I was on my profile last night checking on my upcoming reservation next month for Assateague State Park. Noticed my reservation that I made last year had vanished, checked my past reservations for MD and they also vanished. Called the state campground this morning and they told me that my reservations were still good and they had gone over to their own system.Check the MD state map on Reserve America and I didn't see a listing for any state parks, I would guess the all mighty dollar has something to do with the change.Mike

mdcamping wrote:I was on my profile last night checking on my upcoming reservation next month for Assateague State Park. Noticed my reservation that I made last year had vanished, checked my past reservations for MD and they also vanished. Called the state campground this morning and they told me that my reservations were still good and they had gone over to their own system.Check the MD state map on Reserve America and I didn't see a listing for any state parks, I would guess the all mighty dollar has something to do with the change.MikeMaybe they were cleaning the system last night because Maryland is still listed @ reserveamerica today and I could make a reservation for September 2017.The almighty $ is how this company came into being. It was started as a way for states to reduce payroll and pension costs primarily. A bit of a viscous cycle that has become.

As I recall it, when RA began this mess, it charged $3.00 or so for a reservation. Last time I looked - more than a year ago - it was up around $9.00, even for a one nighter. Never had any luck with RA, never believed it knew anything about sites, or fit. And, I will never believe it saves any money - just pays it out for someone else to do the job. That's my opinion and I'm sticking with with it.

"I would guess the all mighty dollar has something to do with the change."Not everything should contracted out by state government and the reason isn't the "all mighty dollar" necessarily. Have you tried to determine the state's reasoning? Or is this a quick, snappy and kool conclusion?

monkey44 wrote:As I recall it, when RA began this mess, it charged $3.00 or so for a reservation. Last time I looked - more than a year ago - it was up around $9.00, even for a one nighter. Never had any luck with RA, never believed it knew anything about sites, or fit. And, I will never believe it saves any money - just pays it out for someone else to do the job. That's my opinion and I'm sticking with with it.The RA reservation fee is set by each park system that uses their service. RA charges the park systems a flat rate based on the services they contract for, and the park systems decide how much of that fee to pass on to their users. A few years back, Florida State Parks had no fee for RA users, but they now add a $6.70 reservation fee, while Georgia State Parks still have no fee. New York State Parks on the other hand, charges a $9 fee. I've never had a problem using RA, but I do not depend on RA alone for site selections, just site availability.

monkey44 wrote:As I recall it, when RA began this mess, it charged $3.00 or so for a reservation. Last time I looked - more than a year ago - it was up around $9.00, even for a one nighter. Never had any luck with RA, never believed it knew anything about sites, or fit. And, I will never believe it saves any money - just pays it out for someone else to do the job. That's my opinion and I'm sticking with with it.RA, is dependent on individual states' site descriptions. So if say, CT, persists in telling the company that most any site @ Hammonasset has a gravel driveway then that's CT's error. I've no idea how the contract reads once a site is upgrading as to which entity is responsible for the new information...my guess would be the state since it still has employees on the ground.The state set reservation charge still doesn't bother me since it doesn't even equal half a night's stay for most of the state parks I stay at.As for the loss of civil servant benefits.....yes that does bother me for the future generations' ability to make it into the middle class. Government employees tended to be paid less than those in the private sector but had the benefits to make the difference later in life. That system has gone "kerflooie" in recent years for a variety of financial and political reasons.ETA: Dutch is a faster typist than me:B.

Reserve America and MD state parks have parted ways?

13 Replies

Lwiddis
Explorer II
May 07, 2017
"I would guess the all mighty dollar has something to do with the change."

Not everything should contracted out by state government and the reason isn't the "all mighty dollar" necessarily. Have you tried to determine the state's reasoning? Or is this a quick, snappy and kool conclusion?
monkey44
Nomad II
May 07, 2017
As I recall it, when RA began this mess, it charged $3.00 or so for a reservation. Last time I looked - more than a year ago - it was up around $9.00, even for a one nighter. Never had any luck with RA, never believed it knew anything about sites, or fit. And, I will never believe it saves any money - just pays it out for someone else to do the job. That's my opinion and I'm sticking with with it.
NYCgrrl
Explorer
May 07, 2017
mdcamping wrote:
I was on my profile last night checking on my upcoming reservation next month for Assateague State Park. Noticed my reservation that I made last year had vanished, checked my past reservations for MD and they also vanished. Called the state campground this morning and they told me that my reservations were still good and they had gone over to their own system.

Check the MD state map on Reserve America and I didn't see a listing for any state parks, I would guess the all mighty dollar has something to do with the change.

Mike

Maybe they were cleaning the system last night because Maryland is still listed @ reserveamerica today and I could make a reservation for September 2017.

The almighty $ is how this company came into being. It was started as a way for states to reduce payroll and pension costs primarily. A bit of a viscous cycle that has become.

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Reserve America and MD state parks have parted ways?

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