One Day Bank Holiday Weekend
Well I am here to moan about the poor process that the caravan club operates.
I work full time and have a family. I am also self-employed so time with my family is precious and limited. Over the last few years it has become increasingly harder perhaps impossible, to book and plan our
holidays.
Firstly we are forced to decide on a working day in December, when, where and how long we would like to go to any destination for the year. It’s like a rugby scrum as the website is so busy and overloaded that it keeps crashing and the page needs refreshing.
Secondly, if you’re lucky enough to get the site you fancied and got through on the website, you can’t book it because someone has only booked the Saturday but either side of the weekend is free. This seems to be on all of the sites including bank holidays
or summer holidays.
I don’t think I am ‘just unlucky’ as I have noticed a few people comment in the caravan magazine (March issue 2016). We generally try and get as many weekend breaks as we can but due to the nature of the booking process and people being allowed to book one
night we have been forced for the last few years to book on private sites, with our friends who have also been members of the caravan club for years.
It is now decision time for us as yet again for the Easter breaks we have booked a private site near the Lakes.
Shame on you Caravan Club! We pay membership for a service we cannot receive and yet your happy to take our monies each year.
Comments
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It's hard luck, Jomo, but the system is the same for everyone. No system will suit all due to varying personal circumstances and it is those very circumstances of yours that clash with the CC arrangements.
Perhaps it's time for a rethink if you feel your membership fee is not buying you value?
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so someone who wants to book just one night wouldn't be able to since you want to change the current system to suit your needs? Why are you different to anyone else and deserve such special treatment?
For sone reason club sites are in demand at peak times and at the moment the booking system is fair to all.
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When did you decide to book? Two weeks prior to holiday is a tad close especially for Lakes sites. I would forget the Clubs website booking, try phoning the Wardens, they may have released more pitches and get cancellations. If your needs are quite specific
ie, HS only, toilet block only, must go with friends then appreciate this won't suit. Good luck!0 -
With respect what a load of tosh. Until last year due to our circumstances we could only book sites two or three weeks in advance at the most, sometimes it was less than a week. We never had a problem finding a site, including a weekend, in areas we wanted
to go, and we never wanted to go to the same place twice, so there was plenty of choice. Admittedly, there are always a handful of sites that are fully booked the weekend you want to go at short notice, but if you desperately want a particular site on a particular
weekend you know what you have to do. Not too hard in my opinion.0 -
With respect what a load of tosh. Until last year due to our circumstances we could only book sites two or three weeks in advance at the most, sometimes it was less than a week. We never had a problem finding a site, including a weekend, in areas we wanted
to go, and we never wanted to go to the same place twice, so there was plenty of choice. Admittedly, there are always a handful of sites that are fully booked the weekend you want to go at short notice, but if you desperately want a particular site on a particular
weekend you know what you have to do. Not too hard in my opinion.I must agree, there is also the late availability on the booking screen.
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Without rehashing all the old arguments about the CC booking system, frenzy day, deposits etc (all of which, I feel, show that the C&CC have a superior booking system), I can't help feeling slightly suspicious of the OP's motives in starting this thread now. Certainly there was loads of availability over Easter at all the CC sites in the Lake District well after December 4th, so the point about not being able to book then is simply not accurate. Also, I doubt very much if anyone has booked just the Saturday and nothing else for that weekend.And it's hardly surprising that Lake District sites are showing full for Easter now, less than a fortnight away. Of course, some of these might be cancelled still, but there's no way of predicting that at the moment.
Fortunately, though, there must be many CLs in the area which would welcome your custom over the Easter weekend, if you do decide to remain members so it might be worth having a look at some of them.
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The late availability section was always our starting point.
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Well I am here to moan about the poor process that the caravan club operates.
I work full time and have a family. I am also self-employed so time with my family is precious and limited. Over the last few years it has become increasingly harder perhaps impossible, to book and plan our
holidays.Firstly we are forced to decide on a working day in December, when, where and how long we would like to go to any destination for the year. It’s like a rugby scrum as the website is so busy and overloaded that it keeps crashing and the page needs refreshing.
Secondly, if you’re lucky enough to get the site you fancied and got through on the website, you can’t book it because someone has only booked the Saturday but either side of the weekend is free. This seems to be on all of the sites including bank holidays
or summer holidays.I don’t think I am ‘just unlucky’ as I have noticed a few people comment in the caravan magazine (March issue 2016). We generally try and get as many weekend breaks as we can but due to the nature of the booking process and people being allowed to book one
night we have been forced for the last few years to book on private sites, with our friends who have also been members of the caravan club for years.It is now decision time for us as yet again for the Easter breaks we have booked a private site near the Lakes.
Shame on you Caravan Club! We pay membership for a service we cannot receive and yet your happy to take our monies each year.
I think the main reason you are finding this problem is mainly not due to people booking only one (Saturday) night, but rather what you could call "overlapping bookings"
Consider the scenario of people wishing to maximise their time away, as we used to do when we had only school holidays in which to caravan.
Work finishes too late on a Friday for many to get to their chosen site, so most will start their break on the Saturday.
However, at the end of their break, they don't want to go home till the Sunday, so they also book the Saturday night, thus making the holiday 8 or 15 nights.
So Saturdays are in great demand.
Then there are the "weekenders". Some can arrive on Friday, so book Friday and Saturday nights, but others may not be able to arrive until Saturday and wish to make the most of things so book Saturday and Sunday nights.
As far as banning anyone from booking only a Saturday goes, this is not on.
Consider those who may be travelling to and from, for example, ferries, we don''t all live close enough to the ferry ports to be able to make the journey in one day, so we need to book the Saturday night on the way down, and another Saturday night on the
way back.Or they may be travelling to a site that is too far to reach in one day. The result is the same.
No wonder Saturdays get booked up quickly!
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What a lovely welcome to a new poster!
Who has actually been posting since 2013. Hardly new.
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Well I am here to moan about the poor process that the caravan club operates.
I work full time and have a family. I am also self-employed so time with my family is precious and limited. Over the last few years it has become increasingly harder perhaps impossible, to book and plan our
holidays.Firstly we are forced to decide on a working day in December, when, where and how long we would like to go to any destination for the year. It’s like a rugby scrum as the website is so busy and overloaded that it keeps crashing and the page needs refreshing.
Secondly, if you’re lucky enough to get the site you fancied and got through on the website, you can’t book it because someone has only booked the Saturday but either side of the weekend is free. This seems to be on all of the sites including bank holidays
or summer holidays.I don’t think I am ‘just unlucky’ as I have noticed a few people comment in the caravan magazine (March issue 2016). We generally try and get as many weekend breaks as we can but due to the nature of the booking process and people being allowed to book one
night we have been forced for the last few years to book on private sites, with our friends who have also been members of the caravan club for years.It is now decision time for us as yet again for the Easter breaks we have booked a private site near the Lakes.
Shame on you Caravan Club! We pay membership for a service we cannot receive and yet your happy to take our monies each year.
I think the main reason you are finding this problem is mainly not due to people booking only one (Saturday) night, but rather what you could call "overlapping bookings"
Consider the scenario of people wishing to maximise their time away, as we used to do when we had only school holidays in which to caravan.
Work finishes too late on a Friday for many to get to their chosen site, so most will start their break on the Saturday.
However, at the end of their break, they don't want to go home till the Sunday, so they also book the Saturday night, thus making the holiday 8 or 15 nights.
So Saturdays are in great demand.
Then there are the "weekenders". Some can arrive on Friday, so book Friday and Saturday nights, but others may not be able to arrive until Saturday and wish to make the most of things so book Saturday and Sunday nights.
As far as banning anyone from booking only a Saturday goes, this is not on.
Consider those who may be travelling to and from, for example, ferries, we don''t all live close enough to the ferry ports to be able to make the journey in one day, so we need to book the Saturday night on the way down, and another Saturday night on the
way back.Or they may be travelling to a site that is too far to reach in one day. The result is the same.
No wonder Saturdays get booked up quickly!
Very well said (written)
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"We generally try and get as many weekend breaks as we can....."
Ah, so its you stopping me having a full 7 day week at the site?
I am joking but you can see that there could be lots of reasons why people find certain perceived booking patterns frustrating.
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jomo65. Just because a site is showing "yellow" on a particular day does not mean that members are only booking a single day. As KjellNN explained very well, there is probably an overlap where members take two day breaks either side of the said day, thus the middle day is full while days before and after are not showing as full but are probably very near to it, this also happens on other days of the week so is not conducive to Saturdays, hope this aids KjellNN's explanation...
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If I was self employed, with a partner, and or friends that I go with, then I would get well organised before the bookings day, decide as a team not to limit my location to a particular area, but have a plan B then:
make some time as a self employee on bookings day to make that special booking
or
let my partner make the time to be the one to make that booking
or
see if my friend and/or his/her partner could make the booking
Its not an ideal scenario, but if you need a specific location, with specific needs on possibly the busiest weekend in the year, then it's possibly the best option.
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Well I am here to moan about the poor process that the caravan club operates.
I work full time and have a family. I am also self-employed so time with my family is precious and limited. Over the last few years it has become increasingly harder perhaps impossible, to book and plan our holidays.
Firstly we are forced to decide on a working day in December, when, where and how long we would like to go to any destination for the year. It’s like a rugby scrum as the website is so busy and overloaded that it keeps crashing and the page needs refreshing.
Secondly, if you’re lucky enough to get the site you fancied and got through on the website, you can’t book it because someone has only booked the Saturday but either side of the weekend is free. This seems to be on all of the sites including bank holidays or summer holidays.
I don’t think I am ‘just unlucky’ as I have noticed a few people comment in the caravan magazine (March issue 2016). We generally try and get as many weekend breaks as we can but due to the nature of the booking process and people being allowed to book one night we have been forced for the last few years to book on private sites, with our friends who have also been members of the caravan club for years.
It is now decision time for us as yet again for the Easter breaks we have booked a private site near the Lakes.
Shame on you Caravan Club! We pay membership for a service we cannot receive and yet your happy to take our monies each year.
...I think you are being a bit off course with how you percieve the booking system ,as by the majority of posts on here in Dec were quite positive of the ease of the updated system,and as for Sat only bookings that is really just summiseing as it more likely to be overlaps, with some arriving Sat through to the following Sun and so on,sorry if as a new poster it will not be the answer you were hoping for but it is how the system has worked for the majority
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Saturday does seem to be a significant change over day in my experience. We just got back from Baltic Wharf, a small site so you are very aware of what is going on. We stopped Sunday to Sunday, but a significant number of long stayers departed on the Saturday.
Incidentally we also, when we were working, used to use Friday, Saturday and Sunday as travelling days, so each one would be spent at a different site if going any distance.0 -
No great surprise really that Saturday is busy. Still an awful lot of people employed Mon to Friday, so of course Saturday is start of weekend for most, unless they have time to get away to a close location on the Friday after finishing. Neither OH or I
worked Monday to Friday, so we never had a problem in 30 years getting away on other days of week. Traditional change over day for cottages, hotels, B and B's, although a good few are Friday to Friday as well.0 -
so someone who wants to book just one night wouldn't be able to since you want to change the current system to suit your needs? Why are you different to anyone else and deserve such special treatment?
For sone reason club sites are in demand at peak times and at the moment the booking system is fair to all.
Write your comments here...although I agree with you, why would the many retired members want to book bank holiday weekends anyway ? Sites are much more pleasant and uncrowded away from School holidays and Bank holidays, so those that NEED their weekends
away, can get them.But I also think that NO section of the Membership should be treated any differently from any other, we had to find our own way through it when WE were working and had young children. The Club is doing a good job IMHO.Those who cancel repeatedly
after booking DO get censured, so no change required there.0 -
We have retired friends who continued to holiday as they did when they were working, and it intrigued us, so we asked them why. I don't think they were sure, and to be honest I have forgotten what they replied. But a super busy bank holiday finally changed
their minds, and they now go when they feel like it, taking advantage of quieter times, less congestion on roads, discounted mid week prices.0 -
It's not rocket science , it's called pre planning & booking your holiday time when it suits you & nothing to do with the CC if you don't like the way the club is run , your choice is a easy one.
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why would the many retired members want to book bank holiday weekends anyway ? .
To be with friends/relatives who work and are able to be on holiday at that time.
"No man is an island".
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Like ET, now we are retired, we do long tours, in fact up to 3 months on some occasions, and are generally away most of April/May/June, and sometimes September/October too.
We would prefer to avoid the frequetly manic English Bank Holidays, but it just is not possible.
Same with weekends. They come round every 7 days, so impossible to avoid and leave to the workers.
We always try to start a tour on a Sunday as the roads are not so busy, and as far as possible avoid arriving on a site on a Friday or Saturday as the choice of pitches will be limited.
Most of our stops will be 3-6 nights, so we have some flexibility on arrival days.
When deciding on a tour, we check BH dates and book those sites first, then fit in the other stops around that. If we cannot get the site we wanted due to the weekend being booked, we use a CL instead.
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The OP makes it clear that it is a moan. I can empathise with the points because we like to book three week GB tours in our motorhome and we often find the weekends awkward because of the one nighters. However, we used to be occasional one nighters because
of our work commitments so I understand both sides. A bit of jiggery pokery usually finds a solution - and it's not "Go to France!"0 -
Perhaps there is another reason why sites are full and unavailable at weekends. There is another thread currently running about weekend Rallies being held on Club Sites. Could Block booking of pitches by Rally centres be a contributary factor. ????.
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I am guilty of booking a number of one night stays last year. We are not able to get away on a Friday due to work. So we leave early on Saturday, have a night out and get back late Sunday. One of the advantages of a motorhome. However I don't advance
book any one night stays, I take advantage of the late availability and book a few days before, sometimes even the day before. I too have been frustrated when I'm unable to book a weekend for a longer break, but usually there is a way around and I've never
not found somewhere to stay. The good thing about the CC is it's first come first served. Everyone has the same opportunity to book a site. If you leave it too late then tough!0
