Booking difficulty for pre covid members

Redzed32 replied on 30/08/2020 10:25

Redzed32

Posted on 30/08/2020 10:25

With the onslaught of the covid virus and the massive restrictions on foreign travel , it appears not only that the existing membership are filling up club sites , but I suspect also a large influx of new members are too . This is great for the campsites , as they have all faced a very difficult season this year . However , I am experiencing that finding pitches now is very difficult , and a great deal of the sites that could be booked a month in advance previously are full to the end of the season . This obviously makes me question whether membership is actually worth it now , as so far this summer after about 6 weekend breaks , I have realised that none of these were possible through the club .

This is obviously very disheartening , but there is a much bigger concern at play here , and that is next years bookings . No one has a crystal ball regarding the impact of covid , and we cannot predict what will happen next month , far less what will happen next year . We have the possibility of much of next years sites being booked up by people who would normally holiday abroad , and taking advantage of the booking system . If this occurs , and next year we have little or no travel restrictions , we will end up with a situation again where pre covid members cannot get pitches , and the sites will have a whole load of pre-booked vacant pitches .

Can I ask ; are other members here experiencing this as well ? And Also ; Does the club itself have concerns about the possibility of the above situation occurring , and how to address this ?

203 replies

replied on 05/09/2020 08:50

Posted on 05/09/2020 07:48 by SteveL

It's a business model and in normal times it has worked very well for them. They can just about give away the pitches off peak, hoping folk spend money in the bars etc. Unfortunately that sort of model does not work as well at the moment, with social distancing reducing capacity. I've not looked but I would assume they will struggle to offer these going forward anything like as much as previously.

Posted on 05/09/2020 08:50

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JVB66 replied on 05/09/2020 08:52

Member

JVB66

Campervanner from Hertfordshire

Posted on 05/09/2020 07:48 by SteveL

It's a business model and in normal times it has worked very well for them. They can just about give away the pitches off peak, hoping folk spend money in the bars etc. Unfortunately that sort of model does not work as well at the moment, with social distancing reducing capacity. I've not looked but I would assume they will struggle to offer these going forward anything like as much as previously.

Posted on 05/09/2020 08:52

We are booked (deposit paid) for our annually gathering at a holiday park site with several hundred others,,LVs and holiday caravans/lodges

We received a letter from the company a couple of weeks ago adviseing that they are trying to "welcome" us ,but at that time they may have to restrict the numbers this year or splitting the festival into two or more separate weekends,,so we will be advised ASAP what they are going to try ,but not to send remainder of payment until advised?

Ps the price we normally pay at the time of year is a fraction of what their peak school holiday prices including Oct half term are, and that is also with with meals on the package we are on

replied on 05/09/2020 08:54

Posted on 05/09/2020 07:43 by Extugger

Does anyone ACTUALLY know if t'other Club has such limited availability as CAMC? Not wanting to bring up the deposit conversation, I simply just wish to know if there is more availability?

Posted on 05/09/2020 08:54

The user and all related content has been deleted

1 person likes this

JVB66 replied on 05/09/2020 09:02

Member

JVB66

Campervanner from Hertfordshire

Posted on 05/09/2020 08:54 by

Not idea about the general situation. All I can 'actually' tell you is what my own experience has been. And I don't know if the availability is more or less than on CAMC sites in general as I haven't tried to book very many CAMC sites.

We have had 4 stays to date on C&CC sites. Only on the first one did we have no problems getting a pitch (it was before sites in Wales opened to tent campers). Otherwise, we have had to fit in some dates here and there where there has been availability. Not first choice of dates; not for as long as we wished.

Two sites which we like a lot had no availability at all.

We are booked onto another later this month and we couldn't get the number of nights we required to make the journey worthwhile, but solved the problem by booking a nearby CAMC site for one night and returning to the C&CC site for a few more nights.

I imagine that members of both Clubs wish to get as much value as they can from their membership fee for what is left of the season.

Posted on 05/09/2020 09:02

Also it may be the VAT reduction is making it more attractive on both clubs sites, and there are still many on Furlough

KjellNN replied on 05/09/2020 10:31

Member

KjellNN

Caravanner

Posted on 04/09/2020 19:48 by JVB66

That is not in the context of what was posted that ny post was about

and i take it that all the facilities and showers electric are included in you site fees ?

Posted on 05/09/2020 10:31

I am trying very hard to follow the discussion, but having looked back several pages to see what I may have missed, I still have no idea " what was posted that your post was about".

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KjellNN replied on 05/09/2020 10:40

Member

KjellNN

Caravanner

Posted on 04/09/2020 16:48 by SeasideBill

Yes, but I want to go now, not in the peak season with my kids & dogs. Could it be the Club knows it’s demographic well and realises the potential of maintaining high prices in all seasons?

Posted on 05/09/2020 10:40

This is what we have found in the last few years, peak season has been extended , shoulder season extended, far too many different pricing bands, resulting in much less incentive to use sites when days are shorter and temperatures lower

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brue replied on 05/09/2020 10:49

Member

brue

Motorhomer

Posted on 05/09/2020 07:43 by Extugger

Does anyone ACTUALLY know if t'other Club has such limited availability as CAMC? Not wanting to bring up the deposit conversation, I simply just wish to know if there is more availability?

Posted on 05/09/2020 10:49

I think the problem for both clubs is the closure of sites for the remainder of this year, CAMC closed 18 sites, C&CC closed 26, C&CC also closed facilities on some sites. This left much less of a choice especially for some who want facilities so the pressure for bookings has been on both clubs since sites re-opened. I believe the C&CC opened a few more facilty blocks but it seems a combination of most wanting uk holidays, a shortage of staff to man sites and other private sites not opening has made bookings a challenge for some this year.

1 person likes this

peedee replied on 05/09/2020 11:03

Member

peedee

Motorhomer from Bedfordshire

Posted on 05/09/2020 07:43 by Extugger

Does anyone ACTUALLY know if t'other Club has such limited availability as CAMC? Not wanting to bring up the deposit conversation, I simply just wish to know if there is more availability?

Posted on 05/09/2020 11:03

I have been looking for sites to complete a tour. I eventually found one but my impression is, if you want anything in the next 2 weeks you will be lucky. Beyond that it does not seem to be so much of a problem.

peedee

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moulesy replied on 05/09/2020 11:04

moulesy

Caravanner from Wiltshire

Posted on 05/09/2020 10:40 by KjellNN

This is what we have found in the last few years, peak season has been extended , shoulder season extended, far too many different pricing bands, resulting in much less incentive to use sites when days are shorter and temperatures lower

Posted on 05/09/2020 11:04

But the conversation invariably goes along these lines and it is undoubtedly true that, for some folk, club sites work out more expensive at some times of the year.

The point is that, for families, in peak season, the club, though maybe seeming expensive to those of our age, is often a more economical option as show in my example earlier comparing Heligan with Merrose Farm.

Some will no doubt say that club sites are the last place they'd take young children, but plenty seem to do so anyway.

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Cornersteady replied on 05/09/2020 11:24

Member

Cornersteady

Caravanner from Tyne & Wear

Posted on 05/09/2020 11:04 by moulesy

But the conversation invariably goes along these lines and it is undoubtedly true that, for some folk, club sites work out more expensive at some times of the year.

The point is that, for families, in peak season, the club, though maybe seeming expensive to those of our age, is often a more economical option as show in my example earlier comparing Heligan with Merrose Farm.

Some will no doubt say that club sites are the last place they'd take young children, but plenty seem to do so anyway.

Posted on 05/09/2020 11:24

I think what makes the club more attractive is that children are priced as children while under 18 (on some sites it is as low as 14) and additionally many 'family' club sites have kids for a £1 per night. So if you're taking away 16 or 17 year olds one is saving quite a bit.

But again the prices on all sites are clearly shown and people make their own mind up.

Yes as you say during school holidays there are a lot of families using club sites.

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