Message Forums

Both clubs offer lots of benefits to members other than just their sites network such as excellent advice both legal and technical and also some very good offers on insurances.

We are members of both. We find the savings made on booking as a member far outway the cost of membership

Non member of the CC cost of pitch £7 more per night. Non member of the CCC cost of pitch £6 more per night

Not to mention the special offers on ferrys, insurance, entry vouchers to attractions etc, etc

We have been members of the Caravan Club since 1990.

We have found that the standards of their sites to be top class and although you don't get on site clubs etc you do get top quality pitches [the hard standings on club sites allow your van, awning and car to be parked on them. We have never found that to be the case on private sites. Toilet blocks are always first class with privacy cubicles for wash basins becoming the norm.

Maintenance of the sites is always top class.

I believe the Camping and Caravanning club to be very similar so I would suggest joining one or the other, if you can afford both this will give you virtually complete nationwide cover for your choice of sites.

If you just decide to go down the private route site this is definately more of a lottery and expect to be disappointed on more occasions than you would be with one of the clubs.

Dave

The CC offers just over 200 of it's own sites and nearly 3000 CL's ( 5 van members only ), their own sites are of a consistently high standard, in general every pitch has hook up which is included in the site fees,  and set out for easy access with a caravan in tow. Booking is non deposit, and should you ever need to leave one of their sites early they will without question refund any site fees that are unused. The vast majority of sites have a dedicated childrens play area and either easy dog walking just off the site or an on site dog walk.

The CCC offers about 100 of it's own sites and about 1000 CS's ( 5 van plus unlimited tents members only sites ), their sites facilities are of a high standard, only a small proportion of the pitches has a hook up available and to use the hook up entails an extra fee, access to the pitches is not always set up for easy access when towing a van. Booking entails a deposit, which in the high season is quite high and non refundable, in certain circumstances at the clubs discretion deposits and pre paid site fees will be placed in a member account for you to use at one of their sites at sometime in the next 12 months. For someone over 55 the club offers discounted pitch fees at some sites for part of the year, and will cap the cost for a family at some sites for part of the year.

Both clubs offer excellent breakdown services ( the best in the business for a caravanner ), and both clubs offer a comprehensive foreign touring service, they also offer comprehensive, very high standard, caravan insurance at competitive rates with little or no quibble over claims.

I joined the CC in 1992 and am still a member, I joined the CCC in 2003 and resigned for 2004, I joined again in 2006 and again resigned I can not say that I am ever likely to rejoin. In all my years caravnning I have never needed to use any other organisations sites the club sites and CL's have always fulfilled my needs and booking has always been possible right up to the last minute ( apart from bank holidays, and with the proviso that last minute bookings involve a preparedness to be flexible about exactly where we go ).

My choice is the CC but I would encourage everyone to try both and decide which one they wish to join, I know of a lot of people who are members of both.

Quote: Originally posted by Fat Bum on 04/8/2008

---

We are members of the C&CC as we joined 7 years ago when we were tent campers and stayed with them when we got our caravan. The sites are always clean and well kept and the toilet/facilities are of a very high standard. We have been to about 15 or 20 different sites over the years and have never had a problem with rude or unwelcoming site managers but we have always been happy to respect the club rules. I think the majority of people who have problems are those who think rules are for everyone else except for themselves.

As mentioned above the C&CC do want deposits when you book but this is a good thing as we have heard that with the CC some people book for every weekend throughout the summer and then only turn up if the weather is good, as there is no financial loss to them by doing this, thus making the sites appear fully booked on the website, and the CC can't (or won't) do anything to stop it. By taking deposits, or restricting the number of sites that can be pre-booked at any one time, they would make the booking process much fairer. We are not members of the CC mainly for this reason.   Their sites also have a reputation of being snobby and if you haven't got a top of the range caravan and the latest 4x4 you are not made to feel welcome.

---

  As regards to snobbery , what a misguided view you have i have just left Broadway 

 C.C site in the cotswolds and while there was a good percentage of new vans on site there were just as many older vans and towcars .

On a walk round the site i saw caravan's ranging from 93-94 models up to 08 models so you are definitely wrong , in fact the couple next to me had 10 year old bailey while i have a 2007 model but i do not differentiate because they had an older van

Thank you very much everybody for all those replies - what a lot of information! We will have to have a think ...

And our van is a great deal older than  93-94.  Perhaps it has vintage value.