Wanna camp in a BC provincial park? Fuggedaboutit

[myredracer]

Travel companies, RV rental businesses and tour operators have been snapping up campground sites in BC Provincial Parks the second they become available and are reselling them for twice the cost to European tourists. Chances of BC residents and US visitors getting CG sites is next to impossible now. It's the people with really fast fingers getting on the gov't booking website the instant sites become available (3 months in advance) that get the sites. News story here.

Even if you do manage to get a reservation but later on your personal circumstances change and you can't make it, you'll get a one night's stay penalty of $35 (standard site cost) plus an additional $6 per night penalty. Many have ended up reselling their reservations to avoid the penalty. Good luck at getting a new reservation less than 3 months ahead if you want to re-book.

Who would have thought scalpers would have gotten into campgrounds? People have been complaining about the reservation system for quite a while and nothing changes. In addition, in recent years Provincial Parks have had their budgets severely cut back and there's a lot less staff and amenities. News story here.

The government's online reservation and park's budget is just generally messed up and needs a major rethink. We do 100 percent of our camping in private CGs in the US and sure are glad we don't have to fight to get into a BC Park.

[rk911]

GaryKH wrote:
i posted about this in tbe Canada/USA forum. The problem is first come first serve wasnt working becayse people would set up their gear in a site on a Monday in order to get that site for the weekend. It ended up with some campgrounds not having any sites available even though their were. And now there is this scam. The company is using their clients name & cc info to reserve so it doesnt appear that they are reselling. I do think that charging tbe full rate (reservation fee plus camlsite fee) would stop most of this. But then it wouldnt be fair for people who ha e mechanical issues wbile on the road.

yup...that happens. that can be cured by requiring the site be occupied overnite. if not then the camping unit should be removed from the site.

[laknox]

Oasisbob wrote:
Wonderful NOT! Are the parks people aware of this? Seems very wrong to me

Gov't run, so plenty of kick-backs, I'm sure. Same as it'd be down here...

Lyle

[GaryKH]

i posted about this in tbe Canada/USA forum. The problem is first come first serve wasnt working becayse people would set up their gear in a site on a Monday in order to get that site for the weekend. It ended up with some campgrounds not having any sites available even though their were. And now there is this scam. The company is using their clients name & cc info to reserve so it doesnt appear that they are reselling. I do think that charging tbe full rate (reservation fee plus camlsite fee) would stop most of this. But then it wouldnt be fair for people who ha e mechanical issues wbile on the road.

[romore]

There are always those that find ways to abuse the system. European tourists are big business here, many of the class C rentals on the road contain Germans,French,or Swiss. I think the only way around it is to limit the number of sites available for advance booking or limit the number available to each applicant. There would have to be a way to control multiple applications.

[DutchmenSport]

If someone or some company is snatching up camping reservation sites, the campground or park is still getting their money, so I don't see what the problem is for the campground-park. I can see if the reservation can be made without requiring 100% cost at the time of reservation though.

At least, every campground I've ever reserved in the U.S.A has required only the person who's name is on the reservation can actually use it.

Still, if the park is getting full pay at the time of reservation, I don't understand how the park can be loosing money. It guarantees every campsite is paid for 100% of the time. (I'm not saying that's right, I'm am saying, it's 100%! If the site sits empty because no one shows up, the campground is not out anything! They've made their money, actually saved because there's no electric or sewer or water usage).

[Oasisbob]

Wonderful NOT! Are the parks people aware of this? Seems very wrong to me

[BillJ999]

Wouldn't simply not allowing reservation transfers take care of most of the problem? I might be wrong, but I don't recall being able to transfer reservations elsewhere. The only person who can stay at the campsite is the one who reserved it. Easy enough to do.
William

[rk911]

myredracer wrote:
Travel companies, RV rental businesses and tour operators have been snapping up campground sites in BC Provincial Parks the second they become available and are reselling them for twice the cost to European tourists. Chances of BC residents and US visitors getting CG sites is next to impossible now. It's the people with really fast fingers get on the gov't booking website the instant sites become available (3 months in advance) that get the sites. News story here.

Even if you do manage to get a reservation but later on your personal circumstances change and you can't make it, you'll get a one night's stay penalty of $35 (standard site cost) plus an additional $6 per night penalty. Many have ended up reselling their reservations to avoid the penalty. Good luck at getting a new reservation less than 3 months ahead if you want to re-book.

Who would have thought scalpers would have gotten into campgrounds? People have been complaining about the reservation system for quite a while and nothing changes. In addition, in recent years Provincial Parks have had their budgets severely cut back and there's a lot less staff and amenities. News story here.

The government's online reservation and park's budget is just generally messed up and needs a major rethink. We do 100 percent of our camping in private CGs in the US and sure are glad we don't have to fight to get into a BC Park.

easy solution. make some/most/all of the campsites unreservable...first come, first serve.