I'm thinking of joining a Club.............. Apart from this one of course........... To take advantage of exclusive offers and sites, but which club should i join. As far as i can see there are 2 to choose from, The Caravan Club at £40 a year and the Camping and Caravan Club at £42 a year. Which club offers the best benefits for my dosh and is it worth joining any of them ?
It's the Caravan Club that's £42 a year and the Camping and Caravanning Club (don't worry, even the organisers of the National Caravan Council's NEC October Show haven't got it right! - See Exhibitor List) which is £40.
You don't need to join either, or you could try both - neither (imho) is "better" than the other, but one may be more suited to your requirements. If your main, or only camping unit is a tent, for example, some of the CC Sites have tent pitches, whereas C&CC Sites will cater for all types of unit.
Both clubs hold rallies (CC) or meets (C&CC) in addition to generally well-maintained and managed Club Sites and their networks of privately-owned Certificated Locations (CC) or Certificated Sites (C&CC), often referred to as "five van" sites as this restriction is imposed by the certificate.
Also the various District Associations and Special Interest Groups of the C&CC organise Temporary Holiday Sites, some of which use the facilities of a host commercial site, and all of which offer good value for money.
If you use the Search button you'll find lots more comments on the advantages (and disadvantages!) of both clubs.
We were in camping & caravan club for a few years. We left because we found everything was cheaper & better outside unless you use their certificated sites. We didn't.
don't really know how much longer for ( 12mths at least ,just paid another years subs) but we're in both the camping and caravanning club & the caravan club, lots more club sites to go at.
depends what you want out of your membership, both clubs have their pro's but both have their con's too.
that said i know a few 'vanners who arn't members of either club ,they don't appear to enjoy their trips any less than club members do
------------- no tin tent outings booked as yet ,just another cruise in Sept' booked so far
we were in the CCC for a few years, had a bottle or two of wine one night then for some strange reason went online and joined the other one (CC). been with both since. Cant say there's much difference between the two. We like the magazines they send. Between the two they've got the UK covered and your assured of good quality sites which ever one you choose to go with.
Paul you have not filled in your profile. So dont know what type of van you have. You could join an owners club. Or a club that organises rallies throughout the year. You may like to go none electric - what do you want from your breaks and holidays - this will depend on what you want from the clubs
------------- A barman is just a pharmacist
with a limited inventory
There's not really a right or wrong club to join but depending on the individual requirements sommetimes one is better suited to one or the other. Why not call both and ask each why you should join their club rather than the other?
Always the Caravan Club for us, we find the CCC sites expensive, noisy (not much sound insulation between the tent that's 2 metres away at 1am!) and often tatty with facilities that need updating, we won't be renewing our CCC membership
If there are tents on a CC site, they are nowhere near the caravans
I am in both clubs and the above statement is totally misleading and wrong. Mark has obviously had a bad experience at a C&CC site. Yes there will be tents but not 2m away. If that sort of thing happens then complain to the club. It's never happened to me in over 20 years membership. I find both clubs good.
The same 6 metre rule applies on sites operated by both clubs. We have actually witnessed people on C&CC sites being made to move their tent or caravan after it has been set up when they have pitched too close to the next outfit - and I' m talking about a few centimetres, not the 4 metres that Mark suggests.
We are very satisfied C&CC members, making full use of the over 55 discounts!
Maybe it was a bad experience, but I was woken up by the snoring of the guy in the family who'd pitched his tent next to my caravan, and take it from me it wasn't 6 metres away, when we asked them to move they moved the tent half a metre and then moved it back, the wardens were not interested, they told us when we arrived (and before we had pitched) that they had had enough and were leaving!
As I said we won't use CCC again
By comparison there are no tents next to caravans on CC sites (in most cases no tents) and you'd struggle to pitch too close to another van as the pitches are clearly marked
Sorry to hear about your bad experience Mark. We are in both clubs and on balance prefer the C&CC. We join the CC in order to go to Pembrey in the summer and Crystal Palace: our local CC site is Chatsworth which is impossible to book. We find the booking system (basically book everything the first week in December) fine for longer stays (Pembrey) because we are tied to school holidays and have no flexibility, but weekends at CC sites local to us are nightmarish as they are full months in advance. C&CC works out cheaper for us as well. Pembrey is the only CC site from the (admittedly limited) number we have stayed at that isn't full of pensioners in brand new vans - for a family with a crappy we stand out like a sore thumb.
you must do what is best for you, everyone's experience is different.
Quote: Originally posted by markh1 on 14/8/2012Always the Caravan Club for us, we find the CCC sites expensive, noisy (not much sound insulation between the tent that's 2 metres away at 1am!) and often tatty with facilities that need updating, we won't be renewing our CCC membership
If there are tents on a CC site, they are nowhere near the caravans
Have to agree with the above , I have used 8 different C&CC sites within the last 14 months and 5 of them had pretty worn out tatty facilities and potholed roads .
I can name and shame but I wont and yes there noisy , we were kept awake on two occasions over Bank Holiday weekend by other caravanners who were holding a noisy party in there awning at 2 am and on both occasions the site managers did nothing .
The C.C are a far more professional in there running of sites and spend more money updating them .
"Pembrey is the only CC site from the (admittedly limited) number we have stayed at that isn't full of pensioners in brand new vans"
Why have so many people on this site got something against people with new caravans? I didn't realise having a big 4x4 and a new van made me the son of satan
I have a big 4x4 - Tessie the Two Ton Terracan is the best car we have ever owned. My beef with SOME (not all) CC sites ( and I emphasise this is my experience, others are different and I respect that) is that because we have a tatty 53 plate Terracan and an equally tatty 1999 Abbey, two kids and a dog, we have had other campers on CC sites look down their noses at us. I'm sure you'd understand if I said we didn't like that. Fair play to you if you have a brand new outfit - we are not as fortunate, but it's not fair if others make us uncomfortable. For this reason we tend to choose C&CC sites where folks are more tolerant - again, this is my experience. I apologise if you thought I was having a dig at you - I wasn't: but I WAS having a dig at campers who are sarky about older outfits.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Which Club to join
