Early arrival.

I seem to always arrive early. I have run into this situation many times. Some places want a half-day payment, some want ten bucks and some don't care.

Bruce

Most private cgs I've been to have this policy, although not all enforce it. I've arrived early before (around an hour) and since it wasn't peak season and the cg was half empty they didn't charge. I guess it could depend on the amenities and how early you arrive. We stayed at a cg where they were said to have charged $10 to campers who arrived just a half hour early.

this usually happens to me at high traffic campgrounds!

In 14 years of fulltiming, sure, it's happened a time or 2 when they have held the line on arrival time (you DO understand that check-in time can mean just that, right?) and those few times simply because they were waiting for a site to open. No worries here, mon. We have a fully functional RV that we can park and enjoy anywhere. A couple of hours sittin' aside a road reading a good book? We can live with that.

The state parks I normally stay at enforce the stated policy during peak times but not so much on Monday through Wednesday. However there is no half day charge for arriving early or leaving late.

I should point out that many campgrounds much like hotels and motels do a physical check of sites/rooms before entering the official occupancy status into their computers.

jdb7566 wrote:

One thing is certain, this is one campground that will be crossed off the list of places to return to.

Name the campground.

Yes I hate that when they nickel and dime you. I guess cg's are hard up for cash?

We have also run into this but the c.g. has let us enter regardless. I think if they were going to charge for early check in, I would park in a prime spot near the office and while away the time until they allowed us to go to our site. Might work, might not but I would certainly try it if the c.g was not at capacity.

One time in NY state, all that was available was a non hook up site, which was ok with us. We had to wait 2 hours to go and park on it despite the fact the site was empty. We were told the extra charge for early arrival was to cover the cost of park amenities we would use. Duh - no hookups, no pool etc. - just didn't make any sense to us but we parked in their parking lot and went for a 2 hour bike ride. Just a nuisance factor in that instance.

We were at Yogi Bear Hagerstown MD. this past Memorial Day and they had the same policy which too me was not a big deal but at the same time if there is nobody on my spot why not let me in at no charge? If they stick hard to that rule it could create a longer line at check-in and that's hard on everyone.

So this did tick me off about this place..... When I checked in I told them I had one extra kid and needed an extra wrist band, she said ok $10.00 a day. I paid her $30.00 for Friday, Saturday and Sunday and went on my way. I was maybe an hour into my trip home on Monday when my cell phone rings, it was the cg saying I didn't pay enough for the extra kid that I brought and they needed permission to run my card for $10.00 ??

I asked why and they said I didn't pay the extra fee for Thursday night.... So my reservation was for Thurs thru Mon but due to work issues couldn't make it Thurs night. They knew that and still wanted to charge me! I told them I spent a lot of $$$ in there park the last few days and couldn't believe they were bothering over $10.00 on my way home!

We just had this happen yesterday. We arrived to a nearly empty campground and was told we would have to pay $3 per hour for early checkin on top of the $48 a night. We paid it because we have business here and wanted to get going. When it doesn't require any more effort on the part of the staff, I don't understand it. If they had to hustle to "clean" a site that would be different. Incidentally, when we called earlier in the morning to ask about availability, we were told they had plenty of sites and to just come on it. . . nothing about an early checkin fee.

Dale

But, they don't pay you when you leave early. :)