What’s the point of the Club if sites are full?
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Using the 72 hours cancellation option is available for every single one of the entire membership..... why wouldn't anyone use it. 🤔
If & when your circumstances change, it gives the opportunity for another member to book a pitch on a particular site that becomes available.
Or would you wish that changed..... Now🤭😅
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Some replies to this thread need to be in the stories section. 😁
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So you're completely in agreement with those who may have cancelled due to the weather forecast👍. I'm just clarifying because your earlier post created the opposite impression.
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We’ve amended our plans. It’s one of the Club perks😁 Much as I like Warwick, we were going to cycle. Nothing much open, foul weather forecast......🤷♀️
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Tinwheeler asked what my definition of a "touring pitch" was. Simply a pitch that cannot be booked in advance and is available to anybody who turns up on the day.
At one time in France it was a requirement for all sites to maintain a number of such touring pitches although things have probably changed. Anyway, it's very different "over there" for lots of reasons but it has to be said that if you want to find a pitch in the Med. coast in season you have to book.
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Nothing's lost on me, David🙂
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Ah, I thought you were referring to touring pitches on club sites as your issue is with the club. We all know the club doesn't do that and I'm not sure any business is going to refuse bookings for some pitches on the off-chance that someone will wander in on spec looking for such a pitch. What happens in France is a whole different kettle of, dare I say it, fish.
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I don’t think of it as “speculative” booking. I decided this year was going to be very busy, lots of new folks to touring, lots of “we’ed rather be over there” tourers, hence getting a pitch anywhere might not be as easy as it usually is. So I booked three Club Sites much earlier than we would normally do. So far, we have done one trip (and very nice it was), cancelled another because I got a better pitch at two thirds the price and needed to change my dates because we opted for a cottage holiday. Just cancelled a third Club Site booking as my stoicism doesn’t run to paying over £24 sat watching the rain coming down, with nowhere open to visit. (The lockdown conditions rather than the weather). Our final Club Site booking is still on, it’s a no facility Site that we know well, right where we need to be for an event. So doubt we will get a better price or more convenient location.
Everything else, from now on will be unbooked. Will we survive........ I think we will😁
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I don’t really care what happens in France, or Spain, or Italy, or Germany, or anywhere I won’t be going at the moment. I will do once these options are available and I choose to use them. CLs, Britstops, small private Sites serve as our roll into options in UK, granted maybe a phone call a day ahead. But then it’s a tiny place stuffed full of folks wanting to tour......🤷♀️
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The last Club site I stayed at was Chapel Lane at Wythall - it was a Monday, early in September, but a few years ago. I did phone from London in the morning before setting off, but in the event there were only a dozen outfits on the site and a hundred empty pitches.
Have things changed so much since then or will it be much the same in September this year?
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We have stayed a few nights at Chapel Lane about 4 years back, also in a September, nice enough site, quite a few places to visit, but not a huge tourist hotspot IMO.
There were however a lot more than a dozen outfits on site, but it is a very big site, so plenty of empty pitches.
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I expect months of June, July and September to be very busy everywhere. But other than the week we have booked at Marazion, for a big free event, we won’t be booking anything else at the moment.
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Missed all this but one question
...my definition of a "touring pitch" was. Simply a pitch that cannot be booked in advance and is available to anybody who turns up on the day.
Did the club ever offer that?
I left the Club last year... it is a highly specialised Club catering for a few people who want a very specific experience far removed from normal camping.
again HG makes it sound as something has changed since he left?
for a few people
You mean the few that fills sites such as the one he talks about, and manages to fill a lot of others? There must be quite a lot, and not just a few? It would appear that perhaps a lot of people want this specific experience far removed from normal camping.
Actually they have for a long time I would say.
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That 's rubbish. We have managed to tour successfully for years now, including this year, and for periods of up to 10 weeks at a time. We just don't bother much with club sites......there are lots of alternatives out there throughout the country, all one has to do is a bit of research. With the sophistication of modern vans one doesn't need all singing all dancing sites these days.
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Not sure where this fits in but a good friend and retired neighbour of mine was proudly telling me how useful the CAMC system is.
Apparently he has booked virtually every date for the year ahead and keeps booking as each month is released, some as 21 day runs, but has no intention of using more than a fraction of the days. He just cherry picks what he wants as the dates get close and cancels the rest.
The system certainly has its attractions.
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"Not sure where this fits in…." I'm not sure that it does fit at all but what a terrific coincidence that you know someone who does this!
I hate to disillusion you but I think you're being wound up - or someone is😂
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I can’t see where I said that, LLM.
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Of course one can, but it must be a very sad person who spend all that time booking sites, keeping records of when to cancel and then do the "dirty deed".
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We have now booked our trips away for much of the rest of the year. For five of our future trips away, we couldn't use this clubs sites because either the Friday or Saturday night was full, so for the sake of one night being full we have instead gone elsewhere. No real problem for us, as we bear no affinity to this club and alternatives were sometimes cheaper, but it is getting to the point where we look, often fully expecting it to be a non starter.
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apart from TW never said that, there is a huge difference between what is possible and what is probable,
Good dodge though
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Because of the club's popularity and success one simply has to book in advance on some sites. That is the nature of it at the moment but other not-so-popular products are available.
I can't fault the club for being so successful, but some do.
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I dont know whether it is a cultural difference between here and over there, or something to do with number of pitches per head of population or whatever, but, even with the caravan we used to tour quite happily in Europe. We went to France, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands. Sweden, Belgium, Luxemburg. Only ever booked the ferries. We would try & be at a site by mid afternoon to ensure a pitch. Never any problems - once turned away from a site in Netherlands, and once decided we didnt like our "chosen" site and went elsewhere. How long we stayed depended on what we found to do.
But in the UK we have always booked. We always felt we needed to to be sure of a site - whereas in Europe we always "knew" we would find one.
Not everywhere is booked up - even CMC sites aren't all fully booked - but just as in Europe we wouldn't try for a site right on the edge of the sea, there will be tourist hotspots here that will be booked up well in advance.
I think we also need to recognise that a lot of people can only book 2 or maybe 3 weeks in the summer. They will have had to book leave from work, and consequently will also have booked their holiday sites.
A high proportion of those this year will normally have holidayed abroad, either with or without their vans.
As someone said - it is what it is and those of us who are fortunate enough to have flexibility in our bookings will need to be flexible about where we stay if we are to make the most of that flexibility.
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Thats the way it works. As previous contributors have said just walk away, use alternatives, go elsewhere.
Those who dont book every possible day they may need 12 months in advance are tardy disorganized wasters who only deserve what's left after the privileged have decided they cant be bothered turning up because it will rain next week, no problem though they can try next week, or the week after, or the week after.
The site the OP tried will have plenty of availability once the block bookers decide what weeks they actually want.
One day in the not too distant future the club will be saying what ever happened to all those members we used to have.
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One day in the not too distant future the club will be saying what ever happened to all those members we used to have.
You know what P, I can recall a number of poster that have been posting that for as many years as I've been a member of CT and yet the opposite has happened.
In fact, if I recall correctly you have posted in the last two years how if the club didn't get a up to date booking platform soon it would lose members that way. That hasn't happened has it?
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