VA State Parks to drop dog fee for 2014

Atlee wrote:
I have no problem with state residents getting a break on rates. Why should a state resident, whose taxes partially support the parks, pay the same as an out of state resident pays?

Veebyes wrote:
As much as we like the SPs, COEs & NPs, the private CGs are getting more & more attractive. Hate to be nickled & dimed but things like the dual pricing levels, one for in state residents & one for out of state people, extra charge for the TV, or toad, day use etc. really gets to the nerves sometimes & offsets the much nicer surroundings that the SPs etc. usually provide.

Well, for one thing, because travelers buy food, drinks, fuel, and services in your state. And, we charge the same for out-of-state as in state. Shouldn't be different, it's kinda like scalping the out-of-towners ... makes no sense to me.

Some states give discounts to seniors, some give discounts only for in-state seniors. So, when that happens (we're seniors) we leave earlier and spend LESS ... In the off-season, seniors are the bread and butter for campgrounds. Makes little sense to try to gouge us, you gouge for one day, and lose us to a week - does that now make sense? Not to me ...

For example: We traveled to S Dakota, were planning to spend two weeks or more in the state parks along the Missouri River ... got there, and found seniors get discount, but only 'resident' seniors, and we got charged a 'daily access fee', $6 extra PER DAY on top of campsite fee, even if we were camping. One night, we got charged a boat dock fee, because the campground had a boat dock, but we had NO boat.

So, instead of staying two weeks, we stayed three days. Left without buying fuel, groceries, and camping fees for eleven days we would have stayed. And the campground was less than half-full.

How's that for paying more to camp in your state. Does that make you feel like charging extra for out for out-of-state campers brings in extra revenue? If so, your calculator works different than ours.