Reservations

[Mayor30]

Our grand kids live in Texas and we live in Pa.Last year,due to the virus,we didn't make the trip to see them.This year,I have made reservations at Canyon Lake which is an COE campground north of San Antonio close to where they live. My question is about traveling there and back. We usually didn't make reservations for overnight stops. But I'm wondering what has been your experience traveling during these times? Should I make reservations for each night or not? We prefer state and federal parks. Have any of you not been able to get a spot with first come,first served?The travel would be during week days,not on weekends. Thanks.

[valhalla360]

MarkTwain wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

MarkTwain wrote:
Resverations!
You have everything to gain and nothing to loss by making reservations in advance. Making reservations and does not LOCK you into a set schedule because you can always change or cancel a reservation. Always ask what the cancellation policy is. Call in advance to make sure the RV park is open. I never understood what the advantage is to wait until the day of your expected arrival and then run the risk of not finding a RV park site.

Sure, you can always divert and lose your deposit...most places that take reservations want a non-refundable deposit. Some may let you change but frequently not...particularly govt parks where the rules are the rules.

Unless there is a holiday or a longer stay, we usually call the day before or even the morning of travel. Rare for it to be an issue.

That is why you need to call and ask their cancellation policy to avoid loosing your deposit!!!

Now the reservation process is a bigger hassle as a large percentage it's non-refundable, so you have to call more places and it largely rules out publicly owned campgrounds.

It's rare enough to have an issue (outside of peak periods/long stays) that it's easier to just call a day or two out to see if they have availability.

[way2roll]

dedmiston wrote:

way2roll wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

way2roll wrote:
Been my experience recently with all the new Covid campers that we need reservations. Better to have a reservation and not need it, than need one and not have it. And we have made lots of reservations and had to cancel with a minimum fee - if any - if outside of 24 hrs so it's not a huge deal. Things happen. But during the holidays with all these new campers, no way I would risk not having a reservation especially if I was pretty solid on my route and timing.

Of course you need to have no regard for others that really needed that site.

Troll.

I agree with Lynnmor. I guess that makes me a troll too.

Maybe. Frankly I don't follow the logic. If I make a reservation with the intent on staying somewhere to ensure I have a spot , and don't make it there for timing, weather any myriad of reasons, that makes me inconsiderate of someone else because I abide by the park's cancellation policy?

You've never cancelled a reservation?

[MarkTwain]

valhalla360 wrote:

MarkTwain wrote:
Resverations!
You have everything to gain and nothing to loss by making reservations in advance. Making reservations and does not LOCK you into a set schedule because you can always change or cancel a reservation. Always ask what the cancellation policy is. Call in advance to make sure the RV park is open. I never understood what the advantage is to wait until the day of your expected arrival and then run the risk of not finding a RV park site.

Sure, you can always divert and lose your deposit...most places that take reservations want a non-refundable deposit. Some may let you change but frequently not...particularly govt parks where the rules are the rules.

Unless there is a holiday or a longer stay, we usually call the day before or even the morning of travel. Rare for it to be an issue.

That is why you need to call and ask their cancellation policy to avoid loosing your deposit!!!

[Sjm9911]

Make the reservations. I just made mine for the trip down to disney. Yes, i am going on halloween , but the monday after is almost all booked up for 2021. I had to call a few places to get it set. I dont want to drive 8 hours to not have a place to stay the night and shower. Plan it out and ajust your driving scedual as needed.

[dedmiston]

way2roll wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

way2roll wrote:
Been my experience recently with all the new Covid campers that we need reservations. Better to have a reservation and not need it, than need one and not have it. And we have made lots of reservations and had to cancel with a minimum fee - if any - if outside of 24 hrs so it's not a huge deal. Things happen. But during the holidays with all these new campers, no way I would risk not having a reservation especially if I was pretty solid on my route and timing.

Of course you need to have no regard for others that really needed that site.

Troll.

I agree with Lynnmor. I guess that makes me a troll too.

[Mayor30]

OK, thanks for all the advice. The consensus is make reservations. We do have them for our destination but I will start making them for our over night stops. BTW We will leave Pa the 3rd Sunday in March. Take 5 days to make it to Texas.

[MarkTwain]

way2roll wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

way2roll wrote:
Been my experience recently with all the new Covid campers that we need reservations. Better to have a reservation and not need it, than need one and not have it. And we have made lots of reservations and had to cancel with a minimum fee - if any - if outside of 24 hrs so it's not a huge deal. Things happen. But during the holidays with all these new campers, no way I would risk not having a reservation especially if I was pretty solid on my route and timing.

Of course you need to have no regard for others that really needed that site.

Troll.

The last sentence does not make sense and is ambiguous????????

[garmp]

We found that reservations are almost a must, especially on weekends. And as far as school being back in, NOT. Most schools are on line now that means any RV with wifi is now a class room. During the off season we met many people with school age children and did inquire about just that. For the most part they all replied the same. Wifi is now the classroom, why stay at home.

[magicbus]

We usually tour around Florida State Parks every year before settling in at our 6 week location. We never had a problem getting a night pretty much wherever we wanted to stay, but not so this year. The only parks where there are more than 1 or 2 sites are on the interior, and while we enjoy most all Florida State Parks, we prefer to be near the coast and we found only one night at one park that fit our schedule.

Dave

[kellem]

Yes, would highly recommended reservations as Covid campers will be out in hoards.

You may also find that many campgrounds have forgone the first come first serve policy for reservations only.
It's what we've experienced here in VA.

[way2roll]

Lynnmor wrote:

way2roll wrote:
Been my experience recently with all the new Covid campers that we need reservations. Better to have a reservation and not need it, than need one and not have it. And we have made lots of reservations and had to cancel with a minimum fee - if any - if outside of 24 hrs so it's not a huge deal. Things happen. But during the holidays with all these new campers, no way I would risk not having a reservation especially if I was pretty solid on my route and timing.

Of course you need to have no regard for others that really needed that site.

Troll.

[Lynnmor]

way2roll wrote:
Been my experience recently with all the new Covid campers that we need reservations. Better to have a reservation and not need it, than need one and not have it. And we have made lots of reservations and had to cancel with a minimum fee - if any - if outside of 24 hrs so it's not a huge deal. Things happen. But during the holidays with all these new campers, no way I would risk not having a reservation especially if I was pretty solid on my route and timing.

Of course you need to have no regard for others that really needed that site.

[dedmiston]

Reservations don't work very well for us because we typically don't know where we're going or when we'll be there. It depends on the season though. I wouldn't freewheel it during busy tourist seasons, but in the fall when most people are back to work & school it worked very well for us.

The night before a travel day, my wife and I would agree on a general compass point and vague destination. Then I would quietly research potential stops along that route. RV Trip Wizard has a feature that shows rings of distances, so I would look at stops around 300 miles away.

The next day on the road, I would prod my wife to start looking for places to stay. If she didn't have any thoughts, I'd suggest XYZ or ABC parks near some town. She'd either agree that they sounded good or pick someplace else, and then she'd call and book it when we were a couple hours away.

We only panicked one night when there was a midweek auto show in the small town in the Sierras where we were stopping. We still got a good spot in an offbeat park. That's the only time we've sweated getting a spot in our tens of thousands of miles of traveling.

[way2roll]

Been my experience recently with all the new Covid campers that we need reservations. Better to have a reservation and not need it, than need one and not have it. And we have made lots of reservations and had to cancel with a minimum fee - if any - if outside of 24 hrs so it's not a huge deal. Things happen. But during the holidays with all these new campers, no way I would risk not having a reservation especially if I was pretty solid on my route and timing.

[valhalla360]

MarkTwain wrote:
Resverations!
You have everything to gain and nothing to loss by making reservations in advance. Making reservations and does not LOCK you into a set schedule because you can always change or cancel a reservation. Always ask what the cancellation policy is. Call in advance to make sure the RV park is open. I never understood what the advantage is to wait until the day of your expected arrival and then run the risk of not finding a RV park site.

Sure, you can always divert and lose your deposit...most places that take reservations want a non-refundable deposit. Some may let you change but frequently not...particularly govt parks where the rules are the rules.

Unless there is a holiday or a longer stay, we usually call the day before or even the morning of travel. Rare for it to be an issue.