Reserve America

[VT_Skier]

Not sure if anyone else has had this issue but when I made some reservations at Reserve America the nightly rate listed was $22,00 when I went to pay they charged $26.00 when I called them the first person had no clue why and put me on hold in which after 30 minutes I just gave up. Not that $4.00 is huge it just annoys me that no one has an answer.

[wannavolunteerF]

South Carolina does the same as PawPawnGram said LA did. I really hated to pay a reservation fee for a campsite that I couldn't reserve. I was only staying one night on the weekend, so I had to wait and take what was available. One night each for two weekend nights during Christmas trip. Oh yeah, they sprung a "holiday rate" on me for the return overnight as it was between Christmas and New Years.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

I drove into a LA state park yesterday, and was a little surprised to find they added a $6 reservation fee to the walk-in price of the campsite.

Was told that since LA went to RA they 'had to charge the reservation fee' because they had to block the site in the RA system.

Since RA doesn't get that much money from the state - it's a subtle way for the state to increase SP revenues, and put the blame unfairly on the 'big bad' reservations company.

[TXiceman]

I refuse to use RA unless it is my only option to reserve a site.

Ken

[dewey02]

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
Reserve America does not set any of the fees you pay. They don't even get the money. It goes to the states/federal agency/campground owner directly, and they pay RA when billed monthly.

Their contracts with individual states, individual federal agencies determine how their fees are charged to the customer.

For example - the US Forest Service makes the customer pay an additional $9 per reservation on-line, where the US National Park Service does not make the customer pay any additional fee for on-line reservations. Those are both branches of the US Department of Interior.

Some states charge an on-line reservation fee even if you arrive at the CG without a reservation. Some states like Florida charge excessively high change and cancelation fees hoping to deter folks from reserving sites and reselling the reservations.

On the Reserve America page for every state/ agency is a link to a description of all extra fees charged. Winhall Brook Example

Be aware that many agencies have varying fees for a single campsite. Some states charge $3 or $5 more per night on weekends or holidays. Some states / federal agencies will charge $2-5 per night more for a 'water front' site than the near identical site across the road.

Some states rates go up for the 'season' and are cheaper for the 'off-season'. Louisiana charges $20 Oct-Mar and $28 Apr-Sep for the same sites at many parks.

All reservation systems have a charge for changing or canceling reservations.

Also the US Army Corps of Engineers has put new rates into the system for many campgrounds - like Winhall Brook - but the fees for individual campsites have not yet been updated. So at that CG when you go to checkout - the price jumps form $22 to $26 per night.

I talked to the office today - and they have been getting a lot of calls about the rate increase which was approved last week and just went into effect for new reservations a couple days ago.

Mostly factual, but not completely.
Yes, the agencies set the reservation fee in addition to the camping fee. But the reservation fee helps to offset the cost of the contract.
And while the Park Service and BLM are in the Dept. of Interior, the USDA Forest Service is in (surprise!) the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The whole reservation thing is pretty technical, and different companies bid on getting the long-term contract for making federal reservations. In the past, there have been lawsuits against the government by companies NOT winning the contract, so you can guess it is lucrative. And the reservation company that takes your reservations has locations in the US and Canada. They also take reservation for Broadway shows and many other venues.

[VT_Skier]

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
Scary. We are due in CT on the Naugatuck River for a COE volunteering position on April 15.

Hope to make a short trip up to WB during the summer. Here it is a bucket list quality place to visit.

If you can get there you will be in the middle of ski country with 3 major resorts within a 1/2 hr or less apart. All have things to do but Visiting Weston is a must do the VT Country store will take you back in time for a great sandwhich the JJ Hapgoods General store is areal treat. The Ball Lake Dam is awesome. There were fears it would not withstand the amount of water from hurricane Irene in 2011. Check out the Village of Jamica down stream about 5 mins away it was almost wiped out same with Wilmington.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Scary. We are due in CT on the Naugatuck River for a COE volunteering position on April 15.

Hope to make a short trip up to WB during the summer. Here it is a bucket list quality place to visit.

[VT_Skier]

Well that explains it they haven't updated things at WB went snowshoeing their yesterday afternoon there's so much snow they may not be open in May that's no exaggeration.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Reserve America does not set any of the fees you pay. They don't even get the money. It goes to the states/federal agency/campground owner directly, and they pay RA when billed monthly.

Their contracts with individual states, individual federal agencies determine how their fees are charged to the customer.

For example - the US Forest Service makes the customer pay an additional $9 per reservation on-line, where the US National Park Service does not make the customer pay any additional fee for on-line reservations. Those are both branches of the US Department of Interior.

Some states charge an on-line reservation fee even if you arrive at the CG without a reservation. Some states like Florida charge excessively high change and cancelation fees hoping to deter folks from reserving sites and reselling the reservations.

On the Reserve America page for every state/ agency is a link to a description of all extra fees charged. Winhall Brook Example

Be aware that many agencies have varying fees for a single campsite. Some states charge $3 or $5 more per night on weekends or holidays. Some states / federal agencies will charge $2-5 per night more for a 'water front' site than the near identical site across the road.

Some states rates go up for the 'season' and are cheaper for the 'off-season'. Louisiana charges $20 Oct-Mar and $28 Apr-Sep for the same sites at many parks.

All reservation systems have a charge for changing or canceling reservations.

Also the US Army Corps of Engineers has put new rates into the system for many campgrounds - like Winhall Brook - but the fees for individual campsites have not yet been updated. So at that CG when you go to checkout - the price jumps form $22 to $26 per night.

I talked to the office today - and they have been getting a lot of calls about the rate increase which was approved last week and just went into effect for new reservations a couple days ago.

[fla-gypsy]

I have never experienced an issue with RA but each entity they book for has it's own rules and charges so it may just be a recent change for the new year.

[ford_truck_guy]

When I book the sites in Delaware , they add $4.00 to each COMPLETE reservation... Admin fee is what I was told.... we usually book for 4 days , so to me , $1.00 a night as nothing... Considering the cost is only $38.00... well worth it

[VT_Skier]

I made reservations at the same campground a week ago and it was $22.00 for the exact same site.

[ghaindle]

Reserve America gets a premium for each reservation they book. Here in Louisiana I think they ge $3.00. It may have gone up to $4.00 though.