Price increase
both me and my husband work shift, so more often then not we can only manage one weekend a month away, we are all year round caravaners , we tend to stick to camc sites as we know the standards are high and are guaranteed a good size pitch to put our out fit on and the dogs, due to the change in the booking system I have invested in a 2019 diary so we can organise our shifts to book our trips out, I'm gob smacked at the increase in the price's we don't have children or do school holidays so I'm amazed that the price for 2 nights in Bridlington for 3 adults and 2 dogs is £93,40 4-7 april has anybody else notice the price hike
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The first 2 weeks in April are often school Easter Holidays (well round here they are) so the club will indeed increase the pitch fees.
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It's the sticking to Club Sites that is your problem to be honest. You are a captive market, happy to pay whatever the Club thinks appropriate, and sadly, unless you know better, cannot take advantage of mid week discounts. I would find a nice CL, one with all the requirements you need, and compare prices. Or a small private site. There are lots of high quality CLs and small private sites out there, if you can/ want to make the break. Good luck.
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On the official school terms dates I've seen, most schools up here (Sunderland, Newcastle, Cleveland) have the two weeks before Easter, that is starting on Friday 5th April and returning Tuesday 23rd April.
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Someone had to pay for the name change. Imagine having three children, and you can only go away during school holidays, and then looking for CL’s to make it cheaper to find out that most of the suitable CL’s are adult only!
Based on the fact we pay a small fortune in fees, why do families not get a member discount as we cannot use all the club’s sites?
This year we have a three week holiday in August, one week at a club site but the other two weeks at a private site in Cornwall, with the same standard of cleanliness as a club site, but half the price.
That will be our only club site holiday this year because of the prices. In May we have rented a whole house for seven of us in Belgium for £400 a the week. No stressing about getting the caravan ready, no stressful journey there and back, we all have comfortable beds and the fuel and channel cost is nigh on half price and when we get there we have no pitch fees either.
Add all of that to the way this club, OUR club treats its members, plus the way it is going with small engines being used in cars and the onslaught about diesel cars being polluting, we will be selling our caravan, it is just not financially viable anymore.
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You can use all the club's sites, DS3, and you pay less on them than non-members.
Some CLs, which are not club sites but are privately owned, opt to be adult only for various reasons.
Would you rather those AO CLs were not granted exemption by the club which would reduce the total pool of CLs available? That wouldn’t help you at all.
I guess this will be your last membership year.
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Add all of that to the way this club, OUR club treats its members, plus the way it is going with small engines being used in cars and the onslaught about diesel cars being polluting, we will be selling our caravan, it is just not financially viable anymore.
Whereas for me to tour within the UK the caravan is the most practical solution
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It is like anything else we book or buy, shop around and book whatever you believe works best for you and your budget but as others have pointed out, £11 a night per person isn’t exactly extortionate. Last weekend we had 3 nights at Knaresborough club site for same price we are paying for 4 nights on a commercial site near Stratford On Avon next weekend, a bank holiday. It was our choice and are happy with both bookings. I simply cannot get excited about this issue, if you don’t like the club charges then you are free to book elsewhere.
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No stressing about getting the caravan ready, no stressful journey there and back
I think this was the real reason not the prices? If you found these two things 'stressful' then you shouldn't have been doing them in the first place?
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and then looking for CL’s to make it cheaper to find out that most of the suitable CL’s are adult only!
DS3, There area total of 2263 CLs at the present count, of which 1832 have EHU, and only 378 of the total are Adult Only. Surely you could find ones that are suitable for you from the other 1400 or so with EHU.
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The biggest problem is the blanket " peak" for every school holiday eventuality. At both ends of Easter there were plenty of empty pitches on club sites. The club don't seem to have the wit or desire to be flexible, like the commercials when bookings are low to try and attract extra users. Have they done any research into Easter bookings this year before putting up the blanket prices for 2019 as any competent organisation would?
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Good post DS3. A good insight into the future. Caravans as we all know them are definitely on the way out.
There will still be funky small caravans capable of being towed by lightweight town cars, so some campsites will still be required. Those campsites including CMC ones, will have permanent static accommodation for hire in large quantities, with a small number of Touring Pitches.
The future is looking so interesting, Most people will make the move to modernity and enjoy the experience, but I suspect some will flounder in the mire of " Oh why is the world moving on" and yearn for a return to the past.
Prices are not being managed properly by the CMC. They are charging far too much when the sites are underused and extending peak periods much longer than required.
K
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Could someone explain why a pitch is priced per person? OK if a couple but if a bigger family with a dog/s and awning plus extra car the price gets very expensive for being in your own caravan, especially when a club membership has been paid as well. i understand there are some posh sites around but what about the lower wage earners or people on the sick or pension. caravan holidays in the uk used to be cheap. i am being priced out of using my caravan. am i the only one?? john.
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I don't know the exact origins of the charging system but it has been the same for all the time I have been in the Club which is in excess of 35 years. There are only so many ways you can run the numbers. Any site be it a Club one or a commercial site will know what sort of return it needs in terms of fees to break even or make a profit. For Club sites it was only a few years ago that the network was making an annual loss. There are really only two charging models you either charge a set fee for the pitch and up to a certain number of occupants, although usually under this model you find there are extra charges for things like awnings and dogs etc. Or you can do as the Club do which is the have a pitch and a per person charge. In my view this is fairer because if you are a solo caravanner you only pay for one per person charge but if you are a family you pay both and adult and child per person charge. Which ever system is used you are likely to disenfranchise somebody so there is no magic bullet. Thinking back to when we had young children the annual two weeks holiday seemed quite expensive back then so I am not convinced there has been a massive acceleration of site fees. All I know is being retired it seems slightly easier to pay site fees now than it was back then!
David
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There is a price for using the pitch and an additional fee per person. I guess this is to cover the cost of those people using water, electricity, the facility block and other amenities. Obviously 6 people will use more of everything than 2.
If you don’t need all those facilities, then it may not make sense to use full facility club sites. There are cheaper options available within the club as well as outside it.
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First a pitch is not just priced per person, there is a pitch fee as well and if you were not using any other facilities other than a pitch then perhaps a pitch fee that would be fair. But each extra person in the outfit uses more of the facilities and it could be agued should pay more.
Of course there are always things that some do not use but we all contribute, I don't have a dog for example.
Also you mention dogs and awnings but these are not charged for on club sites, unlike other sites. Also there are sites where your children, up to 17, can stay for a £1.
If you have an extra car, then I'm sure you can afford the extra £2 per night?
As often mentioned club sites are middle of the road for prices and many CLs might suit you better?
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sorry TW, snap (or is that high5) my typing is slower
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A prime example of the Club overcharging is the fees for this coming early May Bank Holiday weekend. High season rates are being charged for 4 nights from Friday 4th to Mon 7th May inclusive. Yes, Monday is a Bank Holiday, but many people will return home that day ready for work/school on the Tuesday, so why charge high season for the Monday night? The alternative Club doesn't, which is one reason why I will be staying on a CCC site instead of a CAMC site..
I also now look for cheaper CL or private sites which have facilities equal to or better than Club sites, and as Club pitch fees continue to escalate, alternative cheaper sites are not difficult to find. Being retired, I was able to spend 160 nights touring last year, and hoping to do a similar number this year. Every penny saved helps!
As some people have already mentioned, the Club has to recoup the huge amount of money wasted on the corporate name change somehow, and fleecing members is an easy option. That money would have been better invested in upgrading the ageing facilities and wifi on many sites. Wifi has now become an expected amenity.
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🖐
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The long peak price period around Easter can be blamed on a meeting in 325 A.D. That was when Christians decided that Easter would be a movable feast, occuring on the first Sunday after the full moon after 21st March. And not even the astronomical full moon, but an ecclesiastical full moon!
This has unsurprisingly caused increasing confusion as time has progressed, to the point that some (perhaps now all) local authorities have tried to bring some predictable regularity into it by fixing when the celebratory holidays from education will be held in their area. This results often in there being two "Easters" - the ecclesiastical Friday to Monday and a seperate educational two full weeks.
There are also days when schools need to be closed to pupils so that staff can carry out essential non-teaching activities, and it is sensible to place these days before or after the periods when pupils are on holiday.
Where the good intentions all go to pot is that different local authorities pick different dates for Educational Easter, and for where to position the in-service days when children are also not attending. So what started out as a two day holiday spanning one weekend has expanded to a period of around five weeks when some schools, somewhere, have the pupils on holiday.
It would make a great sketch for Monty Python were it not true!
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just as an example as to how club sites are middle prices, two sites 4.4 miles apart in the Lakes. For a family of 4 during August per night
Troutbeck Head £33 ( Yes I know some have fainted already)
The Quiet Site £44, however if you children are older than 12 then it's £54, a dog is an extra £1. Minimum stay is three nights, and there is a cap on EHU, anything over 10Kwh is charged at 15p per Kwh. £10 deposit per night and :
If you cancel more than 14 days before the start date of your holiday, you will forfeit an administration charge of £10 per night booked and the balance will be refunded. Alternatively, we can issue a full credit note for all monies paid. No refunds or credit notes will be issued where a cancellation is made within 14 days of the start date of the holiday. We strongly recommend that you take out your own cancellation insurance. Monies will not be refunded should any members of your group fail to arrive or leave the site early, whatever the circumstances
Someone once posted how club sites would survive in the real world. I ask how this site survives?
And yes there are sites much cheaper than the club, so you pays your money...
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Could someone explain why a pitch is priced per person?
Its not, there is a pitch fee, then a per person charge. Obviously 6 people will use more water, heating, electric etc than say 1. Also Kids are kids up to 17 here, others may have kids to 11, 14 etc.
OK if a couple but if a bigger family with a dog/s and awning plus extra car the price gets very expensive for being in your own caravan, especially when a club membership has been paid as well.
See above for Kids and remember no extra cost for Dog, Awning here but most commercials will charge.
what about the lower wage earners or people on the sick or pension
Surely if you are "on the sick" you shouldn't be travelling but at home recuperating, if you are able to travel then pull an Aqua Roll or wastemaster about then are you really sick? Understand some people perhaps recovering from surgery or heart problems can sit in a campsite as well as home and someone would maybe look after them. As for pensioners they would probably go out of high season like most of the pensioners who post on here.
caravan holidays in the uk used to be cheap. i am being priced out of using my caravan. am i the only one?? john.
IMHO it was never a cheap hobby by time you price in the cost of buying a van/MH, insurance, maintenance, depreciation, tow car and extra fuel costs. There are many alternatives to club sites and even non facility or economy sites if you want, you are not forced to use a club site....
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