Check in/out timing...

[Desert_Captain]

Something to think about...

This summer, like no previous one I can remember virtually every CG/RV Park is booked up well in advance. Most CG's and RV Parks have fairly standard checkin/out times. Typically check in is around 1 or 2 with mandatory check out an hour or two earlier. There are however two different sets of circumstances that folks should consider.

If you are just arriving and checking in to the CG/Park give them a call and usually if your site is empty they will have no problem with you arriving "a little" early. Keep in mind most decent CG/Parks want the opportunity to check and service your site as needed. Some RV Parks will charge about $10 for an early check in and a few will not permit it at all, their park, their rules.

Now as to checking out keep in mind that the check out time is not when you start prepping the rig for departure, that is the time when they need you to be gone, as in down the road.
If you need a later check out it's best to give them as much notice as possible when you "Ask" permission to do so.

We were recently at a busy CG and the staff went out of their way to accommodate as many folks as possible. We had to move twice during our 4 night stay and for us having a 24' Class C this could not have been much simpler. But... if you are moving to another site they HAVE to gone by check out {in this case 1100} so that you can vacate your site on time making room for whoever is moving in behind you. If you are still in my newly assigned site at 1100 someone is probably stacked up waiting for me to be gone and overflow parking if available at all will be at a premium.

On our last day the site we were moving to was open at 1030 and I slid right in. As I was setting up the guy in the site next to us came over and said "you're early". I explained that I had to move in as soon as it opened up so someone else could have mine. I had stayed completely away from the new site so as to not put any pressure on those folks to leave. He was leaving that day but didn't begin his departure routine until after 1100.

IMHO: Once the check out time arrives the site you are in is no longer yours and you need to be gone unless other arrangements have been made.

I spoke with the staff and they confirmed that the folks who are late departing or arrive too early without calling first can cause all sorts of needless headaches. They don't want to be bad guys for anyone and truly appreciate folks who understand and comply with their check in/out times.

So for the sake of discussion I'll ask... Have you ever arrived at your reserved site at the proper check in only to find it fully occupied? How long did you have to wait? Did asking the offending party to move along work or was it necessary to get the staff involved?

As always... Opinions and YMMV

:C

[CavemanCharlie]

I am just a weekend camper that used public campgrounds in SW MN, Northern Iowa and, Eastern South Dakota. Check in and out times around here are usually 4 pm.

I did once get to a park on time once and that there was someone in the site. I waited patiently for awhile but, noticed that there was no one at the site. There was no park workers there at that time but, there was a phone number on the door to call. I called it and they were shocked that the other camper was still there. Long story short, the teenager they hired to work the desk screwed up and double booked the site. They offered me a different spot, one free night of camping, and free firewood for the weekend. I was happy with that. They were apologetic but, I just said S##T happens and I was not upset.

[afidel]

agesilaus wrote:
You sound like you manage RV parks..heh.
We've run into a couple of parks that had 10AM check out which we thought was a bit unreasonable. And you should be aware that many if not all COE camps have 3PM checkin times and late checkouts, 1 or 2 PM.

I cannot say that we've found most camps to be full, a few are but most seem to be half full at most. We camps at a park right on the gulf a few weeks ago and it had 6 or 8 empty places in a very small park. An one on Gulf Shores, a big park, that was maybe 20% full for example.

Our COE campground has a 3pm checkout and 5pm check-in, works great for us weekend warriors as we can get there after work on a Friday and actually get to do stuff on Sunday before packing up and heading home!

[time2roll]

I make an effort not to arrive early. It is against my nature but I am aware of my issue and try to find another distraction to delay my journey if needed.

[bigorange]

I’ve had someone pull up and ask how long I’d be in the site before leaving...even though it was about an hour before checkout. Then proceeded to impatiently wait right there blocking traffic.

[bigorange]

Lwiddis wrote:
“As I was setting up the guy in the site next to us came over and said "you're early".”

That guy needs something else to do.

Sounds like he should have been getting himself ready to leave by checkout time.

[msmith1_wa]

Several years ago we were staying at an Oregon State Park. The check out time was 1pm and check in time 4pm. I had planned to leave close to noon. The people that were coming in the day we were leaving came in at about 11am and were trying to pressure us to hurry up and leave. I did the opposite and slowed down, stayed and ate lunch before leaving and left at 1pm.

[Gdetrailer]

dedmiston wrote:

That's a whooooooole lotta "quotes".

The point gets across..

Sure, everyone wants the same favorite rented plot of land, but in the end, does it really matter if you are able to get a slightly different rented plot of land in the same campground?

Sure, I have been disappointed, one of my favorite campgrounds is first come, first served, no site reservation. Multiple times someone has been in my favorite rented plot of land when I got there and they vacated it after checkout time after I was fully set up.

I was grateful that the campground had at least one rented plot of land for me to be able to set up camp and not be turned away.

It actually did us a favor, we found that there are plenty of other rented plots in that campground that work just as well.

[MetalGator]

We just had an issue two weeks ago. We decided to stay an extra day. Our site was reserved for the extra night so we would have to move. They gave us 4 sites to choose from. We picked the site we wanted and the park told us we could move the next morning as soon as the other person left (checkout was 1pm). On the other 3 sites we could have picked, they were all gone by 10:30am but the site we had picked the person was still there at the 1pm checkout time. We called the office and they came and knocked on his door. You could see him inside but he didn't answer. They called his cell phone multiple times and no answer. Finally, they left him a message that they would be calling the police to get him to leave. That finally got his attention and he started packing up slowly. Once he pulled out of his site, he parked his motorhome in the one lane road to hookup his toad. Took him 30 minutes of blocking traffic and keeping us from pulling into the site. The park said they had never had this happen before. I guess I should have picked one of the other sites.

[JKJavelin]

We've had this happen 4 times in 4 years. Once, the site we reserved was occupied, the campground simply screwed up and gave us a different site. The owner came over later, very apologetic, and gave us a bottle of wine.
One time the people didn't realize it was their day to leave (?) and were a couple hours away doing something. The park employees gave us a different site we really didn't like, but it was only for 1night.
Another time, at a very nice Texas gulf resort in Port Aransas, the people were taking their granddaughter to the Houston airport and we had to wait over 2 hours after check in time.
The 4th time was almost nothing.
JK

[JRscooby]

When I was CG host I made it a point to be sure campers knew when the site was booked for the night they where scheduled to leave. Mostly just the reserved sign on post. If I saw somebody was checking in on a site that was reserved for the night they planned to leave I would offer to move to another site that more likely to be able to extend their stay if wanted.
Somebody get there early? If the site is MT, set up if you want. But because you are early I might not have had time to check the site. You loose your right to witch if there is trash left.

[bucky]

If someone shows up early and tries to tell us what to do it will be one minute before checkout before we leave. Maybe 30 seconds.
I will accept bribes however :).

[time2roll]

I remember waiting for a late check out. We had plans that day and not much extra time. Seemed like lots of extra spots so we tried to negotiate moving. No go. So we are parked on the lawn next to the drive and the owner comes over to give us a hard time. I told him we were waiting for our reserved spot maybe he should talk to them. Just grumbled and went back to his shed/barn. Finally the people rolled out after a couple hours. We quickly parked and unhitched to go do our planned activity in town. Turned out OK but what a lot of hassle.

Got back after dinner to finish setting up and expected the camp to be full with all the hassle to get in our spot. Nope. Maybe two others rolled in and the camp was max 1/3rd full. What a crazy outfit.

[SDcampowneroper]

Many of you do not know the half of it. When we owned our park in a very touristy high demand short seasonal area, to make a go of it we had to book sites as near to 100% as we could.
Theres no weekend busy weekday empty crowd away from the cities. In high season a wednesday is the same as a saturday.
It sometimes meant guests would have to move from one site to another during their stay. which they agreed to and accepted. there was the issue, as the rightful occupant was entitled to stay until check out time, while the mover had to wait KNOWING that the site may not be open until after check out time.
The situation snowballed because one could not move until the other had vacated, others are lining up in the drive to check in and our staff was scurrying to mow and prep the sites.
Wheres the blame?

[toedtoes]

agesilaus wrote:

I have never arrived with my reserved site occupied.
I have never had the next occupant arrive while I was still at the site.

I think this is most likely on a first-come first-served camp, often Federal camps. People will often arrive very early at a park hoping to grab a free site as soon as it is vacated. They are scanning the whole campground not one particular site tho.

It may be a problem at RV Parks also.

I certainly understand getting there early for first come first serve sites. I don't see any reason to arrive before check in for a reserved site.

[dedmiston]

Gdetrailer wrote:
One should never "assume" that someone is "late" vacating a campsite, folks often pay for an additional "night" stay just so they do not have to be rushed to pack up in the morning.

Double booking can also happen which may pit you against the folks already in the spot that you were given.. Mistakes can happen.

Leave the "assumptions" and "policing" of the campground sites to the campground owner/management to deal with.

Much bigger issues in this world to deal with than fighting over a small rented plot of land..

That's a whooooooole lotta "quotes".