KOA Campground Cancellation Policy

We've stayed at quite a few KOAs. They aren't my first choice because of their prices, but 99% of the time we have been very satisfied with our stay and the office staff.

We stayed at a KOA a few weeks ago and they were having a big Cinco de Mayo festival. Their office staff was busy planning the festival and couldn't take our money the morning after we arrived (late). So we stayed there under the honor system and then finally paid at the end of our stay on Sunday.

A 48 hour cancellation policy seems fair to me. A lot of people try to game the system by booking reservations when their plans are still tentative. I don't blame the merchant for assessing a penalty.

We had a reservation at a KOA and we did come in on time. We had communicated with them that we had satellite on the roof but could use tripod if needed. The first shocker was they added sales tax, no mention that price given in emails would have tax added. Then 2 cars, $50 extra for that. Then the real winner. Reserved for a month. They have a 28 day month, not 30 but 28.

The site they gave us was not very level and even with a tripod we wouldn't be able to get the sat to work. We asked for a refund and they gave us all of it back. I was surprised.

We went down the road about 2 miles, price was $700 per month with no add ons.

This was the first time we had planned to stay at a KOA in many decades due to their past pricing policies, nothing has changed..............

More reasons why we do not stay at KOA, nor do we recommend them. Most are way above our nonaffluent Social Security level. We don't need all the bells and games. Just a good quiet FHU site.

We stayed at a certain KOA in GA, many, many times. One of our favorite spots and also used it to go to if a hurricane was headed anywhere near us in FL. I had made reservations for another stay and my late husband got sick and we couldn't make the trip. Cancelled in plenty of time and got charged a 10.00 cancellation fee. Guess I was lucky? Haven't been back there since, all because of 10.00 and being a long time customer. Since I am up for renewal, with their new policy, I will let that pass.

As long as the policy is stated up front it is up to the consumer to know and understand the policy. If your plans are not firm, consider the loss before you make the reservation.
I have paid my share of cancellation fees but in the end I have no one else to blame buy myself. I knew the rules when I made the reservation and I agreed to play by them.
From the CG's point of view you a last minute cancellation leaves them very little time to fill the spot. The CG makes zero dollars from vacancies.

Bobchambe wrote:
Just wanted to mention that if you reserve a campsite at a KOA park, be very sure you can make it. They have a 48 hour cancellation policy!!
If you make a reservation today for a site tomorrow, and something happens and you can't make it, you pay for tomorrow night anyway.
48 hours is a ridiculous amount of time! 24 hours notice is bad enough when you never know what may happen with an RV! Most RV Parks we have dealt with have a 12 hour or less cancellation policy.

Personally, we will avoid KOA parks in the future, or at least not book them in advance.

Great thing about this country is you are free to choose to not give your business to any entity that has rules and policies you do not like.
Our cancellation policies are much stricter. It is the only way we can be assured that we maximize the usage of the park. It is also the only way we can assure our potential guests that our sites are indeed reserved for guests that will arrive and not just held in case the person owning the reservation decides we are the location they wish to visit out of the 10 locations they have reserved. These forums are full of threads regarding parks where the potential guest sees rows upon rows of empty, yet reserved, sites and there are even more threads about how many government parks get fully reserved a couple of minutes after each date becomes available, yet the parks are only half full when that date arrives.
Cancellation fees may very well not work for you. However they are necessary for us to maximize our occupancy, and hence our profitability. Just because you don't like them, doesn't make them in your words "ridiculous".

We never make reservations but we do stay at KNOws. They have three kinds of parks resort, holiday and journey. The last one doesn't have extra stuff, is close to the highway and is almost all pull thru. They are for people passing thru and are cheaper.

LadyRVer wrote:
We stayed at a certain KOA in GA, many, many times. One of our favorite spots and also used it to go to if a hurricane was headed anywhere near us in FL. I had made reservations for another stay and my late husband got sick and we couldn't make the trip. Cancelled in plenty of time and got charged a 10.00 cancellation fee. Guess I was lucky? Haven't been back there since, all because of 10.00 and being a long time customer. Since I am up for renewal, with their new policy, I will let that pass.

At best, that $10.00 covered some of their costs of your reservation and return of your deposit, less that $10.00 fee. Credit card fees run around 2.5% of the transaction amount and is charged both when a payment is taken and when a refund is issued. Then there is a separate transaction fee every time a debit or credit is processed. Plus the park is paying an employee and had taken that site out of inventory, possibly missing a reservation to replace yours. Why should the park lose money because your husband got sick?

Personally I have no issue with their cancellation policy. I have had to cancel before at the last minute with a understandable reason and they have worked with me. They are a pricey place to stay if you don’t care to use their facilities but for what they offer not too bad.

Ah, the cancellation policy. I had a reservation. I called the campground and told them I would be late to arrive, actually the following morning. I was told I would be charged for the night. OK, no problem. I was able to arrive at 11:30, but my assigned sight had someone in it already. I parked in front of the office, leveled the rig, put out the slides. I was met by the host early in the morning. I offered him a cup of coffee but he wanted me to move immediately. I told him my PAID FOR spot was full or I would have parked there last night when I finally arrived. Things cooled off very quickly and he was very accommodating with a place to wait for the over nighter who had my space.

Just another adventure to laugh about around the campfire.

Don't take life too seriously, you will not get out alive.