"rate Is Based On A 2 Person Occupancy".., rates Options

[AngelB]

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?

[kcmoedoe]

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.

[dalsgal]

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.

[Frank Henn]

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

[kcmoedoe]

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!

[acenorm]

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

[Kirk]

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.

[rgatijnet]

I believe most hotels and motels also charge an extra fee for additional people.

[Tom]

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.

[Texasrvers]

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 ). 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.

[grim509]

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.

[dbnck]

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.

[rgatijnet]

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).

[Kirk]

. 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.

[jim crowl]

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.