Am I the only one very irritated by this practice? We have 7 kids (ages from 1 to 17) and had camped our way from Vt to AZ. All but the dumpiest places charged us between $5-10 extra PER kid! Are we really going to use that much electricity and water in one night to warrant this? (we're really eco-friendly but thats besides the point) Anyone else travel with kids and found exceptions to this rule?
It is a very common practice to either limit the number of guests in a site or charge for extra people and vehicles over a certain amount. Surely you realize that extra people do create extra expenses for the campground and increases the wear and tear on the facilities. And I don't have a problem with them collecting more than it actually costs because they are providing a service and deserve to be compensated more than just their costs. You have to pay extra for all those children when you go out to eat, when you go to an amusement park, a ballgame or most anywhere else and they don't give you the extra admissions or meals at the cost of the food or the utilities costs of an extra guest. They get full price because the additional people are using the services of the restaurant, ballpark or amusement park. A hotel would not allow you to cram all 9 people into one hotel room and I don't see where it is unreasonable for an RV park to charge for extra guests. Also, most all RV parks have their facilities sized for an average amount of guests. A park with 100 sites would get awfully crowded if every one of the 100 RVs had nine people in them like yours does. Things like restrooms, pools, laundries etc would probably not be adequately sized to meet that kind of demand. I have stayed in parks where large family groups were also in residence and when the group pulled in you could count on the restrooms and showers being unavailable for an hour or two as they would take up all the facilities and have a line of kids out the doors. They paid their fees and it was their right, but it is still kind of rude for one family to monopolize an entire bathhouse.
We charge $3.00 a day for extras over the age of 7. Unfortunately we have found that even those with large campers end up using our restrooms. When there are several kids there we have ended up with a huge mess, toilets not flushed, toilet paper all over, water left running and, in general, a big mess. Kids find it fascinating to use campground bathrooms for some reason. We have had to spend lots of time doing extra cleaning after large groups pulled out. There have been times we have had people here with several extra people and I have given them a better rate than I was supposed to and, unfortunately, most of those times it came back to bite me.
We just spent the week end in a rv park that charged us 26.00 a night for the fifth wheel than charge us 6.00 ea to stay in our unit as a result it was 38.00 a night. each person is charged that 6.00 fee a night, If you had a family of five it will get real costly real quick
QUOTE(Frank Henn @ Oct 3 2010, 04:20 PM) [snapback]24414[/snapback] We just spent the week end in a rv park that charged us 26.00 a night for the fifth wheel than charge us 6.00 ea to stay in our unit as a result it was 38.00 a night. each person is charged that 6.00 fee a night, If you had a family of five it will get real costly real quick Hope you posted a review, I have never run across a park that charged extra for the first two guests, though I have seen some motels that base the advertised rate on a single occupancy. Unmask that Villian, post the campground's name and location!
I have a 1 & 3 year old and I tend to go to campgrounds that the price includes up to 4 people, ususally 2 adults and 2 children, usually the average size family. I also have no problem with campground owners on here who charge for kids over twelve. I think that is the way it should be, and the prices were $2 or $3 which is very acceptable. I will stay away from campgrounds that the rate is for only 2 people and children are extra no matter the age, unless it is a very low rate to begin with. Having 7 children, it could get expensive, but that is a lot more water used etc. Also, paying up to $10.00 a child would have never happened with me. I would have moved on. Best Regards, Norm
As a senior, we seldom travel with children, but we do have one or two grandchildren along from time to time. To me it would depend upon the type of campground you visit. In looking at the internet, it seems that Jellystone Parks do not charge extra until there are more than four people in the RV and then it ranges from $5 to $10 per person. Some also do not charge extra if the extra people are over 60! Looking at the extra costs of the park, I am certain that children do cost more to have as guests than do adults, in most cases. If I were to visit parks that advertise as a family RV park, I would then expect to have at least two children and two adults included in the stated fee, but more than that I would not be surprised if it cost extra. As to how much extra per child is reasonable, I would think that between 10% and 20% of the nightly rate would be within reason. To expect to pay the same for extra people in a park with a nightly rate of $50 as you would in one that charges $25/night would seem unreasonable. A great deal of this would seem to depend upon what amenities the park provides. Children will usually use things like the swimming pool more than do adults, while some amenities will be more used by the adults.
As long as it is made very clear that the campground charges extra, I won't grump... too much. We are careful in making reservations, but have been "bitten" a couple times by extra fees that were, at least seemed to me, hidden on the website / paperwork. Also, if a campground promotes itself as a "family campground", just seems logical to me that the fees would include immediate family, up to maybe 6 people. A campground we went to last year promotes itself heavily as a family campground, but charges extra for more than two people. That bugged me. And..... if the campground is charging those extra fees due to having to, say, clean the bathrooms more often, then they should be cleaning the bathrooms more often!! Far too many campgrounds I've been to don't clean the bathrooms during the weekend, but seem to wait until Monday.
I have never taken the term "family friendly" to have anything to do with the fee structure. To me that term means the campground has a family atmosphere with maybe a playground and activities for children, and even those activities may be for a fee. Family friendly to me is the opposite of "adult" park, where most guests are a party of two, and which caters to an older crowd with activities that this age enjoys (knitting, basket weaving, whittling--just kidding :lol: ). Again I do not feel these terms have anything to do with the cost of the site or the number of people the cost covers.
The fact that many campgrounds charge more of having "extra" kids is one reason I use state parks a lot. My family of 7 in our pop-up use less resources, power, and water than some couples in their gigantic RV with all the bells and whistles. (TV, Air cond, larger fridge, washer/dryer, microwave, etc) I do realize that 50amp service is usually more than 30amp service, but about all we use power for is lights, and the griddle and waffle iron for breakfast. So yeah, it bothers me a bit we get charged more when we may not be using as much as others with smaller families.
QUOTE(grim509 @ Oct 5 2010, 03:40 PM) [snapback]24466[/snapback] The fact that many campgrounds charge more of having "extra" kids is one reason I use state parks a lot. You evidently haven't stayed at the state parks in Texas--they charge the camping fee plus a daily entry fee for each person.
QUOTE(dbnck @ Oct 10 2010, 05:23 PM) [snapback]24565[/snapback] You evidently haven't stayed at the state parks in Texas--they charge the camping fee plus a daily entry fee for each person. In Virginia State Parks that we have used, they charge for extra people and there is an extra charge for dogs(which won't use any extra electric or use the showers/rest room).
QUOTE . My family of 7 in our pop-up use less resources, power, and water than some couples in their gigantic RV with all the bells and whistles. (TV, Air cond, larger fridge, washer/dryer, microwave, etc)........................ So yeah, it bothers me a bit we get charged more when we may not be using as much as others with smaller families. Now I must disagree with this opinion. We in the "gigantic RVs" almost never use the showers or restrooms at all, while you and your family do. The park staff does not need to clean the shower or toilets that we use, but they do yours. Labor is a much larger expense than utilities.
I don't travel with kids, but always think it's kind of a rip-off when I see an extra charge per person, as only one site is occupied. What you need to look at though is the total cost for the site. If the park base fee is low, the charge for the kids added might still make the park cheaper than one with a higher fee. I know it could get expensive for a family with 7 kids to travel, even without an extra $5-10 per person charge. Perhaps the parks should just have a base rate, and a family rate and not charge per each youngster.
QUOTE(AngelB @ Oct 2 2010, 05:52 AM) [snapback]24387[/snapback] Am I the only one very irritated by this practice? We have 7 kids (ages from 1 to 17) and had camped our way from Vt to AZ. All but the dumpiest places charged us between $5-10 extra PER kid! Are we really going to use that much electricity and water in one night to warrant this? (we're really eco-friendly but thats besides the point) Anyone else travel with kids and found exceptions to this rule? AngelB I feel your pain. I had the same complaint a year ago when I first started camping. My husband and I have only 2 kids and were surprised when we were charged per child at campgrounds advertised as family campground. I try to stay away from campgrounds that don't consider a family of four as their base rate.
We just moved from SC to FL and I'm just now running into this issue of being charged for my children!! I have a 4yr old and a 10yr old and I'm not paying $4-$6 a night extra on top of the $38-50 a night site fee!! It is the most ridiculous thing I've heard of charging for children!! I too see family friendly as meaning I shouldn't be charged extra for my kids. Adult would me kids not welcome. Pet friendly means pets are welcome there right??!! I've asked several campgrounds why they charge for kids and the only answer I get is it's just policy. NOT good enough for me! Then my policy is to not stay at your campground!
The answer as to why they do it is simple: greed. There is absolutely no way my child will use an extra $5 of water/electric/sewer or labor. No way. As far as electricity, that is negligible. The a/c will be running and lights will be on whether or not we have children. Maybe a dollar a day to recoup the cost of the children, if necessary. Some campgrounds charge an extra $5-7 per child per day all year round even if there are no planned activities, pool is closed, no playground, etc. No one will ever convince me that it is not greed. It is. They do it because they can. We have been to over 80 campgrounds this year as we have been on a year-long road trip. I avoid the ones that charge for kids if I can. Because of their greed, they will be left with another empty site for the night making no revenue at all all due to the extra charges. I'll go down the street where it doesn't cost more and it's probably nicer. As far as hotels charging more for kids -- I haven't been to any. Hotels sometimes have free breakfast, too, and kids can eat even though we haven't paid extra for them. Contrast that to the KOA with the free pancake breakfast -- good for only two people. Kids cost $5 extra there, but don't get free pancakes for that $5 -- that costs extra, too!
I couldn't agree more that it is GREED that causes campground owners to charge for kids. These excuses that RV park managers and owners use for charging kids is actually laughable...leaving water on in restrooms, messing up the place. That's what happens in campgrounds and every where else. It's not just kids that don't know how to behave either...it's the cost of doing business. I noticed that the advocates of these ridiculous charges fail to point out that it's the "kids" that are pouring quarters into their snack machines, feeding their camp store cash registers with ice cream and candy, and often broken arcade games and pool tables. I look for kid-friendly campgrounds and state parks because I refuse to give a greedy campground owner one dime extra for my kids. Camping is a family event and to even think about paying extra for my kids is infuriating to say the least. I couldn't agree more that it is GREED that causes campground owners to charge for kids. These excuses that RV park managers and owners use for charging kids is actually laughable...leaving water on in restrooms, messing up the place. That's what happens in campgrounds and every where else. It's not just kids that don't know how to behave either...it's the cost of doing business. I noticed that the advocates of these ridiculous charges fail to point out that it's the "kids" that are pouring quarters into their snack machines, feeding their camp store cash registers with ice cream and candy, and often broken arcade games and pool tables. I look for kid-friendly campgrounds and state parks because I refuse to give a greedy campground owner one dime extra for my kids. Camping is a family event and to even think about paying extra for my kids is infuriating to say the least.
Another holiday weekend just passed. One of the available sites next to us was filled Friday night (10 pm) by a family with a pop up, 2 tents, 2 cars and a bunch of kids. One street over another large family arrived Saturday morning with at least six children. Folks, I don't care how well behaved bunches of children make a bunch of noise - they have to they are children. Even dinner time is noisy. I grew up with seven siblings - we were the same. Bathhouses and laundry facilities get stressed and dirty just because of the numbers. Kids should get dirty when they camp, but they do have to clean up. They should clog the roads with bicycles. Balls are going to get loose and clunk the side of a neighbor's rv. They are going to want to play with the neighbor's dogs. God bless kids = they should have a chance to be kids. But they are disruptive. For those who think it is wrong (greed) for a campground to maximize profits by charging extra because they can, I'm sure in your mind you think businesses can make too much money. The real reason for the extra charges, IMO, is to discourage a specific type of customer. My guess is that campgrounds are easiest to manage and most profitable when sites are generally occupied by two people. To encourage those customers they charge more to others. They are trying to run their business in a manner that is best for them. I certainly cannot fault them for that.
