Big Changes Coming To Reserve America?

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Article doesn't address the biggest problem, booking multiple sites and locations when reservations first open and then picking one at the last minute. Unless that is solved, what is actually changing, except maybe it will be even easier for those types to tie up even more sites for their future culling?

Another posting somewhere recently suggested that those that try to book multiple sites at different places for the same date should be red-flagged by the reservation system and blocked.

Some folks just think about themselves. :((

Dutch_12078 wrote:
RA is a reservation management service. They can only be as good as the information provided to them by the parks. The fees charged to the guests are set by the park systems, not by RA. RA charges the parks a flat fee for the various services they provide, and how much of that is passed on to the guests is up to the parks. The cancellation fee for FL state parks is $17.75 for instance, while it's $9 for NY state parks. A few years ago FL charged guests no reservation fee, and then they changed it to the current $6.70 instead of raising the site fees. The park systems that contract with RA have a lot more control over guest fees and information than RA does.

X2 Very accurate assessment.

Ohio's new moneymaker for this year is to charge an $8 online reservation fee. If you reserve at the office upon arrival no charge but then you are pretty much limited to walk up sites.

RA is a reservation management service. They can only be as good as the information provided to them by the parks. The fees charged to the guests are set by the park systems, not by RA. RA charges the parks a flat fee for the various services they provide, and how much of that is passed on to the guests is up to the parks. The cancellation fee for FL state parks is $17.75 for instance, while it's $9 for NY state parks. A few years ago FL charged guests no reservation fee, and then they changed it to the current $6.70 instead of raising the site fees. The park systems that contract with RA have a lot more control over guest fees and information than RA does.

jplante4 wrote:
Hopefully they can pull the states into this. I'm at Geneva SP in Ohio on a 30 amp site. There are 14 brand new 50 amp full hookup sites around the corner - empty and marked as unavailable on the website.

Yup - those sites are pretty much always reserved and unavailable - except when school is in session. That's sad to hear there's no one in them. :(

That's exactly what I don't like about Reserve America and what I would like to see change. Figure out a way to keep folks from scamming the system - possible?

MetalGator wrote:
I've not had issues with booking with Reserve America, but I have often wondered why there is always so many open sites sometimes when Reserve America says there aren't sites available. I know there are cancellations but one time recently we were at a local state park that has two 30 site loops. I had booked way in advance but the morning of our checkin date, I checked Reserve America and it said all sites were booked. I know they hold some sites for a first come basis but when we arrived the campground was only about 65-70% full. I have seen this on multiple occasions.

Burch

Possibly if you were checking on the morning of your arrival the sites were shown as unavailable because it was not far enough in advance to make the reservation online via ReserveAmerica. New York, for instance, won't allow a same-day reservation to be made online, I assume because they need to transfer the reservation information each day from ReserveAmerica's computers to their computers (and then they wouldn't get updated properly at the park for online reservations after that) or something equally mundane.

I've not had issues with booking with Reserve America, but I have often wondered why there is always so many open sites sometimes when Reserve America says there aren't sites available. I know there are cancellations but one time recently we were at a local state park that has two 30 site loops. I had booked way in advance but the morning of our checkin date, I checked Reserve America and it said all sites were booked. I know they hold some sites for a first come basis but when we arrived the campground was only about 65-70% full. I have seen this on multiple occasions.

Burch

I would love to see a shakeup with RA.

There are problems that need addressed.

Cancellation, reservation and change fees are $17 now.
That’s ridiculous. ESP considering cancelling at a park that has a high occupancy rate and that site WILL be re-rented.

Weekend and weekly reservations are equally weighted so sites get reserved 11 now out for a weekend. You try to rent for a week or two and you can’t because weekends are gone. Parks sit half empty all week. As a tax payer I want to see occupancy increased. The weekends will alway fill up at the last minute. Let weekly campers have a wider window and/or leave more sites for walk ups.
Something needs fixed.

Article doesn't address the biggest problem, booking multiple sites and locations when reservations first open and then picking one at the last minute. Unless that is solved, what is actually changing, except maybe it will be even easier for those types to tie up even more sites for their future culling?

We've always used Reserve America and always had great success. No issues whatsoever.

So what now? What booking sites do you guys use? I mean, I can hit each park's site, I guess, but loved the convenience of checking multiple parks at once.

EDIT: Looks like South Carolina is no longer an option...