Campground Rates

[Beer_Belly]

My Wife and I usually start and end the camping season with a weekend at a local CG (Cozy Hills in Litchfield CT), and when we called to make a reservation at the start of the season, we were told "All weekends are a 3 day minimum". I can't see checking in on Friday afternoon, checking out on Sunday (because of work on Monday), and paying for a 3rd day. So, fast forward to end of season, we called and the 3 day weekend is gone and rates for full hookups are less than W/E ?, I questioned the rates and was told "The pricing is being driven up by availabilty, much like booking on an airline", either way, I'm not willing to spend $94 per night for W/E, nor $85 for full hookups on a basic CG....it's not a camping resort by any means. Has anyone else run into ridiculous pricing or gimmics.

[spoon059]

Yes, I've heard of both of these. The "fare bucket" pricing is kinda new to me, although I'm not entirely sure that's the correct term for pricing. I've seen some sites that offer me one price, and my friend (sitting right next to me on his phone) sees another price for the same site. It's apparently some algorithm that determines how many times I've come back to that page, or how much time I've spend on that page or something else and adjusts the price because I might be more likely to book with that site. I'm not sure how it works, but I've seen the effects of it.

The minimum stay issue is another one. On one hand I get it, on the other hand it can be ridiculous at times. We just got back from a trip to Vermont and I realized that I didn't book an overnight stop on the way home. Called a bunch of places that were booked. Found another place online that had a vacancy for Saturday night (and ONLY Saturday night), but they had a minimum 2 night reservation policy so I couldn't book it online. That's ridiculous to me, because there was no available site anywhere in the park for Sunday night (so I couldn't stay 2 nights even if I wanted to!!!). Of course it was after hours so there was nobody in the office to call and ask for a variance. I eventually found a site that I could book online for the night though.

I'm hoping this is a fad, while things are hot in the RV market. I realize that there aren't many new campgrounds and there is a high demand right now for RV sites. I hope to get back to a point in time where its not this crazy and I don't have to book months or years in advance to get sites. We love fall camping in the mid-Atlantic, but weekends can be hit or miss. An October weekend could be 30 degrees or 90 degrees. It might be sunny or it might be a deluge of rain. Its hard to know much more than a couple days in advance how the weather might be, and you have to make reservations months in advance. No thanks...

[gary7n]

There is a practice that is being adopted by some campgrounds called dynamic pricing which is similar to airlines seat pricing. Your price might vary by time of year, number of bookings, and other factors. There is a service that they are subscribing to that calculates the pricing for them. There is a series of articles in recent RV travel newsletters. https://www.rvtravel.com/part-1-dynamics-pricing-campsite/

[agesilaus]

Alex and Tee wrote:
Kind of surprised no one is talking about Passport America. Lot’s of places to stay from $20 - $50 a night with full H/U. Yes, some have limits on time of year or number of nights you can take the discount but still lots of choices. My wife and I aren’t much for “roughing it”.

Yeah PPA is just about the only one of those 'clubs' that are worth the price. Finding a PPA cg can be tough but you only need a couple to break even.

[Alex_and_Tee]

Kind of surprised no one is talking about Passport America. Lot’s of places to stay from $20 - $50 a night with full H/U. Yes, some have limits on time of year or number of nights you can take the discount but still lots of choices. My wife and I aren’t much for “roughing it”.

[monkey44]

agesilaus wrote:

Federal campgrounds here in California tend not to have any hookups, so factor in regional differences.

That's normal across the country, a few do, most do not.

Some Fed CG's now have a section with E/W ... Vendors installed and run it and don't allow the senior discount. It gives discount on the site, but then adds $10 for E/W ... Tetons is one example, Everglades another. Altho we were in Tetons about six or seven years ago ... and Everglades three years ago. Not sure how either one is run now, or the fees.

[moonlightrunner]

www.freecampsites.net

[agesilaus]

Federal campgrounds here in California tend not to have any hookups, so factor in regional differences.

That's normal across the country, a few do, most do not.

[toedtoes]

Mayor30 wrote:
We usually don't stay in commercial campgrounds for 2 reasons. 1 the high cost and 2 they jam you together. We much prefer state and federal campgrounds. And if you're 62 or older,the Senior Pass gets you a 50% discount on camping in all federal campgrounds ( National Parks, Army Corps of Engineers,BLM and Forest Service). We stayed at one in Arkansas that cost us $7.50 a night with water and electric! That was the cheapest but others are very reasonable.Usually Less than $20 a night with the pass. And they are nice campgrounds. Most we stayed at had at least electric hookups and some water and electric. A few have full hookups. The campgrounds are much more scenic too. State Parks vary depending on the state. Any where from $18 to $49 a night. So skip the commercial campgrounds and save money.

Federal campgrounds here in California tend not to have any hookups, so factor in regional differences.

[Mayor30]

We usually don't stay in commercial campgrounds for 2 reasons. 1 the high cost and 2 they jam you together. We much prefer state and federal campgrounds. And if you're 62 or older,the Senior Pass gets you a 50% discount on camping in all federal campgrounds ( National Parks, Army Corps of Engineers,BLM and Forest Service). We stayed at one in Arkansas that cost us $7.50 a night with water and electric! That was the cheapest but others are very reasonable.Usually Less than $20 a night with the pass. And they are nice campgrounds. Most we stayed at had at least electric hookups and some water and electric. A few have full hookups. The campgrounds are much more scenic too. State Parks vary depending on the state. Any where from $18 to $49 a night. So skip the commercial campgrounds and save money.

[egarant]

My huge complaint is with government owned parks (usfs, blm, etc.) selling out to concessionaires. Instead of doing their job of running their campgrounds they sell out to the highest bidder for quick cash and leave us to the mercy of their own rules and regulations.

Like>>>>

It makes me furious when I have to pay extra to use the dump station when I am already paying full price for a campsite. (Canyon Ferry Lake & Strawberry Reservoir)

Or being told that my Senior Access Pass is only good certain days of the week or not good in double campsites. (Strawberry Reservoir)

I hate them.

[agesilaus]

Outside National Parks is always a special case. Major parks anyway. And the east side of GNP is worse than most since most of that land is indian reservation, not even any boondocking.

[stripit]

Was camping 75 away from Glaicer National park, stopped at a rv park very close to the entrance, asked about a site to fit my 40 ft MH? Nope none this year, and only 8 nights for next year, not all in a row, 3 days then 5 days in different months. I asked the rates? $197.50 per night at this years rate, but expect it to go up about 10% for next year. Decided I didn't need to return next year at rates like that. Will find another part of the country to visit.

[mdcamping]

^^^
Turning Stone in NY has a 3 day minimum, I think we have come across others but just don't remember them

Mike

[Tvov]

The "3 day minimum" is interesting... usually, when we've reserved campsites, it is "per night".

First time we ran into "per day" was at a county run campground in New Jersey.

So, for a weekend camping trip Friday-Saturday-Sunday, instead of paying for 2 nights, you pay for 3 days (no matter when you arrive or leave).

I don't know how common that is.

As to the price... well, this is Connecticut. I always expect to pay at least $50 a night if there are any hookups, with septic closer to $100.