Colin Leake Posted December 6, 2016 Share Posted December 6, 2016 Right that's it all our holiday reservations with the club are booked now. It's the first time I've qualified for the club concession that allows members over the age of 75 with at least 10 years membership to book on the day before official,booking takes place. I know a lot of members think it's not fair but only a small numbers of members qualify and the fact is it greatly reduces the stress that can be so dangerous to,us oldies. The only restriction is that we cannot book early for the month of August which is fair enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocs Posted December 6, 2016 Share Posted December 6, 2016 Haaa. I like it! Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Oh dear. Looks like Caravan Club pitches will be unavailable to tourers again next year. So it'll have to be - back to France. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 I signed on at about 9 am this morning to book a weekend in mid June at Chatsworth coinciding with a flower Show there and it was already fully booked- indeed most weekends available for booking were already fully booked for that site. It took quite a while of retrying just to get at the booking page. Booking had opened at 8 am but I'd had a bit of trouble getting on to the internet at home - I'll have to get up earlier or wait until I'm 75 to get a weekend pitch there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 You will find if you try and get in a few days before you probably will as far too many people book sites and then cancel nearer the time. The booking arrangements with the CC are ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 StuartO - 2016-12-07 9:45 AMI signed on at about 9 am this morning to book a weekend in mid June at Chatsworth coinciding with a flower Show there and it was already fully booked- indeed most weekends available for booking were already fully booked for that site. It took quite a while of retrying just to get at the booking page. Booking had opened at 8 am but I'd had a bit of trouble getting on to the internet at home - I'll have to get up earlier or wait until I'm 75 to get a weekend pitch there!Yes we had planned several weeks in advance to be on the site when it opened to book Chatsworth in September for the Country Fair weekend. Once managed to get there many years ago and have tried many times since without success - hence the forward planning, having dates ready etc. But, it completely went out of my head this morning until about 9 am and it was tooooo late! Must try harder next year - unless Colin has booked that weekend and I can buy it from him......David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 StuartO - 2016-12-07 9:45 AM I signed on at about 9 am this morning to book a weekend in mid June at Chatsworth coinciding with a flower Show there and it was already fully booked- indeed most weekends available for booking were already fully booked for that site. Try speaking to the site direct. The CC does not allow all pitches to be booked on-line, some are kept free for allocation by the sites themselves. I have had this problem of no (apparent) places and a quick word with Mr Warden by telephone and I was sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Earlier this year I was touring North Wales and Anglesey and turned up un-booked at a club site. I asked if they had any pitches with hook up available and they said no, the site was fully booked. But then he said " We could put you on grass " -- ( with hookup). As I spend 99% of my tours on grass pitches, both in the U.K. and on the continent, it seemed an odd thing to say. So, next time you are turned down by the Caravan Club it might be an idea to ask if they have any grass pitches available ( if you can cope with those ! ) ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Just wish they could sort out the overcharging, but I suppose while they have full sites it will always happen.. We had 2 weeks at the beginning of September to find somewhere to go, turned out even with the Ferry price and the extra diesel, it was £100 cheaper to go to France, weather was good also, and the site had free wifi, swimming pool, restaurant, tennis court and fishing lake.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted December 7, 2016 Author Share Posted December 7, 2016 malc d - 2016-12-07 9:32 AM Oh dear. Looks like Caravan Club pitches will be unavailable to tourers again next year. So it'll have to be - back to France. ;-) Don't worry if the weather forecast is not to our liking or we feel a bit off colour many of us oldies will cancel at the last moment. I must confess that over the last two years we have had to make small changes due to unexpected medical problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmold Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 You also find several sites have some smaller pitches which are not on the computer system, eg Lady Margaret's Chirk. They have 5 pitches which cannot take anything longer than 6 metres so these are not on the system in case someone with a 7.5mtr unit books. A phone call to the site can sometimes get you one but of course not all sites are open at the moment to get an answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted December 7, 2016 Author Share Posted December 7, 2016 Mike88 - 2016-12-07 11:20 AM You will find if you try and get in a few days before you probably will as far too many people book sites and then cancel nearer the time. The booking arrangements with the CC are ridiculous. Not all pitches are on offer for early booking particularly grass ones which are not offered untill the wardens decide they are fit to be used so it's always worth a phone call to the wardens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QFour Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 What a truly crazy system they have. You book a pitch 9 months in advance because you might want to go and then cancel two days before because something else is happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 QFour - 2016-12-07 11:00 PM What a truly crazy system they have. You book a pitch 9 months in advance because you might want to go and then cancel two days before because something else is happening. We haven't used a main CC for a few years now but I thought that they had(or were trying?) to address that?.. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote: "Members cancelling late for the first time will be alerted to the breach of policy, either via the internet, contact centre or wardens on site. After a second late cancellation we will write to the member and following a third we will follow up by phone and post before applying a temporary suspension of 14 days and cancellation of forward bookings. Anyone who continues to breach the policies at this point risks their membership being suspended, with any further forward bookings made also cancelled." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (taken from here: http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/uk-holidays/club-sites/important-booking-information/amendments-cancellations So before supposed "no-shows" get the blame every time someone is unable to book the 'site and date they want, it'd be interesting to know just how much of an *effect they really have on pitch availability After all, be it a campsite, a music venue, a restaurant, a theatre etc, if it's busy, it's busy... (*OT- should that be "effect" or "affect"? :$ ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 The Caravan Club do not release information about how many mass early bookings are made and then subsequently cancelled without penalty, so we cannot analyse that pattern of behaviour. But the booking system encourages a mad rush to reserve anything you might want while it's still available, preventing only duplicate bookings for the same weekend at different sites. I looked again at the Chatsworth bookings and found that all weekends up to the first weekend in July are now booked up and so are some weekends in September. But nothing is fully booked in late July and August. Does this suggest that the old folks are being greedy, booking serial weekends throughout the season except during school holidays, when sites will be full of noisy children? I didn't appreciate until I saw the OP's posting that the over 75s get advanced access. I wonder what other sorts of reserved or privileged access the Caravan Club gives, for example to staff or Committee Members? Certainly a big chunk of weekend slots for Chatsworth are gone very very early, maybe even before the official opening for bookings happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 i thought that the whole point of having a MH as against a caravan, was the spontaneity of get up and Go? We never book any holiday much in advance now, as you never know if you can make it. We where unable to plan anything this year due to health issues Used to belong to CC, but not now. It seems wrong to allow multiple bookings. Would be better to only allow say 1 month ahead?, that way all get a chance to access site. i have never understood the need to plan ones life to the minute , fate will often intervene. Do these people plan when they will leave this mortal planet?/ PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 PJay - 2016-12-08 10:02 AM i thought that the whole point of having a MH as against a caravan, was the spontaneity of get up and Go? We never book any holiday much in advance now, as you never know if you can make it. We where unable to plan anything this year due to health issues Used to belong to CC, but not now. It seems wrong to allow multiple bookings. Would be better to only allow say 1 month ahead?, that way all get a chance to access site. i have never understood the need to plan ones life to the minute , fate will often intervene. Do these people plan when they will leave this mortal planet?/ PJay I seem to recall our Pelmet Dave having a similar view on those that book in advance...and he's currently pitched up on his Spanish site, on a pitch that he booked a year ago. (lol) I suppose if someone is totally free to wonder as and when, then "planning" wouldn't really be required... But if you have annual leave that needs booking well in advance, or family commitments or events you wish to attend etc, then why wouldn't it make sense to book the dates you need/want?.... When we used to use their main sites, I did wonder why they couldn't just operate some sort of "rolling 12 months" release?..rather than a "..steady!..wait for it...GO! GO! GO!.." system (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandy Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 I'm impressed at how organised many of you seem to be. I rarely know where I'm going until a day or two before, and often decide where to stop only when I get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 aandy - 2016-12-08 10:21 AM I'm impressed at how organised many of you seem to be. I rarely know where I'm going until a day or two before, and often decide where to stop only when I get there. ................. well you can only hope that when you do get there it's not a Caravan Club site which has been booked up since the previous Xmas. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandy Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Not being a CC member, it won't be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 pepe63 - 2016-12-08 10:17 AM PJay - 2016-12-08 10:02 AM i thought that the whole point of having a MH as against a caravan, was the spontaneity of get up and Go? We never book any holiday much in advance now, as you never know if you can make it. We where unable to plan anything this year due to health issues Used to belong to CC, but not now. It seems wrong to allow multiple bookings. Would be better to only allow say 1 month ahead?, that way all get a chance to access site. i have never understood the need to plan ones life to the minute , fate will often intervene. Do these people plan when they will leave this mortal planet?/ PJay I seem to recall our Pelmet Dave having a similar view on those that book in advance...and he's currently pitched up on his Spanish site, on a pitch that he booked a year ago. (lol) I suppose if someone is totally free to wonder as and when, then "planning" wouldn't really be required... But if you have annual leave that needs booking well in advance, or family commitments or events you wish to attend etc, then why wouldn't it make sense to book the dates you need/want?.... When we used to use their main sites, I did wonder why they couldn't just operate some sort of "rolling 12 months" release?..rather than a "..steady!..wait for it...GO! GO! GO!.." system (lol) Pepe i do understand that if you have a restricted time, you need to book, BUt I think it wrong that Cc allow people to make multiple bookings , for the year, and then they cancel some at a the last moment. They should be made to make a non refundable deposit, that way others have a chance to book, if they need to.It is a selfish attitude IMO PJay As to Dave booking Cal;pe in advance , you have to, otherwise the French/Germans/Belgium.s take all the places!! BUt at least he does get there, and not cancel at last minute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EJB Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 There are pages and pages and even more boring pages about this on the CC site I come here to get away from it. Help!!!!!!!!! >:-) B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 It always seems to be the case that when someone gets the dates they want, the system has been "sorted".... but if they don't, the system is "unfair".. (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 EJB - 2016-12-08 4:05 PM There are pages and pages and even more boring pages about this on the CC site I come here to get away from it. Help!!!!!!!!! >:-) B-) So what is the general rule of thought then EJB ? Not being a member , would be interested to know. PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocs Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 pepe63 - 2016-12-08 4:36 PM It always seems to be the case that when someone gets the dates they want, the system has been "sorted".... but if they don't, the system is "unfair".. (lol) When, all along, you still can get what you want from an unfair system! :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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