A decade or more ago when we started our full-time travelling, we "bought into" all of Big-4 + Top Tourist + FPA and we used their parks around Oz as we travelled
As time went on, we found that even with their '10% member discount' we were often paying more than we would have done down the road at an independent van park ~ and the main differences between the big chain parks & the others, was that the others did not have oversized kids play areas & waterslides & other stuff we never went near
So we dropped all these membership cards and also saved money via usage of the smaller parks
Nowadays we use all of Showgrounds, Recreation grounds, private farm stay places, state park reserves etc and our camping costs are considerably less than the chain caravan parks with all their discounts taken into account
Thanks Phil, I thought that might be the case. The caravan and camping dynamics has changed so much with more free camping and instantaneous help via the Internet. Gives everyone a fair go for your custom. Cheers for the advice.
We joined Big 4 and Top Tourist.....have since dropped Big 4 as the parks are too expensive and designed for families but have kept Top Tourist mainly because we find them always clean, friendly and in good locations - they also have good security. You get 10% off as a member. In quiet times they will offer an extra day for free etc.
Before we joined we tried a few times to get discounts with pensioner...senior...RACQ member...cash discount but all failed and I sometimes felt like a cheapskate asking for discounts (unless offered). So, to keep life simple we joined and have been very happy with TT. We also free camp and use other parks as convenient.
Our vote goes to Top Tourist.
We are currently members of Top Tourist and Family parks and we also use the wikicamps app to compare Caravan parks as wikicamps have a rating system done by people like you and me it also gives recent prices paid and has photos taken by tourists and we have found it very useful.As previously mentioned Big 4 parks are generally considerably more expensive but are worth using if you have young children with you, both Top Tourist and Family parks do offer bonus nights free outside peak periods and its always worth asking if they have any current specials I believe the membership fee is very reasonable especially as it is for two years.
There are places like Broome and Darwin where the prices are crazy all year round and in Darwin the independent ones were actually more expensive than the club parks.
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I agree about Top Tourist and intend to keep it as our only membership. We currently have Big4 as well, but have found them very expensive and crowded.
Big4 are Ok if you are stuck looking for a park at a busy time, but they cater for families with kids and hence charge you for stuff like playgrounds,etc. We have also noticed that they are often the most expensive park in town. We joined Big4 to see how much we used it and after 1 year have decided it was not worth it.
At this stage we will keep Top Tourist as they appear more reasonable in price and are usually well maintained and clean.
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Former owner of Avan Cruiseliner and now have 16' XC3 Compact Kedron
Tow was NW 2013 Diesel Auto Pajero and is now a Landcrusier LC200 GX.
I took a different approach - we only travel for a maximum radius from Brisbane.
I went to each of the 3 main group websites, and called up their master maps. I jotted down the total number of parks in that group that we were likely to use at some time in the future - repeated that for the other 2 groups.
At the end of an hour's work or so, my total for TT was far more than both B4 and Family combined.
Needless to say TT got our membership money and the other 2 missed out.
Maybe once I've exhausted all the TT parks that I want to go to, I may then try one of the other groups, but I've got enough potential TT parks on my list to probably see me out of vanning.
Regards, Brian
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Wondering about ShortNorth ? - Short North is the railwayman's nickname for the NSWGR main line between Sydney and Newcastle
To see if the memberships are worthwhile, go back through the parks you have visited, check on their membership and then calculate the discounts you would have received (you do keep records of your trip, don't you.) You can then calculate membership value.
We stay in Big4 only because the only park we would stay at when visiting one daughter pays for the membership, any others we lob into are profit. T/T and Family parks are often the cheapest of the goo parks in town.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
We used Top Tourist. Most times they don't have a lot of the family/children stuff that the Big 4 does so are cheaper and you can save a fair bit of money in the long run being a member and they are fairly wide spread.
We had to stay in Gracetown Caravan Park in Margaret River WA for 2 to 3 months (except for the Xmas period as it got more expensive then) while waiting for the wet season to finish up north and we saved so much money being a member.
In 2 years on the road I think we stayed in only 2 Big 4 parks.
Cheers
Jon
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Home is where we hang our hats - Home now in Yamba NSW
Just left Top of town tourist park in Stanthorpe stayed for 7 nights and paid for 6 no card required
Did they give you a 10% discount as well brickies?....I hope not because if they do that I will not renew my membership out of principle. An extra day is OK as that is not mentioned as a condition of membership.
Hi plenty of cheapsites around charge $5 a night toilets and showers and usually council caretakers come for the fee at night .. a lot rely on honesty envelopes you leave in a box . you can buy a book on all free sites etc .. much better than the noisy big4 campsites . I always avoid them ... see the realoz and camp for free if possible ?
