Reserve America web site ?

soos wrote:


No, i didn't get a site. I started trying 11 months in advance. I tried to book for early January, 11 months in advance, at 8 am sharp EST, with 3 different machines. I tried every day for two months figuring if I couldn't get in until mid February or so, at least it was something. I was never able to get a site, I called to see if that worked better and they said the website is the best way.

That sounds strange, although I've never tried booking that far in advance. A suggestion, if you don't already do this,regardless of how long you want a site, even if it's up to the two week max., put in that you're looking for a site for one day. That way you will see everything that's available. Perhaps you can link together enough sites to come up with what you need. If you do find what you need that way, you'll have to call RA to make those reservations, unless they've changed their system, it wouldn't let you make more than one reservation online at the same campground, without a break in between.
I just went on RA for John Pennekamp as far out as I could go on the reservation window (granted it's only to Sept 1 2014)and every site is available, with nothing showing as reserved.

Mich F wrote:

soos wrote:
"Hmmmm !
We must have a lot better luck then you. We have been making our winter reservations in the Florida Keys for the past ten years, and never have had a problem that wasn't caused by ourselves.
We get two week stays at the various state parks. Then we cancel a day or two here and there and give up a stay, and always have received our cancellations fees

Jack "


As mentioned, you are lucker than most. I am not the only one I know who got up every morning at 5 am because I was in CA, with ipads, computers and Iphones, hitting the reserve button. EVERY DAY. FOR 2 MONTHS. And never got to reserve a site in the Keys for last winter. To say it got frustrating would be a gross understatement. I continued to check twice a day for cancelations, and managed to get a grand total of 18 days booked, moving from park to park and site to site.

State parks in the Keys are fairly crowded most of the year. In the winter it's impossible to get a site unless you can pick up a site where someone has cancelled a reservation. The other option is to actually make a reservation 11 months before your planned trip to the Keys. You will get a site.

No, i didn't get a site. I started trying 11 months in advance. I tried to book for early January, 11 months in advance, at 8 am sharp EST, with 3 different machines. I tried every day for two months figuring if I couldn't get in until mid February or so, at least it was something. I was never able to get a site, I called to see if that worked better and they said the website is the best way.

I have been in a ranger's office when he has received a call to reserve a spot. He turns to his computer and logs onto RA.
Of course he will know more about his park, but he is using the same system that we use.

soos wrote:
"Hmmmm !
We must have a lot better luck then you. We have been making our winter reservations in the Florida Keys for the past ten years, and never have had a problem that wasn't caused by ourselves.
We get two week stays at the various state parks. Then we cancel a day or two here and there and give up a stay, and always have received our cancellations fees

Jack "


As mentioned, you are lucker than most. I am not the only one I know who got up every morning at 5 am because I was in CA, with ipads, computers and Iphones, hitting the reserve button. EVERY DAY. FOR 2 MONTHS. And never got to reserve a site in the Keys for last winter. To say it got frustrating would be a gross understatement. I continued to check twice a day for cancelations, and managed to get a grand total of 18 days booked, moving from park to park and site to site.

State parks in the Keys are fairly crowded most of the year. In the winter it's impossible to get a site unless you can pick up a site where someone has cancelled a reservation. The other option is to actually make a reservation 11 months before your planned trip to the Keys. You will get a site.

"Hmmmm !
We must have a lot better luck then you. We have been making our winter reservations in the Florida Keys for the past ten years, and never have had a problem that wasn't caused by ourselves.
We get two week stays at the various state parks. Then we cancel a day or two here and there and give up a stay, and always have received our cancellations fees

Jack "


As mentioned, you are lucker than most. I am not the only one I know who got up every morning at 5 am because I was in CA, with ipads, computers and Iphones, hitting the reserve button. EVERY DAY. FOR 2 MONTHS. And never got to reserve a site in the Keys for last winter. To say it got frustrating would be a gross understatement. I continued to check twice a day for cancelations, and managed to get a grand total of 18 days booked, moving from park to park and site to site.

magnusfide wrote:

Mich F wrote:
I've used Reserve America since they took over the Florida state park reservation system. I didn't have a choice in the matter, but I've also never had a problem with their system

You don't mention how often you camp or how many times you've used RA but you are in the minority with your experience. Every so often an RA promoter pops on the forum trying to push this system hoping to hook more parks into its expensive and inadequate service. Tiresome really but there it is. Since Florida switched to RA we have refused to use their reservation system.

We have found calling a particular park office very efficient as they have far more knowledge of the vacancies and projected numbers in situ than a computer in a remote office or a rep in another country.

I'm an RA promoter? I only stated the fact that if you want a reservation in a Florida state park you have to go through Reserve America, regardless of how helpful or knowledgeable a state park worker might be. I make my reservations on their web site, and the few times I've had to talk to someone from RA is when I"m trying to get a site for a weekend, but it involves moving from one site to another. The few times that has happened they've been courteous and helpful, although it's been a few years since I've had that situation.
I'm pretty sure I wasn't talking to someone from another country.
As far as this fee for making a reservation with the Fl. state parks through RA, there isn't one. What the state is paying RA is another story.
I don't know how many times I've used RA, but I can tell you I have gone to John Pennekamp 78 times. I know many of them were before RA came into the picture.

Mich F wrote:
I've used Reserve America since they took over the Florida state park reservation system. I didn't have a choice in the matter, but I've also never had a problem with their system

You don't mention how often you camp or how many times you've used RA but you are in the minority with your experience. Every so often an RA promoter pops on the forum trying to push this system hoping to hook more parks into its expensive and inadequate service. Tiresome really but there it is. Since Florida switched to RA we have refused to use their reservation system.

We have found calling a particular park office very efficient as they have far more knowledge of the vacancies and projected numbers in situ than a computer in a remote office or a rep in another country.

I was on right before 8 and again at 9. It will take time to figure the new format out.

I see a lot of interesting comments on here. At least one person has stopped using Reserve America, now that's interesting. If you want to camp in a state park in Florida ( I imagine it's the same other places) and actually get a reservation, the only way you are going to get one, is through Reserve America. Someone else complained about having to move their RV 3 or 4 times in a 2 week period. That's not hard to understand. There aren't any sites open for that 2 week stretch you want. Other people have reservations during that time frame. There was also a mention of reservation fees for each site? What's that all about? With Fl state parks at least there are no fees for making a reservation. Are there fees in other places?
I've used Reserve America since they took over the Florida state park reservation system. I didn't have a choice in the matter, but I've also never had a problem with their system. It's really much easier than having to contact the individual park to see when/if they have any open sites.
I camp mainly in Florida and more often than not at a state park in the Keys. It's very difficult to get a site there most of the year. It's been made more difficult because Reserve America has made it so much easier for someone from Michigan or from (fill in the blank) to make a reservation.
What really upsets me is being there on a weekend and according to Reserve America it's booked solid. Yet there's more often than not a good number of empty sites, which I assume is a result of people that have made reservations and haven't bothered to cancel denying someone else the opportunity to get a site.

RA has never made a mistake on my reservations or cahrged me a fee that I didn't know applied. I make my reservations on line so I can pick my site in Florida state parks. The system works fine, if you call and rely on someone else to do it for you, you are taking a chance that some biological unit will be entered wrong. If you can't make a reservation using this sytem you are a tech-challenged individual. If you are making reservations you do not intend to keep you are abusing the system which will lead to higher fees. Time for some accountability from those who are using the system to do it right.