Travel time

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Sstancil6

Well I have noticed a huge uptick in the number of emails I am receiving from many of the parks I have stayed at over the years. Particularly KOA. While I definately do not need more emails, it leads me to believe maybe the parks aren’t filling as early as before and they are having to reach out to get us to book early. Many with cancellation deals attached. That or I was such a great guest they always wanted me to come back and stay again. HA

LOL You may have been their greatest guest last year... Or ...

Seems that most of the chain affiliated parks that we've stay at during travels in the past 6 or 7 years send us "summer specials" or "early bird specials" or some other marketing catch phrase specials.. Their "intensified profit period" is usually when the kids are out of school (same as the military 101 critical days of summer safety campaign) which runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Many of those campgrounds/resorts send out emails or even snail mail marketing material to bring attention to their attractions. To them, it's better to have 150% desire and 100% occupancy with a waiting list than it is to be at 80% occupancy during the "high profit time frame".

So, they "saturate the market" not because they're empty, but because they'd rather have a waiting list for that inevitable vacancy than lose the one or two nights of rental income.

Around here (northern Michigan is a "go to recreational area") I have seen a decrease in RV traffic and the campgrounds in this area seem to have had a couple of empty sites toward the end of last season, where the year before, there were people "camped at WalMart waiting for a site to open. So, yes, there was a "decrease in demand" toward the end of last year's season, but this season won't officially open (all the state and national park campgrounds are still closed 18F last night) until around Memorial Day, and that 3 day weekend is always 100% occupancy. I'm hoping this year will be less demanding, and if fuel prices and inflation stays where it is, I'd guess most campgrounds off the beaten path will likely be filled with locals rather than "out of state explorers"....

[jxnbbl]

Actually we found it a bit easier to book for out upcoming trip...although they are starting to fill up. In one case I got a KOA email and just cancelled and rebooked the same stay at 30% off :-)

[Bill-2020]

Won’t be long before you’re booking sites on Amazon. Or are we already there?

[RK1978]

We traveled over 13K miles last year (from IN to NW,W, and S) We try for 350-450 miles per day for a few days, then stay somewhere interesting for a few days, then move on. Out technique is to book the critical locations first, then fit in as needed between those. We generally don't leave without all or almost all stops reserved ahead of time and a printed itinerary with distances, contact info, and misc. notes as needed. It seems to have gotten a little easier to get a reservation closer to time of arrival than it was a few years ago, and we have stayed in everything from "resort" type places to small mom and pop spots with a few slots and minimal hookups. I would not be comfortable without this type of system, but I talk to other folks who aren't as fussy and they generally are able to find something.

[LadyCPA]

Originally Posted by jxnbbl

So anyone with a National Parks senior pass gets the discounts at the Corp of Engineers campsites...thats good info!

My America The Beautiful Senior lifetime pass gets me 50% off pretty much all federal camp sites. So far my average cost is $20 per night for large sites with water and electric.