New booking system with deposits

I think (I hope) with prices and deposits availability will improve even if it might mean waiting for pitches to become available in the 21 day window.

peedee

How reliable will the new system be anyway? Currently using a site with just about 40% occupancy yet the central booking system shows no vacancies. 

There's plenty of availability now and has been all year without the change, it can't be any good for the clubs finances. 

it can't be any good for the clubs finances.

That remains to be seen. The C&CC don't appear to have suffered as a result of demanding deposits. Pre COVID, they were more profitable than the C&MC. If the Club finances do suffer it will more than likely due to prices and the economic  climate not deposts.

peedee

I agree, PD. The cost of living, not least the cost of fuel, is going to have a bearing on the amount of money people spend on leisure activities.

When folk first mooted the idea that deposits were stopping people booking, it was way before prices started shooting skywards. Now it seems to me that inflationary increases in general (and that inevitably includes site fees) might be the cause.

PD - I think Arch was referring to plenty availability now in his post, ie causing lower income now?

I would think deposits will help the club's finances a bit, all that money they are getting up front possibly up to a year in advance. I'll be booking our usual June/July walking trip for 2023 when I can and it will cost about £80+ in deposits (going on this year's prices). That £80 wouldn't make much money (pennies?) in interest but if others (hundreds? thousands?) are doing the same the club will. If I was cynical I might be tempted to think that's why the club is bringing them in as I don't think it's going to make much difference to availability apart rom as you say moving the 72 hour rule to 21 days. 

Although I think it depends on the site as to availability, the ones I've been on this year have been just as full as in 'normal' times, in fact on two it looked more so even midweek.

PD - I think Arch was referring to plenty availability now in his post, ie causing lower income now?

If he was, it is good to know there is availability for those not yet booked.

ppeedee

PD I'm confused by your post as he did say that in his post:

There's plenty of availability now and has been all year

But as I said I suspect that it depends upon specific sites. I can't get in to one of my fav sites for an extra weekend till October, and midweek is only a few days at a time.

It remains to be seen if destroying their own USP is beneficial for the Club or not.

As membership drops off over the next few years as the Staycation brigade return to foreign pastures post-Covid, they may rue their knee-jerk response.

Hopefully this unnecessary change won't alienate the established membership to the point where the combination of high prices and an inflexible booking system result in a significant reduction in bookings from Club members who have loyally supported the Club for many years.

I'm not hopeful though.

Perhaps worth pointing out that current bookings are still being made under the old system, so not yet impacted by deposits. There is no indication that deposits will be retrospectively applied to those bookings unless amended by the booker. Whether there is availability will very much depend on the popularity of the site in question. I looked to change one of my existing booking in October for a different pitch type but only days are available, not the full week. 

The Club have always maintained that the reasoning for the change to deposits has been the disruption of late cancellations. They could have changed the cancellation T&C's to 21 days but clearly felt that was not a sufficient discouragement to speculative bookers although it would have improved late availability over a wider time span. Some won't be deterred by a deposit but they are banking that most will be unwilling to pay a deposit months in advance which they are at risk of losing if they don't cancel in time. I suspect we will never know if its a quest to harvest money from members to improve cash flow by taking deposits? Administratively it could cost the club a lot of money in terms of refunds which might debunk that theory? 

The cost of living will obviously impact on the club's finances I imagine. But that is true of all holiday types surely and there seem to be no unwillingness for thousands to risk being delayed at airports! Members holiday intentions may well change, perhaps shorter distances for weekend or concentrating of main holidays, we have yet to see. 

David