Inflation and the Cost of our Hobby

I think you’ve summed that up well TtDA except she sadly holds no loyalty, misguided or otherwise where as we did despite our ‘unusual’ units in the eyes of some having a trailer tent initially and then a campervan. Sadly you are so correct in your last sentence, but ‘loyalty’ is never really gained today other than by companies offering very real beneficial financial enticement. Not the kind of loyalty and sense of belonging we held.

We have a good relationship with a lot of CL and cottage owners. There’s a good degree of trust on both sides. Anything that treats me as a commodity to be squeezed rarely gets repeat business. Not saying the Club is in this bracket, but income extraction has become more prioritised. Hence we shop around. If a Club Site suits our needs for a couple of nights, it will get included on our list. But we don’t do extended stays any more. 

I think we tend to forget that "loyalty", a term I am using loosely here, was probably from the pre internet era. Going back to when we started in the early eighties you had a CC site book with all the information you needed in one place. If you wanted to stay on a non CC site you had to search for them, usually in various magazines and either phone them or write to them requesting information. So its very easy to see why the Club (Clubs) had a staunch following because they made it easy for people. Fast forward to the internet age and you have more choice than you sometimes know what to do with! People are so much more aware what is out there as the information is so easily accessible, that wasn't the case years ago. So I think what I am saying is that this mythical loyalty was bourn out of necessity because other options weren't easy and I expect some of that "loyalty" went from one generation to another until the advent of the internet and social media?

David

For many loyalty was borne out of a real sense of belonging. We first joined a network of many sites and CLs spread along the length and breadth of the country. Something the commercials did not really offer, nor in my opinion do they today. Sadly, much has seemingly been lost in recent years regarding that ‘togetherness’.

I totally agree goldie, costs of new vans and MHs do seem to have risen much more than the rate of inflation in general, and the cost of second hand ones has followed.  It does not feel like the cost of new cars has risen by as much as MHs, but then we do not buy any of these things very often, and there are of course far more different brands and models of cars to choose from, so more competition in that market.

Our caravan was new in 2008, so 16 years back, and the price then was just over £18k, though we paid about 10% less as we did not trade in our old van.     The apparently equivalent model today is about  twice the price, but is better insulated and has more "bells and whistles".   Better insulation is good, but not impressed by the bells and whistles!  

That is one of the main reasons we have kept the van,  these days there is far more to go wrong, and systems can IMO be unnecessarily complicated.  We have had good use from the van over the years as we had plenty of time for holidays, being retired since 2007.

As I said earlier, our daughter and family are now keen caravanners, and for them it is a cheap holiday as they have not had to buy, insure or service a caravan.   Site fees and some fuel are their only expenses.    They like the freedom to be able to cook what and when they like, and not have to live out of a suitcase.

However,  she keeps looking at new caravans as the sleeping arrangements in our one are not ideal for a couple with 2 children. She would prefer one with fixed bunks but they are not common, so the alternative is fixed singles, which we could also use, which as I reckon we would need to at least contribute to the cost,  seems reasonable!

It would however mean it was still quite a large and heavy van, which they do not have a car to tow, they would need to borrow ours.  So far, they have not tried towing.  

We site the van for them for a week or so, they pay for a night before and a night after for us, and we take our break either before or after them, which is quite restrictive on where they can go.  It needs to be no more than a maximum of  200-250 miles away, and be somewhere with things to do if the weather is poor.

Servicing  and insurance for a new van would not be cheap, but at least we/they do not need to pay for storage......meantime.  So, as long as we all used it, it could be sensible, but we feel we are possibly nearing  the end of our touring days, and she only has 6 weeks holiday per year, so that would make their holidays very expensive when ALL the costs are factored in.   

More sensible for them to hire cottages or statics somewhere for a few weeks, she is not keen on hotels. 

We do all get on well together, so another idea  we are mulling over is to suggest to them that we keep the present van, but buy an awning with space to sleep in, take 2 cars, and travel together.  We can all go off and do what we want  each day, then possibly meet up for the evening meal.   Only condition would be that it  would not be US sleeping in the awning!

3 things combine to help explain why the "young" expect more these days - Internet, Credit and Low Interest Rates

Readily available credit wasn't available when we got married 45 years ago. In fact my OH had to have an interview with Barclays bank to qualify for a credit card and to be allowed to be added to a joint account. Easily available credit has made so many things easily available, including purchasing cars, caravans and Motor Caravans (as JVB liked to call them). Just as an aside, isn't credit an oxymoron? Shouldn't they they really be called something like "Debtors Card"? You're never in credit if using one.

Low Interest rates have made for purchasing power to be extended, sometimes we even see 0% interest on some items, payable over long periods or deferred payment schedules.

The Internet has opened up a vast galaxy of opportunities to spend that money. As DK alluded to in an earlier post it was harder to find competition to the Caravan Club, as it was then known, than it is today. Want a new iPhone? Fine, take out a long term deal with low interest or none, just a monthly fee and "Bob's your uncle". Where can we park our Campervan for the night and not on those fuddy duddy CAMC sites? Have a look on the Internet.

If we had had the same opportunities then I suspect many of us would be taking advantage of them in the same way younger generations are now. 

Mind you we did have things they don't have now, like an NHS that funded Dental care and Eye care, apprenticeships and a job for life in certain industries so I think all-in-all I still appreciate our time more. But good luck to them.

We were already touring around (in a tiny campervan) in our 20’s, hopping from site to site, using some area tour guides, and the little tent/caravan icon on our road atlas, so really “winging” it😁 we found some marvellous sites this way, in some lovely out of the way places. A good few of these we returned to each year, particularly one we found perfect for a long Summer break near Fowey. We joined Club up in Scotland, going up the West Coast, when we pulled into North Ledaig. Staff explained it was an AS site to us, and cheaper if we joined per night, so we did. Gave us a few more options, even if we did have to demonstrate “yes, it is a proper camper” at Seaview coming back down East Coast. Enjoyed every moment of our touring years, in lots of different outfits, some very different sites as well. Met some lovely people. Tend to think we enjoyed the kind of touring that really appealed to us, things are either super safe and sanitised nowadays, or illegal. If my old hip bones would do it, I’d still do the odd tent night away, miles from anywhere, under the stars.😁

Micky

I suspect people felt the same of the AA and RAC years ago? But was that a sense of belonging or just the way it was sold to them? I would accept that you may well get attached to an organisation if it meets your needs but is that any different to shopping at John Lewis or M&S before the internet age? I can understand that members that get involved with Club Centres having a greater attachment but I suspect that attachment by ordinary members only went as far as the Club providing their needs, once that starts to slip away so does the attachment.

David

I think the club has increased its prices too much in the last couple of years. I stayed at one site on what should have been a busy weekend. It was just over half full. The warden admitted that bookings were down, probably because of the increase in prices. I had planned to stay there for10 nights but changed my arrangements and had a week in a CL. The club lost out.

I do agree, TtDA. One thing that really appealed to us regarding the club was the lack of that minimum nights stipulation. We saw the club as a large joined up network of sites across the UK and would stay at probable 5 or more sites per a week’s tour. The other club often insisted on a minimum of two nights which did not fit our touring adventures particularly when some sites were only a transit stay.

Thankfully our club hasn’t employed the likes as yet but I do wonder for how much longer. I hope I’m wrong.