they are only valid at the sort of sites I never go to. So three forum friends take them off my hands for a tenner a time.
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This year we met a couple who ONLY use camping cheques when they go abroad. They were away for 3 months and every site they stayed on was CC's they said that some of them were a bit run down, while others were fine. We thought this was a heck of a financial
commitment before going on holiday for that length of time, they said they don't like carrying a lot of money with them to pay for sites. They hadn't heard of pre-paid cards or how they work, or the fact that you can get Debit cards /Credit cards fee free.0 -
This year we met a couple who ONLY use camping cheques when they go abroad. They were away for 3 months and every site they stayed on was CC's they said that some of them were a bit run down, while others were fine. We thought this was a heck of a financial
commitment before going on holiday for that length of time, they said they don't like carrying a lot of money with them to pay for sites. They hadn't heard of pre-paid cards or how they work, or the fact that you can get Debit cards /Credit cards fee free.You're right TG, what a financial commitment, buying 3 months' worth of CCs! And they are also limiting themselves so much in terms of where they can stay in that way of holidaying. I hope you enlightened them, so that next time they can spread their wings
a bit more!0 -
This year we met a couple who ONLY use camping cheques when they go abroad. They were away for 3 months and every site they stayed on was CC's they said that some of them were a bit run down, while others were fine. We thought this was a heck of a financial
commitment before going on holiday for that length of time, they said they don't like carrying a lot of money with them to pay for sites. They hadn't heard of pre-paid cards or how they work, or the fact that you can get Debit cards /Credit cards fee free.You're right TG, what a financial commitment, buying 3 months' worth of CCs! And they are also limiting themselves so much in terms of where they can stay in that way of holidaying. I hope you enlightened them, so that next time they can spread
their wings a bit more!We certainly tried
we were on L'Amfora which was really busy (full) yet next door in Aquarius there was plenty of pitches. We looked in at
Aquarius and would have stayed there but for the Cc's we had to use by the end of this year. We suggested they take a look next door at an Acsi site, they did but are still not sure about having to carry money or cards
AD couldn't agree more we use both of the discount schemes and have found some lovely sites, likewise we have stayed on Municipals and private sites, if its in the right place and its a good reasonably price site then its OK.
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We're the same, AD and TG; we use a mixture of CCs, ACSI and municipal sites (and also aires if they're nice and where we want to be, don't like the car park variety). That mixture gives lots of choice of site, but stilI can't believe someone only using
CCs for 3 months.0 -
We're the same, AD and TG; we use a mixture of CCs, ACSI and municipal sites (and also aires if they're nice and where we want to be, don't like the car park variety). That mixture gives lots of choice of site, but stilI can't believe someone only using
CCs for 3 months.Neither could we but they do it every year
this year was the longest they have been away though.0 -
I do think getting the Cheques included when booking the ferry crossing is a Bonus for Many. Like us who only go to france once a year might occur a problem ie what happens if our selected site stops using them. If we had more time to travel aorund and find a site that does accept them all well and good. So yes it would be a problem for us lets home our Visit in August works out ok for us.
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I’ve been using Camping Cheques for many years and I’ve always been pleased with them. There are perhaps not quite so many sites listed this year. I also used ACSI back in 2011. ACSI have more sites but I prefer the layout of the Camping Cheque Guide and
the way the sites are shown on their map. On the year that my continental holiday had to be cancelled due to bereavement we used the cheques in the UK. The UK sites are excellent and with Camping Cheques are far better value for money than Club sites.0 -
I wonder if the Caravan Club has anything reassuring to tell members who use Camping Cheques as are the agents for their sale in this country.
It's interesting that searches show that quite a few sites which used to accept Camping Cheques are now displaying 'This site has left the network during the season'.
I would suggest that those using Camping Cheques, or planning to use them, check the Camping Cheques website before setting off - to find up to date information about a particular site.
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I wonder if the Caravan Club has anything reassuring to tell members who use Camping Cheques as are the agents for their sale in this country.
it's now two weeks since I started this post. I feel that if the club wanted to tell us anything they would have done so by now. Perhaps camping cheques have become an embarrassment to them since they took them over in the UK.
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Had Hazel still been with the Club she probably would have responded. Do we know if the Overseas brief position has been filled?
David
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Elima
If you mean the camping cheque directory then look at their web site.
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