Hi just thought I'd throw this one out there. What are your views on being slugged extra for kids. It seems to be the norm these days, even when you look at varying levels of facilities for kids.
Caravan Parks charging extra for kids
- Thread starter JaycoQ
- Start date
thats the beauty of FREE camping , get yourself set op and save some bucks !!!
I would like to see how much of the site fee actually goes into the pocket of the owner, they you would be able to work out if its a rip off or not. Given I have never ran a business or had anything to do with finances in companies I wouldnt even no how to calculate that.
Should only have to pay for the site.
Seem a little unfiar for larger families!
Maybe they need to look at a family price like the footy etc!
Seem a little unfiar for larger families!
Maybe they need to look at a family price like the footy etc!
This annoys me! I don't mind paying for the kids but we found when we were on holidays earlier this year, the parks that charged for kids had none or very limited play equipment for them and we stayed in some with everything including kids bathrooms any they didn't charge at all! 
I don't mind paying a bit extra for the kids, especially when there are really great facilities dedicated to them. I do mind however when it is just a park with nothing for them to do or when the additional fee is over the top. A few months ago we were charged an additional $20 per child per night. Admittedly it was an ensuite site, but I was a little taken back. I think it fair and reasonable to charge for kids say 10yrs and up, however under that they should be free. Kids in this upper range will use much more of the facilities than I would and they use more water and probably power than I would as well. I do think though if they are charging more than $5 or $10 per child per night they are just being greedy.
Agreed. I've got three girls under 8. They usually shower with their mum, and I don't have much in the way of electronic gizmos to suck the kilowatts. The average I seem to pay is $15 per child per night.
Sure, some parks invest in jumping pillows, games rooms & activities for kids, but use this as the draw card. If they didn't have those facilities perhaps we wouln't stay there at all, and so they would not even get the site fee.
on the otherhand, understand grey nomads and singles don't want to pay a premium when they don't use the facilities too.
Yep. Have to agree. Staying in parks is no longer viable for us having 5 kiddies. Seems to be a bit of a scam to me but we love bush camping anywho
Yep we have 4 kids and you don't mind paying extra for each one, but if the park has extra facilities for kids then even better but $20 per night extra I would of went somewhere else, thats an expensive night, a little off the subject we stayed at a park in Bowen recently and they wanted you to pay for the BBQ at the camp kitchen, that I thought was rude.
Even if the park provide extra facilities for the kids, the charge should only be minimal, to cover the small amount of electricity and water used. You should not be paying for pools and jumping pillows, these facilities cost whether they are used or not, so if a park is full of grey nomads, no kids, they park is still having to pay for the additional facilities. These costs would be factored into their business model costings for a site for two people. The high extra persons charges are pure profiteering.
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I think all amenities should be locked an if you don't want a key (ie use your own ensuite) you get a discount. The tight *#$@ in me begrudges the extra fees especially for those that charge for under 2's but I do understand it. As parents we choose parks that suit our family. The grey nomads shouldn't have to pay for the play equipment that our kids use and if parks put up the 2 person fee to cover such facilities they would lose the grey nomad section of their market to non kid friendly parks (which they can't afford to). Where parks don't have facilities for kids (or it some very crappy playground that's falling down) then the extra child charge should be minimal only and not the same rate as an additional adult.
With our 4 kids now that eldest is 15 nearly 16 we are charged for 3 adults and 3 children most places we go now, legally not an adult until he is 18 but in the eyes of business he is an adult which I think is more profiteering. I don't mind paying a reasonable amount for extras, maybe $5 a night but when they charge ridiculous amounts of $15 - $20 a night for children that's when I look else where. And we paid extra for the kids in Bowen recently and then for them to have coin operated BBQs at the camp kitchen, lets just say we won't be going back there any time soon.
We never stay at Big4 as they are more expensive because they seem to have more facilities for families with kids. We are quite happy to stay at any park as long as the facilities are clean and adequate for the amount of sites at the park. We agree that you shouldn't have to pay more for kids. You can only use so much power & water and the difference between 2 or 4 people is neglibible. We also think the size of the site should be taken into account, we recently stayed at Leonora CP and the site was big enough for van & 2 cars. We are grey nomads, if the cost is to high we drive past, we also belong to a caravan club and caravan parks are quite happy to give the club a discount no matter what time of year it is. On our recent trip of 11 nights we stayed 5 nights in caravan parks, 6 nights free camping, the nights in the bush are more pleasant as we don't have to contend with bright lights outside the van and the associated noise in a CP
These days, if they dont ask how many I dont tell them as there is only one extra.
went to one park just overnight, manager/owner served me at the counter "just the 2 of you?" yes, manager showed us to our site said hello to our daughter in the back seat, didn't say anything.
went to one park just overnight, manager/owner served me at the counter "just the 2 of you?" yes, manager showed us to our site said hello to our daughter in the back seat, didn't say anything.
Was that because Mrs Bushman was in the Expanda
Nup she was right there next to me,