Rip off site fees

Why are caravan/ Motorhome site owners charging more and more, especially now energy prices are falling and are coming down even further later in the year but I bet they won’t be passing the savings on to the customers.what we all need to do is any site for example charging over £25 is to boycott. Rip off Britain it sucks.

I agree. I won't pay more than £25 for a club site , so thats the CAMC out of the picture, the C&CC with oldies concession usually work out about £23. For CLs and CSs , I use a benchmark of £20 unless the location really is special,  then I might stretch to   £23.

This is why we take our main motorhome holidays in France now.

We can stay on five star sites near lovely beaches with excellent on-site facilities including indoor/outdoor covered heated swimming pools etc. for between €19 - €27 per night with our ACSI card. More basic sites start from €13 - €17 per night, cheaper than UK CS/CLs but usually with more facilities - EHU, loos, showers etc.

No need to book in advance or even say how long you intend staying, no regimented approach, much more relaxed and friendly. And of course the weather is better!

Ditto, Europe wide in our case, never book, very very rarely, once I think! couldn't get into a planned location. Aires mostly but we need sites every few days for loo emptying etc..

In UK, we only use Moonfruit pubstops, so site costs don't bother us.

Frankly if we couldn't go abroad, we'd not have the van...

I wouldn't run a van either if I was restricted to the UK. 
Slovenia and Croatia pencilled in this year. Last time we went there a few years ago every site we stayed in was top notch and the prices were far less than the UK. No booking either.
Al

8 countries this year, ok, some passing through to get to others, some final destinations.
All ferries booked, nothing else. ( Most ferries we've ever used in a year actually!)
Most stops will be Aires/stelleplatz sites as required.

I think we have discussed this once or twice before? How do those European site prices work out once you add ferry/ES fares on?

Site fees are going up but what isn't. Have a look at alternative accommodation in the UK, like self catering , B&Bs or hotels, if you haven't done it recently you might get a surprise. I don't like paying over the odds but when I can't book the sites we want at a time we want, the van will go.

Askit wrote:I think we have discussed this once or twice before? How do those European site prices work out once you add ferry/ES fares on?

Last year was an exception for us as the outbound ferry trip was a two day crossing to Bilbao. 
Our normal crossing is the Newhaven/Dieppe route which costs around £200 return depending on length of van and time of year. This equates to eight or so nights at sites. We always save more than that by stopping at aires when travelling. We also avoid all toll roads, even in Switzerland, so moving around costs no more than the UK.
Al.

Askit wrote:I think we have discussed this once or twice before? How do those European site prices work out once you add ferry/ES fares on?

That depends on how long the trips are of course. I do 3 x 30 day trips in Europe each spring/summer/autumn and the Hook of Holland return fares for overnight cabin outbound and daytime return with Plus lounge came to £1041 total this year. That's £11.56 a night if you want to put it that way.

The average I have paid per night for sites to date is £21.42. Generally I always go to sites with excellent reviews and brand new facilities, but you can do cheaper. I never book anywhere in advance, perhaps another advantage of the difference in motorhome/campervan culture and acceptance. It's much more normalised. Even small towns often have their own high quality site close to the town centre. Which is perfect for another aspect of my trips: eating out every night.

Askit wrote:I think we have discussed this once or twice before? How do those European site prices work out once you add ferry/ES fares on?

Having a thoroughbred Yorkie in the team, costs are very closely monitored!!

We can do this accurately as we only use a specific cc for all trips.

We work on here door to here door, usually 21 days. All costs therefore, incl ferries, fuel fees food etc etc, literally everything. We rarely eat in the van, bfast and evening nibbles excepted 

Works out at circa £100 per day. The Norwegian trip this year will be more as we need 4 sets of ferries.

That doesn't include tax, insurance, mot and servicing, but we all pay that anyway....
Compare that to a Nordkap cruise, 17 days, £9700!!!!

Based on the average type of site we will use in France this May, we'll pay around £570 site fees for 30 days. Looking at typical UK club sites (none of which have pools etc) cost for the same period would be between £850 - £1050.  Our ferry cost going out Poole-Cherbourg and returning St Malo - Portsmouth, both day crossings but with ensuite cabins is £389.

A more interesting comparison which I made 4 or 5 years ago was going in the van versus going by car and hiring statics on the same sort of sites, which we actually did in 2019.

Taking fully into account all plus and minus differences in fuel costs, ferries and site fees, 
I worked out that overall it would cost £249 more by car for a 9 day trip and £1127 for 28 days.

I have used this to justify having to spend money on maintenance and welding etc to keep the van running for a few more years.

I also found I enjoy the van trips much, much more than the time we went by car, for various reasons.

rogerblack wrote:This is why we take our main motorhome holidays in France now.

We can stay on five star sites near lovely beaches with excellent on-site facilities including indoor/outdoor covered heated swimming pools etc. for between €19 - €27 per night with our ACSI card. More basic sites start from €13 - €17 per night, cheaper than UK CS/CLs but usually with more facilities - EHU, loos, showers etc.

No need to book in advance or even say how long you intend staying, no regimented approach, much more relaxed and friendly. And of course the weather is better!

 We also spend most nights in france, in fact last year we did not camp once in this Country! Off to S. France in 6 weeks, hope the weather picks up by then.

Thanks for the replies and examples folks. I was not directing any criticism or suggesting going abroad was not cost effective but there is a touch of comparing apples with pears in relation to the relevant cost base of sites.

It's possible to buy a cooked burger (if you can stomach it) in the UK for anything from 99p to 20 times that or more, you pays your money and takes your choice. What I consider is a rip off, others will think is cheap and vice versa. Site prices won't be coming down anytime soon, will they have trouble filling pitches? I doubt it.

Askit wrote:Site prices won't be coming down anytime soon, will they have trouble filling pitches? I doubt it.

We've had several marketing mails from the two big clubs in the last few weeks trying to sell pitches over Easter so I guess they know that they are now overpriced.

Peter Brown wrote:

We've had several marketing mails from the two big clubs in the last few weeks trying to sell pitches over Easter so I guess they know that they are now overpriced.

I suspect the very wet and cold weather has deterred many bookings.
Micky

Looking to go away week after next, Lake District or Northumberland for five nights, Lake District CCC no availability,  space at all CMC sites. When I started looking space also at CCC, coming in about 25% cheaper than CMC with age concession discount 

Just booked Dunstan Hill Northumberland,  five nights for £30 per night for two of us o  hardstanding with ehu. Happy with that.