ACSI Savings
For want of something better to do I have just been working out our ACSI Saving over a 9 week holiday in Germany and Austria this year.
Out of the 8 Campsites we stopped at this year.
2 Sites did not take ACSI one we stayed 3 weeks 10% discount and left caravan there for another week unoccupied at €2 night for Electrics for Fridge, while we stopped with the Thalers in the mountains.
The other one night was Belgium enroute home.
6 Sites Saved with ACSI €459.40 with £ at rate we got then £358.59.
The most expensive was €42 a night with ACSI €19 so excellent saving there.
We did not save quite as much as other years due to spending 3 weeks on non ACSI Site.
Verdict is Would not like to be without ACSI Camping Card.
Comments
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It has certainly driven off-peak prices down. The most remarkable difference I have noticed is Bien Assise near Calais. We came back on the last day of the ACSI season and paid the maximum, about 19 Euros I think. Next day it would have been over 30 Euros.
When you compare the low prices in Europe with the U.K. you wonder how they do it, although of course there are a few ACSI sites in the UK. We have stayed at continental sites with swimming pools etc. at prices comparable to CLs over here.
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Yes, I agree that the savings can be considerable with ACSI; but I also agree that we don't choose sites on the basis of whether they are ACSI sites (and I'm Dutch at that, AD
). I certainly wouldn't stay on an ACSI site if for some reason it wasn't suitable, and would also spend more if another site
was better/more suitable.0 -
I don't doubt the big savings to be made with ACSI in Germany and Austria, but while were in France this year we stayed on three non ACSI municipal sites which cost us €14, €15 and €16 a night - and two of the three had free wifi fi. All were clean and well maintained.
Then we went to an ACSI site and paid €17 - it had a swimming pool but it was unheated and not tempting, the shop was closed, the restaurant was closed, and the wi fi had to be paid for. That site was clean and well maintained too. But a big saving? No, not really.
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I agree with AD. We will use ACSI but sometimes prefer more sedate sites. Stayed at an ACSI site near Arnhem this year. Not very good experience so after 2 nights we found a small farm site that was about €5 another dearer but miles better. However, have to say that I wouldn't travel abroad without one and we saved well over €100 on site fees in Spring with more to come in Autumn.
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Whilst we wouldn't be without the guide and it is certainly value for money, like others, we'd rather have a good site for a few Euro's more.
I am becoming increasingly concerned about the difference between SOME site owner's descriptions (using photos taken when improvements had just been made) and the reviews that are put up on ACSI website and we've sometimes found that they just don't meet
up to our expectations at all (mainly cleanliness) especially as they are supposedly inspected every year.If this doesn't change the entire scheme will lose the high respect it has?
Has anyone else found this or are we being unreasonable?
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The ACSI Card and directory is a useful tool when travelling in Europe and even on a two week holiday you are likely to recoup the cost. During our recent trip we stayed at 11 sites in Germany and Austria, 9 of them in the ACSI book. Sometimes the headline price is a bit misleading as you can end up paying between €4 and €6 euros a night over the ACSI headline price depending on what taxes they add. Probably still cheaper than the UK.
David
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The Dutch gravitate to the ACSI sites for obvious reasons which means they can sometimes be fairly full but on the other hand the Dutch are good campers and very sociable.
This year we rediscovered municipal sites in France. A couple of gems that you wouldn't find in the ACSI book.
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Whilst we wouldn't be without the guide and it is certainly value for money, like others, we'd rather have a good site for a few Euro's more.
I am becoming increasingly concerned about the difference between SOME site owner's descriptions (using photos taken when improvements had just been made) and the reviews that are put up on ACSI website and we've sometimes found that they just don't meet
up to our expectations at all (mainly cleanliness) especially as they are supposedly inspected every year.If this doesn't change the entire scheme will lose the high respect it has?
Has anyone else found this or are we being unreasonable?
Write your comments here...I've also come across this, mainly with sites in the Netherlands. There was one site we arrived at where we were informed that the ACSI scheme only applies to 2 very small pitches on the whole site. As we only have a small van
and were only stopping for 1 night it didn't stop me from insisting on using one of them. Very cheeky of site to use ACSI for advertising in this way but when we brought it to attention of ACSI they didn't seem bothered! It was a nice site in all respects
but does give a bad taste in the mouth.0 -
Have never found cleanliness a problem, but sometimes the facilities for filling water and emptying waste and toilet are less than satisfactory. And rubbish disposal can be a long way away.
Plus if a site is busy, you may end up a long way from the facilities.
We find many continental sites are laid out and run for the convenience of the owner,not the camper.
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Like others we wouldn't want to travel to europe without it as big savings can be made, but its not the only way to find sites, we have started using municipal sites in France and so far they have been good (lots more to try) Haven't found cleanliness a
problem on an ACSI site, but there are quite a few that restrict you to a certain area of the site (less desirable) or to smaller pitches. We usually have a plan b or c just incase we don't like the first site, one of the reasons why we usually arrive mid
afternoon, rather than late in the day, unless we know the site.0 -
Agree about the restriction to certain pitches, although we've only come a cross that a couple of times. One in particular told us there was only the 1 pitch which was very sloping and completely under trees with low-hanging branches, therefore it would
have been impossible anyway to get on it! There were quite a few pitches free, but obviously we couldn't use those. So instead we found a lovely municipal a couple of miles away with huge pitches and choice of where to pitch.Like TG, we normally arrive in good time, and when only travelling a short distance between sites, we arrive between 11 and 12, as some sites close for lunch.
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There are many relevant points made by, and after, Dianne and for the last couple of years we have used ACSI,last year for our whole holiday in Italy and en route.
This year we used ACSI and Camping Cheques en route and our main stay, at Playa Joyel, was using the 'pensionista' rate-I have added to the list of advantages to getting older-so our view is that the ACSI card is useful but it may not always be the main factor in choosing our sites.
One point made is the savings and these can be very good but our biggest ever savings have been with Camping Cheques, both for the site and the fact that you can access the ITX fares,and whilst they are not as attractive as previously I am in no doubt that we would never make the savings of £200 plus-on our preferred Brittany Ferries routes- by using an ACSI card that we do by by getting an ITX deal. This year cheques bought to access the ITX fare last year were used up on our overnight stops.
Another, more subjective, point is that made regarding busy/full sites. Whilst I am quite happy to sit quietely with my glass in hand looking over empty pitches my wife is not.
She hates to be on sites that, to her, feel empty and indeed that is why great though some features of Playa Joyel are-the beach especially-we would not return, other than as an enroute stop, as it felt deserted in mid June during the week.We would agree with the comment that Dutch campers are sociable and have often said that if there are a few around it is usually a plus but for us it has been an issue as we have Dutch friends,we met at Palmyre Loisiers in 1994, and when planning joint holidays they will not consider sites where they think there will be lots of other Dutch people as they want to meet other nationalities!
So, as always, we will keep an open mind,buy 3 Camping Cheques to get an ITX fare,get the ACSI card and hopefully have a great holiday.0 -
I don't know whether anyone has received a discount for showing an ADAC card but we stayed on a non ACSI site in Germany this year and when we came to pay they noticed my ADAC card and gave me a lower rate of €2 per night. So if you have one of these it
may be worth asking.0 -
There are many relevant points made by, and after, Dianne and for the last couple of years we have used ACSI,last year for our whole holiday in Italy and en route.
This year we used ACSI and Camping Cheques en route and our main stay, at Playa Joyel, was using the 'pensionista' rate-I have added to the list of advantages to getting older-so our view is that the ACSI card is useful but it may not always be the main
factor in choosing our sites.One point made is the savings and these can be very good but our biggest ever savings have been with Camping Cheques, both for the site and the fact that you can access the ITX fares,and whilst they are not as attractive as previously I am in no doubt that
we would never make the savings of £200 plus-on our preferred Brittany Ferries routes- by using an ACSI card that we do by by getting an ITX deal. This year cheques bought to access the ITX fare last year were used up on our overnight stops.Another, more subjective, point is that made regarding busy/full sites. Whilst I am quite happy to sit quietely with my glass in hand looking over empty pitches my wife is not.
She hates to be on sites that, to her, feel empty and indeed that is why great though some features of Playa Joyel are-the beach especially-we would not return, other than as an enroute stop, as it felt deserted in mid June during the week.We would agree with the comment that Dutch campers are sociable and have often said that if there are a few around it is usually a plus but for us it has been an issue as we have Dutch friends,we met at Palmyre Loisiers in 1994, and when planning joint holidays
they will not consider sites where they think there will be lots of other Dutch people as they want to meet other nationalities!
So, as always, we will keep an open mind,buy 3 Camping Cheques to get an ITX fare,get the ACSI card and hopefully have a great holiday.I believe the Dutch are very friendly to us Brits. because they like to practise their English which is often learned by watching American films but without much opportunity to speak.
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We did do a tour of the ACSI Campsites near to Arnhem after our Dutch friend visited all of them but decided not good. We stopped at a non ACSI site not expensive chosen by our friend which was excellent Warnborn Camping When planning I always look for
an ACSI Site where we want to visit first and have never been disappointed.Quite a few of the sites we use more often are 5 star and you can save up to 23 Euros .a night and very sedate never found any other sites to be better. Like 5 star hotels.
DianneT
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Thank you for the advice Dianne.
It's just that after 40+ years of travelling we have found that about 80% of the sites which we have filed away in our memories as ones we like best aren't in the ACSI discount scheme. Others may disagree.
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Like otheers we use both ACSI and CC when touring. Most of our time is spent in Spain and here the difference in choice becomes noticable. There are about 250 ACSI sites but only about 40 CC sites. Where we stay is governed by where we want to go, then we
look at what sites are in the area. Some sites, especially those with no competition are in neither scheme and charge the earth, Seville and Toledo come to mind but we only stop there for a 3-4 days to see the sights then move on. We do save money using these
schemes but if the schemes stopped we would continue to travel. When we first started travelling in France in the mid 1970s such schemes did not exist but we did not worry about it and continued touring. As has been said before CCs and ITX fares save you more
money than ACSI or CC site savings.0 -
We used an ACSI site this year in June/July in Devon which was priced at 15€ a night. It had every facility under the sun and equal if not better than many we have used abroad. We did not pay the ACSI price however as they did an over 50's discount and also
25% I think for over 5 days so it worked out overall at £1 cheaper per night. We paid £10 a night plus electric which was metered at around 20p/kWh. Regards Roy0
