Unbelieveable price increase
Comments
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I understand now Nivag. The numbers that do regularly wildcamp are relativel small from what I see but its prevalence does vary over different parts of the UK.
As I have said before in other discussions - for the times that I do most of my caravaning I do not consider that CC sites are significantly different in cost from many medium sized commercial sites. The CC sites are not in direct competition with CLs etc and certainly not wildcamping
What is your personal view Nivag?
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I personally use CLs where I can, but also use the clubs facilities, as though they are getting to a point where the cost is to be considered, you do know what you get.
Saying that I also spend sometime in France, where my preferred sites are Municipals, but also use the commercial sites when the need arises.
Naturally in this day and age, money is another considered factor, but there are plenty of options, and the world wide web, is a very useful tool, one that I use to formulate my plans and decisions.
Having recently fully retired, the world is my oyster, within reason.
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it does appear strange, as there is MDW in all months apart from June, I think perhaps the June line has been missed out?
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Possibly not an error, as September is missing as well. Perhaps they find there is no need in June and September as there are plenty of us retired folk wanting to stay. Whilst in August we tend to hibernate and Brecon is possibly not first choice for the annual family holiday.
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Hi Geneuk, thank you for your recent post. We really appreciate you taking the time to come back to the community.
Whilst prices certainly haven’t increased by 34%, there has been slight increases to site fees for 2019. Coming off the back of a Goldilocks year of weather… the beast from the East, then the hottest summer in the past 40 years, our utility costs on sites increased in 2018. To enable the Club to continue to improve existing sites and also invest in new sites, small site fee increases have been implemented for 2019.
All prices have now been updated and all of 2019 is available to book. There is also a UK Sites Price Guide available to download from the Club website here.
For more information on Club Site prices please visit our FAQs.
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Yes, I suppose they tailor the offer on each site to encourage demand at that time as shown by historical data?
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Is the MWD being subsidised by high weekend prices?
Let me explain. I have just looked at a 6 night stay at Bunree 1/4 to 7/4/19.
Total cost for 2 adults is £133.40, or an average of £22.23 per night which I consider quite reasonable. Then I looked at the breakdown of the costs.
4 nights 1-4 Apr with MWD came in at site fees £4.15 per night and 2 adults at 14.40 per night = £18.55 per night. If we disregard the MWD the nightly fees would have been £22.70, still reasonable in my book.
The Fri/Sat night fees present a different story. Pitch fees shoot up to £11.40 a £3.10 increase over the normal midweek pitch fee, or £7.25 more than the MWD. Then the per person fee increases by £1.90 per night to £9.10, or £18.20 per couple.
This means that the Fri/Sat stay on site is costing £59.20 whilst the four night M-Th stay comes in at a mere £15 more.
I'm long retired and can hitch up and go whenever I want but I wonder if these high weekend prices might be frightening those members who still have to work for a living, away from club sites.
Might it be better to have a long, hard look at MWDs and perhaps do away with them and reduce weekend rates accordingly, which may be the first step in simplifying what is becoming a pricing structure that appears to be getting more complex as each year passes?
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Other people complain that sites are booked at weekends thus preventing them booking a full 7 days.
That doesn’t fit with your theory of people being frightened away at weekends, BVM.
The club says it reduces some fees mid-week in an effort to encourage people to use sites mid-week and take the pressure off at weekends. I think your suggestion would have the opposite effect.
PS. The MWD is 50% of the pitch fee only, not the per capita fee.
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haven't looked but are the Fri/Sat nights in a different price band as it is closer to Easter? That Friday would be two weeks before Easter and so part of the school holiday, schools up here have two weeks before Easter this year and go back Tuesday after the Easter Monday BH, and therefore that Friday and Saturday may be in peak?
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Yes just checked BVM and 5/4 to 22/4 is peak with no MWD, which resumes on the 23rd
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Well TW, I've just booked the above 7 days at Bunree so the w/e's aren't booked up there, plus weekenders being frightened away by high prices wasn't a theory, just a suggestion, and perhaps my comments will get a bit of constructive debate going which might, or might not influence the shakers & movers of the CC pricing structure!
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but your reasoning that weekends and their high prices were subsidising MWD as you posted were incorrect, they are not
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You’re talking only of one particular site at one particular time, BVM. Have you not seen the numerous complaints on here about weekenders blocking sites and preventing others booking 7 nights? Believe me, there are more than I could possibly count.
Theory/suggestion is much the same thing in this case so I won’t split hairs about it.
As for constructive debate and influencing the club……😄
I like to think that the club know what they’re doing with MWD - something that’s run successfully for many years - and in your shoes I would take the glass half full approach and be glad the mid-week price was reduced.
I hope you enjoy Bunree. Personally, I prefer North Ledaig. 🙂
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Thanks CS. Being a mere Sassenach I wasn't aware the Easter school holidays started so early in Scotland. I have now brought my booking forward by 2 days and saved myself 14 quid! Not sure I understand your posting of 22:34 though.
We all grumble one way or another about the club, yet the ability to book (responsibly!) and then alter that booking as circumstances dictate without having to bother about deposits is probably one of the clubs strongest points.
TW, I have seen the many complaints about weekenders blocking sites and I don't think there is an easy answer. Perhaps requiring a deposit for bookings over weekends? I don't know.
I've thought about North Ledaig but as it's an affiliated site, which would presumably require a deposit, it has put me off. Don't get me wrong, I've used commercial sites that require deposits but within easy travelling distance of me in West Yorkshire but travelling further afield when a deposit is required makes me "a bit jittery". I've been to Bunree a few times and luckily have managed to get a pitch on the loch side every time.
ps. when do the midges come out at Bunree? So far I've missed them on my stays there.
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Well done on saving 14 quid! It’s a good job Corners spotted that and I think he’ll settle for a tenner as a reward 😁
I think most of us have been weekenders at some stage of our lives and been mighty glad of a break from work. I wouldn’t like to see those people treated differently from the rest of us by having to pay a deposit but I’m very sure that reducing weekend fees wouldn’t reduce the number of bookings.
NL charges £10 up front, £9 of which is treated as a deposit and £1 as a booking fee. West Yorks - that’s practically on the doorstep of NL 😋
Midges can be any time from May onwards. The beasties cannot be predicted with accuracy but they are rarer at NL.
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TW, NL charges of £10 is very good. I might give it a go later in the year.
I'll certainly treat Corners to a pint if I come across him on a site!
West Yorks might seem to be practically on the doorstep of NL to you in Cornwall, and at one time it would seem so to me. Having being a HGV driver for the best part of 30 years, a journey piloting 44t of juggernaut for three or four hundred miles in a day seemed nothing to me, but I'm getting older and I now find dragging a caravan 150 miles in one go is more than enough. Must admit, I've fancied a motorhome for a long time now, and would probably cover a greater distance in the day than with the caravan, but her indoors is adamant that if we did convert it would have to be a new M/H and the piggy bank simply isn't fat enough for that!
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Why not ask if you can have a look around NL when you visit Bunree?
We do cover more ground in the MH than we did tugging a cvan and being able to do 70 in the outside lane of a m/way helps as does passing lorries going downhill. We now reach the Scottish Borders in 2 days rather than 3. If you’re ever serious about changing, a pre-registered or previous year’s model could make sense. Still new in all but price.
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Will do TW.
We usually do that anyway with any club sites that are within the area we are staying, and have even done it on the odd CL. Funnily enough, we've never asked to look around an affiliated site.
We keep popping into our local caravan and motorhome dealer to see what's on offer and there are some huge discounts to be had on new/old stock unsold M/Hs but to land on the right van, at the right price, at the right time is easier said than done!
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thanks, haven't done that north Scotland for a while, so it well well happen.
A fantastic site Bunree with fantastic views but we had to leave because of the midges half way through due to the three days of rain (which going to the lakes a lot we are are used to) and this brought out the midges in vast numbers who appeared to like my middle daughter more than any of us, it was really really bad for her. This was August. But no midges and it's a great site.
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We are with TW on the North Ledaig/Bunree debate, we actually joined the Club at NL. Don’t be put off by fact it’s an AS, it’s a fabulous site, close to some very interesting places to visit. Not least Oban and ferries to a lot of islands. We popped up to Bunree for a look and decided we had made best choice. We are South York’s based, so only a tad further away than you.
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That looks nice Brue. Lovely location as well, we used to canoe out of Croabh Haven, before it was as big as it is now. One to remember for us.
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I had that one in mind as a possible alternative last year, Brue, as we booked NL at short notice from Barra.
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