Which club?

[Bonkers the Dog]

Hi folks,

Now that we've got our van its now time to join a club...

But which one?

What are the pros and cons?

I've seen various comments on here that in turn praise and condemn them! Who is to be believed?

Are they worth it? are the discounts that good? What are their USPs? Is joining up worth it just to get the ferry discounts? Ferrydirect.com is quoting £548 for a family of four, Hull - Zebrugge in early April. Can the clubs better that?

Are the clubs themselves plagued with petty regulation? Are they too cliquey? Is there a bit of us vs them going on.

I am relying on you good folks out there to give me some pointers! I recently had a bad experience with "joining" historic Scotland; waste of bloody money and not cheap. I don't care to repeat the experience!

So, lets hear it...

 

[WillH]

I am in both, some good things about both.

 

[Badknee]

Hmmm, good question. We are members of both the CMC and the CCC but only because of their CL’s and CS’s and THS’s. We don’t use their club sites but they have some great little 5 pitch sites that we like.

 

[Bonkers the Dog]

Folks, cheers. But come on WillH, you can't leave a man hanging like that; spit it oot! And Badknee...TLA's? Me-no-speaka-de-lingo!

 

[Kannon Fodda]

Are you likely to want to visit any of the club's sites, or perhaps one of their specialist sites?
Might you benefit from their "specialist" insurances?
Do they really offer discounts not available elsewhere?

OK, so I only have a tent (eek), but will definitely have wheels by the summer. Meanwhile I did join the Camping Caravan Club last year. I visited the New Forest a lot as I liked the ease of gravel track cycling, and supposedly I would get a discount on their Camping in the Forest tie ups (ideal if you like overused abused toilet and shower blocks and 1000+ other people on campsites ) But as a single I already had a discount. Even the certificated site I later looked at allowed me to book direct. I'm not really a scoiable person, if I'm going away it's to escape the world, so any club rallys or whatever aren't really my scene. TBH I'm wondering what I benefit I actually get from membership, but that may change with a van.

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[Badknee]

Folks, cheers. But come on WillH, you can't leave a man hanging like that; spit it oot! And Badknee...TLA's? Me-no-speaka-de-lingo!

THS... temporary holiday sites. Mostly in a field with fill and dump facilities only but in great locations.

 

[Eddystone]

I'm with Broken Link Removed.
The C&CC Temporary Holiday Sites (THS) are often useful when touring as well as longer hols.

 

[Jim]

Me-no-speaka-de-lingo!

Hi Bonkers, some of the is explained here. Cheers

 

[SpeedyDux]

As members of the C&MC the benefits for us of the UK sites we choose to stay at in terms of the immaculate facilities, proximity to places we want to visit, ease of booking online, and discounts on insurance and ferries (and other Member offers) are well worth the membership fee. So far its been a good experience and we have had no hassles with Club rules or Wardens.

It very much depends on what kind of use you are going to make of your MH or PVC. If most or all your trips are going to be overseas then the Clubs are less good value.

@Kannon Fodda it's a different lifestyle from tenting so your perception of the Clubs might change as you develop your requirements and preferences. Hope you find the CCC carries on providing great camping experiences for you.

 

[Cheshirecat57]

We are in CMC

Before anyone chips in, it is NOT a club, I know that.....but neither is the RAC

We use UK sites, and they are consistent, which is what we like ( a bit like a Premier Inn, you sort of know what its like before you get there)

A few rules to obey, where to park etc, but again that stops it looking like a refugee camp

I would add, when you dont feel that you are getting value from your £1 a week......leave

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[BigStevie]

What was it that Groucho Marx said? 'I wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would have me'.
I'm more of the sit around the bonfire type, never did silly rules really. The last time I used a club site it was all about rules and keys and silly stuff.....
Not a member of any club, always found great places to stay. There are lots of independent places and farmers who will take a tenner off you for a night's pitch. I asked a farmer one afternoon If he would let me pitch up in a field, he was agreeable and said we could stay for free...I insisted he took a tenner... the next morning his missus arrived with two cooked breakfasts!
I like to get to know the locals too, difficult on a site. There are a couple of places we return to as we've become friends. By the same token I've let MHs pitch up at my place for free, amazing who you meet!
Perhaps I've got a an odd slant on things, that's what makes us all different.

Stevie

 

[Silver-Fox]

We’re in CMC only use sites as a back up prefer a C S.

You do get a small reduction on insurance being in a “club”

We also use Green Flag that are associated to CMC.

JMHO

 

[St Ivian]

We are in both and have had nothing but good experiences until last week. We booked a C&CC site for an end of winter shake out (2 nights) but our MH developed a fault and can’t be moved so when I read on their site that they are always willing to listen I called to cancel the booking and plead my case for a refund. The girl I spoke to was very unsympathetic and just kept saying no. I probably won’t renew my membership next time round.