Annual memberships - clubs, camping cards etc

Dafydd

Dafydd

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I'm buying a van next year (finally! as Irish house prices are recovering) and I've been researching the different clubs and camping cards available that I might be interested in paying for either as useful for membership benefits like discounted insurance and/or more directly related to stopovers/campsites.
So far I've identified the following:
Motorhomefun (£10) I've been a member here for two years of planning and research (my house by now might sell for almost what I paid for it xroll:) and given how useful and friendly I've found you Funsters I'll be staying a member!
These are other possibilities:

Motorhomefacts (£12.50)
Caravan & Camping Club (£37)
Motorcaravanners Club (£37.50)
Britstops (£25) - I love pubs!
ACSI campsite card (€14)
Camping Key Europe (€16)
ADAC (€84 European assistance) or UK based equivalent like Britannia (£130; £90 for UK)
What have I missed that you think might be worth a look?

What memberships do you pay for?
What memberships have you paid for in past years but then not renewed because it wasn't useful for you?
Have you used France Passion (or Spanish, Italian equivalents)? I intend to give one or more of these a go as I like farms & food/wine. How did it work out for you?

Any advice and suggestions appreciated.

[My plans: I'm buying a 6.4 metre 3.88t van. I'll be 2/3 months in the UK, 10/9 months abroad based out of Wales & travelling solo. Mix of wildcamping & stopovers/aires & occasional campsites, modest but ok annual budget]
 
I forgot... Camping Card International (via membership of Motorcaravanners or Caravan & Camping Clubs).
 
The aires books from Vicarious Books, Britstops for free spots in the UK, Caravan Club for CLs and the ACSI book/card will give you lots of economical options.
And Fun of course for the best online resource.

ADAC is best if they let you join. They have been difficult recently with UK customers but try from Cork and see how you get on.
 
Printermick said:
We have used and enjoyed France Passion, staying at vineyards and some other sites. Good to remember the people and places when you enjoy the wine back home.
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We like the peace and quite. There's also the fresh produce too - from honey to cheese.

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The number of ACSI listed sites is increasing in UK particularly in the SW and along the south coast.
 
Did you mean Camping and Caravan Club? We're members of that and The Caravan Club, not sure about the £37, we paid £42 and £44 to renew this year but what's a fiver here and there? :) ACSI book and card and All The Aires.
 
You could spend a lot of the year on our Motorhome Fun rallies both here & in France & Spain which are good value (y) Lots of friendly Funsters in Wales & rally there next year at Pembrey. All the clubs have their good points but just depends on what they offer you especially if you are spending most of the year abroad. We have Britstops but not used it yet, trying MCC this year for a bigger choice of rallies & hopefully a cheap THS in the school summer holidays, been members of Britannia Recovery for years & not used overseas but excellent in the UK, we would buy All The Aires book for France & perhaps ACSI card if in Europe for a long time as both seem best budget options based on forum reviews.
 
Bailey58 said:
Did you mean Camping and Caravan Club? We're members of that and The Caravan Club, not sure about the £37, we paid £42 and £44 to renew this year but what's a fiver here and there? :) ACSI book and card and All The Aires.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I meant the Camping and Caravanning Club. On their website direct debit membership is £37 online & £42 by paper.... but what's £7 here and there? ;) (unless their website is out of date, but that's what it says today).
Membership of CCC also allows one to get an International Camping Card (as does membership of Motorcaravanners Club) which maybe does instead of an ACSI card...

Having spent most of my life in Wales and England I've seen so little of it and I've only ever been to Edinburgh in Scotland, almost all my travelling has been abroad. So I'll be joining the CCC to use their CL sites, certainly for my first year and I'll see after that if I think it's worth it for me. Joining both the CCC and the Motorcaravanners seems (expensive) overkill - I could spend a small fortune joining more clubs than I'll need or benefit from.

My van will have sat nav but being "old school" I'll definitely be buying some aires guides, nothing beats browsing a book for inspiration... and books don't break just when you need them!
 
Wombles said:
You could spend a lot of the year on our Motorhome Fun rallies
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Haha, thanks Wombles! I'm looking forwards to meeting some Funsters having spent so long browsing here and finding so much helpful advice (and witty banter!).

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Dafydd said:
Sorry, I meant the Camping and Caravanning Club. On their website direct debit membership is £37 online & £42 by paper.... but what's £7 here and there? ;) (unless their website is out of date, but that's what it says today).
Membership of CCC also allows one to get an International Camping Card (as does membership of Motorcaravanners Club) which maybe does instead of an ACSI card...

Having spent most of my life in Wales and England I've seen so little of it and I've only ever been to Edinburgh in Scotland, almost all my travelling has been abroad. So I'll be joining the CCC to use their CL sites, certainly for my first year and I'll see after that if I think it's worth it for me. Joining both the CCC and the Motorcaravanners seems (expensive) overkill - I could spend a small fortune joining more clubs than I'll need or benefit from.

My van will have sat nav but being "old school" I'll definitely be buying some aires guides, nothing beats browsing a book for inspiration... and books don't break just when you need them!
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Dafydd, greetings from the Usk valley (when I'm not at work!). If you get the ACSI ID as well as ACSI discount card that ID acts firstly as a recognisable document as opposed to leaving your Passport in a campsite office (shudder) (on sites that accept it) and also affords basic insurance to the same level as those provided by the ICC card. The ACSI card and ACSI ID card cost me less than £13 together this year direct from ACSI as the exchange rate was good on the day the money was taken. Well worth the money too in my view.:xThumb:
 
Fun
Caravan Club (primarily to access the CL sites. )
AA Breakdown

Abroad we use aires so never had a reason to join ACSI or France Passion
One that is seldom mentioned is Broken Link Removed, similar to FP but no joining fee.
 
Dafydd, if you are looking for low cost options for places to stay in the UK I would strongly recommend the Caravan Club (CC) over the Camping & Caravan Club (CCC). The former have a much more extensive network of Certified Locations(CLs) than the CCC. For example, if you want to visit Scotland, which I strongly advise, it is a great place, the CC have 7 CLs along the northern coast from Cape Wrath to John O'Groats compared, from my quick scan, with the CCC which had just one. This difference applies to the rest of Scotland too. Of course there are options for wild camping in Scotland but these do bring the added hassle of finding places to empty your grey and black waste and refill with fresh water. A CL every other night or so will give you the opportunity to "refresh" everything, so to speak.

A very small number of people have reported problems with the CC, notably when they introduced regulations on how to park on each pitch on their sites which some over-zealous wardens interpreted incorrectly but to the best of my knowledge this problem has been sorted and doesn't apply to their CLs anyway. Otherwise, their proper campsites are the best you can find and are not expensive out of season and if you need a bit of pampering with heated toilet blocks in winter and access to washing machines they are ideal.

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Motorhomefun
ACSI
Aires book or Bordatlas don't need both (we stick to Aires book.)
That'll get you all over Europe, the rest is just expense, any more is information overload, travelling is simple it's people that make it difficult.
Just start the engine and go.:xgrin::xThumb:
 
Dafydd said:
I'm buying a van next year (finally! as Irish house prices are recovering) and I've been researching the different clubs and camping cards available that I might be interested in paying for either as useful for membership benefits like discounted insurance and/or more directly related to stopovers/campsites.
So far I've identified the following:
Motorhomefun (£10) I've been a member here for two years of planning and research (my house by now might sell for almost what I paid for it xroll:) and given how useful and friendly I've found you Funsters I'll be staying a member!
These are other possibilities:

Motorhomefacts (£12.50)
Caravan & Camping Club (£37)
Motorcaravanners Club (£37.50)
Britstops (£25) - I love pubs!
ACSI campsite card (€14)
Camping Key Europe (€16)
ADAC (€84 European assistance) or UK based equivalent like Britannia (£130; £90 for UK)
What have I missed that you think might be worth a look?

What memberships do you pay for?
What memberships have you paid for in past years but then not renewed because it wasn't useful for you?
Have you used France Passion (or Spanish, Italian equivalents)? I intend to give one or more of these a go as I like farms & food/wine. How did it work out for you?

Any advice and suggestions appreciated.

[My plans: I'm buying a 6.4 metre 3.88t van. I'll be 2/3 months in the UK, 10/9 months abroad based out of Wales & travelling solo. Mix of wildcamping & stopovers/aires & occasional campsites, modest but ok annual budget]
Click to expand...


I can see where you can easily save £12.50:xwink:
 
ADAC well worth it, no doubt about that. So much more than a breakdown service. Most sites will let you on member or not.
 
DevonBeekeeper said:
heated toilet blocks in winter
Click to expand...
That's reason enough for me!!
Thanks DevonBeekeeper for the advice. I hadn't looked at the Caravan Club for the obvious reason.... but I'll follow your tip and read up on it and the differences between them and the CCC.
Exactly as you say, I anticipate spending time (and money) on paid sites (CLs or actual campsites) for the reasons you suggest even if offsite parking is the first choice for economy (and allowed in Scotland as far as I can tell).
Also for touring around Wales and England I expect to pay more, more often, than on the continent as I don't want to get hassle from the Fun Police considering the general suppression of the freedom to park overnight. I'm looking forwards to giving Britstops a go.
Happy honey!
Daf
 
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Jim said:
I can see where you can easily save £12.50:xwink:
Click to expand...
Haha! Indeed... when I started my planning & dreaming, back when my Irish negative equity was still at the level of a tragic gambling addiction (it's about evens now), I decided then, after a little perusal, that I wasn't going to be paying to join two forums! "Fun fun fun", as Tigger would say, was obviously the winner!

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ScotJimland said:
Fun
Caravan Club (primarily to access the CL sites. )
AA Breakdown

Abroad we use aires so never had a reason to join ACSI or France Passion
One that is seldom mentioned is Broken Link Removed, similar to FP but no joining fee.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link to the French farm site, that's my cup of goats cheese. It's a new one to me and I'll have a read.
 
Dafydd said:
Thanks for the link to the French farm site, that's my cup of goats cheese. It's a new one to me and I'll have a read.
Click to expand...
Me as well , have downloaded the app and think I might not bother with france passion this time, anyone used it?
 
Bailey58 said:
Did you mean Camping and Caravan Club? We're members of that and The Caravan Club, not sure about the £37, we paid £42 and £44 to renew this year but what's a fiver here and there? :) ACSI book and card and All The Aires.
Click to expand...
Camping and Caravan Club membership is £37 for online membership.....£42 for full paper,....... ie site books and monthly magazine.
This may whats confusing.
Don't forget that the Camping and Caravanning Club have got nationwide THS....(temporary holiday sites) all year round. This is great for touring and or visiting major events this year in Scotland alone .....Commonwealth Games..........Ryder cup etc. These sites are the best value for getting close to major holiday resorts and events. An absolute boon for motorhomers.
 
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Would give serious thought to your insurance and check out AIB & Comfort. Both offer Aviva flat rated insurance and can include European breakdown cover for your MH for about £60.

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Bailey58 said:
Did you mean Camping and Caravan Club? We're members of that and The Caravan Club, not sure about the £37, we paid £42 and £44 to renew this year but what's a fiver here and there? :) ACSI book and card and All The Aires.
Click to expand...
Ah... I just understood what you meant... doh! - sorry for being flippant earlier, I see now that the £44 is for the Caravan Club. I misread your comment.
There seem to be a few Funsters who are members of both the CCC and the CC. I'm not sure that I'll be touring the UK intensively enough to justify joining both. It might come down to who's most helpful with insurance when the time comes.... or who allows access to the most sites that I'm likely to use.
 
Serendipitous said:
Would give serious thought to your insurance and check out AIB & Comfort. Both offer Aviva flat rated insurance and can include European breakdown cover for your MH for about £60.
Click to expand...
Once my van is ordered I'll get onto the insurance. AIB is a new one for my list so thanks for that.

Having not lived in the UK for a number of years it might be the case that some companies will refuse to insure me at all, or so I've read on forums (here I think), though quite what extra risk (let alone uninsurable risk) they think living in Cork for a few years carries I can't imagine...
Anyway, that'll be a full time job on the phone for a few days I expect. I've got a list of bookmarked companies and I've read up on what they offer but I'll do it all again carefully when the time comes (when I've sold my house here in Ireland, put my remaining stuff in storage and moved back to Wales). I'll have a read of AIB's website now, so thanks again.
 
No Problem. We don't tour enough either, in fact after starting with the C&CC we later joined the CC because they had the sites where we wanted to go and we haven't used the former for 3 years now. But for a less than a £1 a week haven't bothered to cancel as we may use them again.

As for Bobby22's comment, useful, we never read half the bumph from the C&CC so had missed that online option. If only to rid ourselves of the unopened mags it would be worth it. :xThumb:
 
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Like Bailey58 say's CC is the one we use most (better sites in the places we like) but as we live on the Isle of Wight the CCC does the best discount on the ferries so it pays for itself.
 
We found Caravan club sites more expensive than Caravan and Camping club. Also CC rallies are via Centres which we never did manage to join.
For stops abroad we use Camperstop ....covers more aires in more countries than other aires books

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