Not to discuss any particular chains, but I'm just curious about the benefits of membership.
Do many users of these parks actually take out membership?
Do you find it beneficial.
On a recent trip I joined a few, that we planned to stay in (just overnight stays at this stage).
Kui, Discovery, Big4.
The actual savings in cost are quite small, $3-5 per night. So you'd have to stay in a particular chain for 10-15 nights to earn back your membership fee.
But maybe there are other benefits in membership?
I have tended to avoid joining Hotel membership programs, as I choose a Hotel based on the location I need, facilities etc.
And take much the same approach with campsites/caravan parks. i.e. I don't think I would stay at a particular chain, unless the location was just where we wanted.
Maybe I'm missing something in terms of member benefits?
Maybe membership is better suited to those who spend a long time on the road?
Just curious how others perceive these types of memberships.
hufnpuf said
04:11 PM Dec 1, 2022
I took out memberships to 2 chains. They were both being offered at half the usual joining fee. The most recent I took out because I was going to tassie and planned to stay at a couple of their parks on the trip. Essentially, the saving on that trip was the cost of the joining fee and any further stays will be a "real" saving. Yes, it's not much, but a dollar's a dollar. I asked to book 2 days to cover my night sailing on the second day, but they let me have that day for free as a "late checkout" which was late afternoon to go to the boat.
The other one you can get a bag of ice or something, as well as the discount. It isn't that hard to tot up enough days to get the small benefits on offer.
They also have deals with retailers that offer discounts to members. I tend to ask for discounts, but for some people, getting a flat percentage can be worth it.
Possum3 said
04:20 PM Dec 1, 2022
I tend to agree Rob, 8 - 9 years ago I won a free membership (on Grey Nomads) to Discovery Parks with 6 free nights - I didn't even use all the free nights. It turned out that Discovery didn't have CP's where I went. We still do try and stay at Discovery Parks as they tend to have more reasonable tariff and fewer bells and whistles that we don't use, although we are much more comfortable at freedom camps.
The child-bride did join an Accor Hotels group, but we never got our investment back.
Cupie said
04:21 PM Dec 1, 2022
A few years ago when used to spend 6 mths or more on the road every year we became members of the then two dominant chains. Their programs were simple, just offering nightly discounts & we quickly recouped our membership fees.
These days we only go for two or perhaps 3 one month trips per year often to single locations rather than touring, we have let our memberships lapse.
It seems to me that there are more chains now and to give coverage you may have to join several making the cumulative membership outlay a bit much to recoup with discounts etc. I find their loyalty programs a bit complex & confusing or maybe it's my failing cognitive ability and lack of interest in saving at the margins.
We just pick the CP that suits us best & has suitable available sites (we are rather picky) and if we are interested in reducing costs, look for the 'pay 6 & get one free' type offers or try for Seniors discounts. We'd rather get a good site & enjoy the trip rather than trying to save a few dollars.
Dougwe said
04:21 PM Dec 1, 2022
I spose I do 50/50 between cvp and freedom camping. If freedom is not free then low cost or donation. I always try very hard to actually pic the cheapest cvp and smaller towns etc. I have also had occasion to stay in a motel a few times but again no 5 stars and usually 3 star. I have and never would join a chain. In a previous life I had a company 'Flag Inn' card but that's different. I must admit, good though.
From people I talk too it is mainly families join a chain or two.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there.
86GTS said
06:25 PM Dec 1, 2022
In 2018 we stayed at a CP at Kinka Beach on the Capricorn Coast QLD for 6 weeks. It was privately owned but while we were there it was taken over by Discovery Parks. The new management were giving away free memberships so we accepted one. We used it a few times here & there, saving a small amount of money. When it came up for renewal we decided not to. We couldn't see ourselves redeeming the cost. Pre covid we saved lots of money with Travel Auctions. Eg: 10 nights on a lakeside powered site at Wallaga Lake near Bermagui for $170. 10 nights on a powered site at a station in the Flinders Ranges for $210.
-- Edited by 86GTS on Thursday 1st of December 2022 06:25:49 PM
RoboLB said
08:43 PM Dec 1, 2022
Interesting feedback.
We tend to do a mix 50/50 of CPs and more remote places without facilities. Watton Airstrip was a recent one. Great place.
Being new to this game, I was actually very pleasantly surprised at the CPs we have used. They were a much better experience than I imagined.
hufnpuf said
09:44 PM Dec 2, 2022
As Dougwe mentioned families joining, one of the benefits on one or other is equipment hire. That could be worth it if you've got kids and will use it for them.
Meredith said
10:09 PM Dec 2, 2022
We bought a Big4 membership this year because there was a special on for half price and we knew we were going to book into their Darwin park for several weeks in August, a busy time of year when there aren't any other special offers, we saved about 3 times what we paid for membership. We did look at G'Day membership in February when we wanted to spend a couple of weeks at their Pambula Beach park but they had a special on their website that gave us considerably more off than the 10% discount their card would offer and you couldn't use both on the one booking. We have also found many parks will give us an equivalent 10% off as a seniors discount in off peak times, again cannot get both discounts.
The Belmont Bear said
11:34 PM Dec 2, 2022
We just spent 10 weeks travelling around Queensland and stayed in plenty of CPs, we were already members of Big 4 but also joined G'day Parks while we were away. We stayed mainly in the G'day parks because there seemed to be more of them in the places that we went. G'Day parks have a tiered system - stay certain numbers of nights and you go up in levels giving more benefits. Having said that the benefits that we now get on the top tier we probably wont use like a free bag of ice, early check ins, late checkouts, free use of park hire equipment. Apparently we get a couple of free nights a year and we have already been saving a few dollars on each stay. Is it worth joining - only if you plan on staying in those parks a lot otherwise the cost of joining is probably going to outweigh the benefits.
BB
tea spoon said
11:56 AM Dec 4, 2022
im with g/day parks and only use there parks cost me 25 bucks for a 2 year membership........it has saved me my fee back plus more so far .......would i join again YES .....trip im doing soon to port broughton im paying for 4 nights and the fifth one is costing me 2 dollars...........im happy with that
hufnpuf said
06:08 PM Dec 4, 2022
Meredith wrote:
but they had a special on their website that gave us considerably more off than the 10% discount their card would offer and you couldn't use both on the one booking. We have also found many parks will give us an equivalent 10% off as a seniors discount in off peak times, again cannot get both discounts.
The good thing I've found is that the booking staff figure out for me what gives me the best deal.
Bobdown said
06:12 PM Dec 4, 2022
hufnpuf wrote:
As Dougwe mentioned families joining, one of the benefits on one or other is equipment hire. That could be worth it if you've got kids and will use it for them.
Yes, they will park you right next to the bouncing pillow..........
StewG said
11:09 PM Dec 9, 2022
We joined a couple of the chains and possibly got our money back on savings, but let them lapse. For us, it is a moot point as to whether it is value for money because the particular chains are often not where we want to be. We normally use CPs more than free-camping and like to pick the CP on location rather than loyalty/membership.
Cuppa said
05:16 PM Dec 10, 2022
If we have to use a caravan park we generally grin & bear it. On the rare occasions we find ourselves in a caravan park that we enjoy being in, it is usually a small independent park in a nice spot & set up with vegetation to provide privacy to individual sites, or more commonly no defined sites, much like bush camping. No benefit to us whatsoever to have membership of a chain.
Roy E said
07:25 PM Dec 10, 2022
Rob,
We joined Kui Parks for a 2-year period. Soon after joining, a special price (better than we paid) was offered. Found only one Kui park in a recent 8000km trip where we wanted to stay, Sapphire (Qld). Stayed one week (lovely park) and discount for a week stay was same as member's discount.
My opinion, membership is a waste of time and money.
An example; You stop at a town with 2 van parks, one you are a member of and the other you're not. The second one looks nicer and is slightly cheaper. What do you do?
Cheers,
Roy.
hufnpuf said
07:45 PM Dec 10, 2022
Roy E wrote:
An example; You stop at a town with 2 van parks, one you are a member of and the other you're not. The second one looks nicer and is slightly cheaper. What do you do?
I stay where I like. Nobody says you have to choose the chain but I've found where there is no option that is obviously "nicer", it can be easier to go with the chain and save a lot of umming and aahing. I've found most to be of a high standard so it isn't a choice where I've inadvertently picked somewhere grotty or horrible. On my recent Tassie trip, I joined up the other chain because they were in the places I was going to, there weren't options. The number of nights discount covered the joining fee so it really didn't cost anything. It's not been a waste of money.
Ivan 01 said
09:35 AM Dec 11, 2022
I joined two reward memberships in 2017.
I travelled through SA VIC NSW and Qld in that year and I found the memberships were not worth it for me.
My observation was that the parks that I was a member of, were either not suitable, too expensive even with the freebies offered or just not in the right place or location if compared to some other No brand parks.
I also was taking the option to use free camps or Showgrounds etc and I wish I had have put a bit more thought into it before I paid out my money.
Would I do it again?
No.
TheHeaths said
09:02 PM Dec 11, 2022
We have 2 memberships.
Can be useful at times, and over the past 10 years we have certainly got at least our fees plus 50% back each year.
Can depend where you seek to travel as others have said.
RoboLB said
06:21 PM Dec 12, 2022
The pricing at some of these branded CPs can be interesting.
We recently stayed at a Big4 in Melbourne and just booked online for a regular powered spot.
I think They were quite full.
The spot was fine, but very high density, a bit like a Coles car park.
OK, but a bit too tight for our 'personal' space......
'Madam' noticed that they had en-suite sites as well.
We weren't really looking for those but out of curiosity drove back up to reception to enquire if one was available.
We had the choice of 2. For $5 extra!
A nice concrete pad (2 concrete wheel tracks) to park on, power and water hook ups and our own en-suite which was really in quite good condition.
Nice to be able to have a long shower sometimes..........
Possum3 said
06:38 PM Dec 12, 2022
RoboLB wrote:
Nice to be able to have a long shower sometimes..........
That is why permanent Nomads have full ensuite vans - Our's has a large shower with a high sided base, just put the plug in to have a bath, mind you the getting up again is a pain, without a rail or such to pull up on.
Not to discuss any particular chains, but I'm just curious about the benefits of membership.
Do many users of these parks actually take out membership?
Do you find it beneficial.
On a recent trip I joined a few, that we planned to stay in (just overnight stays at this stage).
Kui, Discovery, Big4.
The actual savings in cost are quite small, $3-5 per night. So you'd have to stay in a particular chain for 10-15 nights to earn back your membership fee.
But maybe there are other benefits in membership?
I have tended to avoid joining Hotel membership programs, as I choose a Hotel based on the location I need, facilities etc.
And take much the same approach with campsites/caravan parks. i.e. I don't think I would stay at a particular chain, unless the location was just where we wanted.
Maybe I'm missing something in terms of member benefits?
Maybe membership is better suited to those who spend a long time on the road?
Just curious how others perceive these types of memberships.
The other one you can get a bag of ice or something, as well as the discount. It isn't that hard to tot up enough days to get the small benefits on offer.
They also have deals with retailers that offer discounts to members. I tend to ask for discounts, but for some people, getting a flat percentage can be worth it.
The child-bride did join an Accor Hotels group, but we never got our investment back.
A few years ago when used to spend 6 mths or more on the road every year we became members of the then two dominant chains. Their programs were simple, just offering nightly discounts & we quickly recouped our membership fees.
These days we only go for two or perhaps 3 one month trips per year often to single locations rather than touring, we have let our memberships lapse.
It seems to me that there are more chains now and to give coverage you may have to join several making the cumulative membership outlay a bit much to recoup with discounts etc. I find their loyalty programs a bit complex & confusing or maybe it's my failing cognitive ability and lack of interest in saving at the margins.
We just pick the CP that suits us best & has suitable available sites (we are rather picky) and if we are interested in reducing costs, look for the 'pay 6 & get one free' type offers or try for Seniors discounts. We'd rather get a good site & enjoy the trip rather than trying to save a few dollars.
From people I talk too it is mainly families join a chain or two.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there.
In 2018 we stayed at a CP at Kinka Beach on the Capricorn Coast QLD for 6 weeks.
It was privately owned but while we were there it was taken over by Discovery Parks.
The new management were giving away free memberships so we accepted one.
We used it a few times here & there, saving a small amount of money.
When it came up for renewal we decided not to.
We couldn't see ourselves redeeming the cost.
Pre covid we saved lots of money with Travel Auctions.
Eg: 10 nights on a lakeside powered site at Wallaga Lake near Bermagui for $170.
10 nights on a powered site at a station in the Flinders Ranges for $210.
-- Edited by 86GTS on Thursday 1st of December 2022 06:25:49 PM
We tend to do a mix 50/50 of CPs and more remote places without facilities. Watton Airstrip was a recent one. Great place.
Being new to this game, I was actually very pleasantly surprised at the CPs we have used. They were a much better experience than I imagined.
As Dougwe mentioned families joining, one of the benefits on one or other is equipment hire. That could be worth it if you've got kids and will use it for them.
We just spent 10 weeks travelling around Queensland and stayed in plenty of CPs, we were already members of Big 4 but also joined G'day Parks while we were away. We stayed mainly in the G'day parks because there seemed to be more of them in the places that we went. G'Day parks have a tiered system - stay certain numbers of nights and you go up in levels giving more benefits. Having said that the benefits that we now get on the top tier we probably wont use like a free bag of ice, early check ins, late checkouts, free use of park hire equipment. Apparently we get a couple of free nights a year and we have already been saving a few dollars on each stay. Is it worth joining - only if you plan on staying in those parks a lot otherwise the cost of joining is probably going to outweigh the benefits.
BB
The good thing I've found is that the booking staff figure out for me what gives me the best deal.
Yes, they will park you right next to the bouncing pillow..........
We joined Kui Parks for a 2-year period. Soon after joining, a special price (better than we paid) was offered. Found only one Kui park in a recent 8000km trip where we wanted to stay, Sapphire (Qld). Stayed one week (lovely park) and discount for a week stay was same as member's discount.
My opinion, membership is a waste of time and money.
An example; You stop at a town with 2 van parks, one you are a member of and the other you're not. The second one looks nicer and is slightly cheaper. What do you do?
Cheers,
Roy.
I stay where I like. Nobody says you have to choose the chain but I've found where there is no option that is obviously "nicer", it can be easier to go with the chain and save a lot of umming and aahing. I've found most to be of a high standard so it isn't a choice where I've inadvertently picked somewhere grotty or horrible. On my recent Tassie trip, I joined up the other chain because they were in the places I was going to, there weren't options. The number of nights discount covered the joining fee so it really didn't cost anything. It's not been a waste of money.
I travelled through SA VIC NSW and Qld in that year and I found the memberships were not worth it for me.
My observation was that the parks that I was a member of, were either not suitable, too expensive even with the freebies offered or just not in the right place or location if compared to some other No brand parks.
I also was taking the option to use free camps or Showgrounds etc and I wish I had have put a bit more thought into it before I paid out my money.
Would I do it again?
No.
Can be useful at times, and over the past 10 years we have certainly got at least our fees plus 50% back each year.
Can depend where you seek to travel as others have said.
We recently stayed at a Big4 in Melbourne and just booked online for a regular powered spot.
I think They were quite full.
The spot was fine, but very high density, a bit like a Coles car park.
OK, but a bit too tight for our 'personal' space......
'Madam' noticed that they had en-suite sites as well.
We weren't really looking for those but out of curiosity drove back up to reception to enquire if one was available.
We had the choice of 2. For $5 extra!
A nice concrete pad (2 concrete wheel tracks) to park on, power and water hook ups and our own en-suite which was really in quite good condition.
Nice to be able to have a long shower sometimes..........
That is why permanent Nomads have full ensuite vans - Our's has a large shower with a high sided base, just put the plug in to have a bath, mind you the getting up again is a pain, without a rail or such to pull up on.