Dynamic pricing to be introduced
Comments
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It's logical as the demand for CLs could be high.
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As peedee said the other club went down this road awhile back. I don't have a problem with it I prefer to keep my money in the bank until I need to spend it so rarely book a year in advance, a month in advance would be early.
I wonder what they will now do if someone books a year in advance to get a good price, then decides to add additional days to that booking.
a, will they get the additional days at the original price.
b, will the additional days be calculated at the newer probably inflated price or
c, the whole booking gets cancelled and a new booking is made at the inflated price of course.
If you have to change pitch type will that be taken at the new inflated price or just the difference between the 2.
The other club has been known to cancel the whole booking and re-book at the inflated price. So many questions to be answered.
Might not re-new this year to see how its all going
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It will be your option "c" with the addition of a penalty for doing it.
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The access to the ever decreasing number of cl type sites will be the only reason for me to renew my 49 year membership this year,I will be moving my caravan insurance to another provider,I will refuse to use "club" sites even if it is inconvenient and I will encourage members of my family and their friends to go elsewhere!When I was employed in the leisure industry selling caravans and the lifestyle I would very often recommend the customer to join a club and we used to sell the membership packs....maybe I should be taken to court for mis selling!
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Just had a look in the Booking Experience section and there is further updated information about booking and pricing on there if you expand the FAQs, the club responses are in line with the FB comments made by the OP and others.
They are very much going to make later bookings less attractive price wise.
As a paid up member I find this is just becoming some sort of silly game. And as part of the 50% who book later rather than earlier (with occasional exceptions) this is poor customer service.
I have never seen so much "information" regarding what should be a simple booking process. Is someone at CAMC hoping to win a prize for literature!!
https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/booking-experience/
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Thank you DK, I had missed this. It won’t impact us whatever they do, if they aren’t happy to take our short notice custom, at a decent price, we shall simply walk away.
Cls, thankfully are mini businesses and are generally happy to be a lot more fluid.
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I'm not sure about the ever decreasing number of CL type sites. There are now more operators in the field so more CLs not certified by the two big clubs.
I think more of us will be using websites like Search For Sites to find our sites instead of just relying on the Club directory.
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Has the club stated specifically that the cheapest pitches will be the earliest booked??
Dynamic pricing is just that. It adjusts pricing based upon supply, demand and how much time prior to the start of the holiday
Used by all holiday companies / airlines etc.
Some of the best British Airways flight prices can be found close to departure dates.
How else do you control supply and demand? Move back to the annual booking day where a giant queue controls demand and those with the most computers snag all the best sites and pitches??
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Same here. I’m not sure what folk thought would happen, along with the introduction of deposits. Dynamic pricing was the only logical outcome. If you introduce deposits, which makes booking later more possible, you have to dangle a carrot to encourage early booking and get those deposits flowing in. We tend to book early and so far of those I have booked, some pre, some post deposit, there has been a significant saving. If we have definite plans to go somewhere on a tour it makes sense to get it booked rather than wait. The booking is then guaranteed and although the price might come down at the last minute, will it bring the price below that achieved by booking early?
Our deposit isn’t at risk until 21 days before, so the only downside to booking early is that you have to part with a deposit up to 12 months before. However, even if all my 33 days of booking had required a deposit, the interest I would have made on keeping the money in my savings account, would only a mount to 1.5 days worth of subsequent price increases.
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Yes, see Goldie's post near the beginning of this thread this quotes exactly what the club have said in booking details in their New Booking Experience area. So you might pay more the later you book. However since there are no other offers available pricing is rather "up in the air "
In comparison the C&Cc have a defined price list for 2023 and defined reductions/offers. These will no doubt be adjustable but it's interesting to see how both clubs approach their customer base.
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As I rarely book anywhere more than a week ahead, it's a further disincentive to use a CAMC site. As if they weren't already expensive enough, the threat of even higher prices to us late bookers will reinforce the incentive to go elsewhere. As for the potential for a really last minute discount - yeah, right.
I sometimes wonder about the CAMC's financial strategy. Are they fattening up to sell off to some offshore hedge fund?
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In comparison the C&Cc have a defined price list for 2023 and defined reductions/offers. These will no doubt be adjustable
Yes they leave the price list open to adjustability with that asterisk thingy alongside site pricing 2023, which refers to a comment further down reading subject to change and another directing you to the web site for the most up to date prices. It Looks like dynamic pricing to me!
They are less with age related discount though.😀
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To me “subject to change” is a little more definite than “may increase”. However basically they mean the same thing. Prices could go up down or stay the same. The market will decide. As I said above, once they decided on deposits it was the only logical outcome.
As with all things some will like it some will not. No deposits benefitted amongst other the speculative bookers, where as the new system benefits those who are prepared to commit a deposit early, as is the case for many leisure industry providers. It may also provide some late last minute bargains for those who don’t want / can’t book early. Only time will tell.
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I think it will depend on the number left David. A few years ago we went to Avignon on Eurostar. Two non refundable first class return tickets booked 6 months before cost £400. Just out of interest I looked just before our journey and the same tickets were priced at £1000. The train appeared full.
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Goldie's post contains the details which the club have also placed on line in the New Booking Experience area via FAQs. I think this could be considered at present as the definitive version as expressed by the club in response to the query about price rises for later bookings
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Dynamic pricing should not be a purely linear process. The seller should also be looking at the rate of sale of their commodity, and if things are not selling at the rate required a price reduction mid term should be introduced while there is time to fill up the vacancies. So maybe the best price will be about 6 months before date booked.
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I agree with your interpretation of dynamic pricing. (As does booking.com Sykes cottages, Air BNB, etc……) We have picked up most of our late booked cottages at a fraction of the cost of the initial price, often with huge savings.
The Club knows it has a die hard, “won’t go anywhere else” core of Members, for whom only a Club Site pitch will do, regardless of the price. Hence it feels safe offering the “best” (whatever that might be) price as early as possible, and no mention whatsoever of any close to sell by date discounting. (They wouldn’t advertise this anyway). The discounting is only likely to occur if a site is showing signs of being left with a significant number of empty pitches.
If a Site doesn’t prove popular, the Club have option B of course, and that is to simply withdraw the whole Site from the network, under whatever excuse the Club can cobble together to justify a Sites closure🤷♀️
I suspect this year won’t see any late arrival discounts, the Sites are still popular. But there are a lot of Members grumbling about prices, deposits, lack of communications, etc….. and there was mention of this likely to be a challenging year at the AGM, so it remains to be seen how things will go.
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I suspect this year won’t see any late arrival discounts, the Sites are still popular. But there are a lot of Members grumbling about prices, deposits, lack of communications, etc….. and there was mention of this likely to be a challenging year at the AGM, so it remains to be seen how things will go.
I very much agree but it may not be as challenging as thought? While there are reports of nearly empty sites compared to earlier years, there is hope that the economic situation will encourage staycations as people, especially families, will have less money to spend on package trips to warmer climates. It could go either way?
peedee
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Yes I think so as well WN. More and more Members were trying out CLs during COVID, and I suspect quite a few have enjoyed them, especially the value for money they offer. All bar the highest priced will give a more economic stay than Club Sites, with a bit of research and careful choice.
We were already big users of CLs, but we have branched out into different provision with the MH, to keep our average spend where we want it to be. Our savings go on cottages, again at a discounted rate.
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Just been food shopping and dynamic pricing was in full swing. All sorts of things which they had overbought or overpriced had those vivid yellow stickers on. I like dynamic pricing.
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Me too, lots of cheap coffee pods from Little’s. They overstocked at Xmas🤣
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