Is the site lock fee a money grab?

I’ve never come across that fee…

Site lock fees, sometimes called “selection fees” are becoming more popular as the demand for campsites grows. This fee lets you reserve a specific spot in advance, ensuring that when you arrive, you’ll get the exact site you want. Without paying this fee, the campground might assign you any available site when you get there.

Here’s why it makes sense from the campground’s perspective:

Let’s say it’s 4th of July weekend, and the campground is almost sold out. There are only two sites left: one big site that can fit a large 40-foot RV, and a smaller site. A person with a small 10-foot pop-up camper books the large site online. Meanwhile, someone with a big 40-foot 5th wheel calls the campground and asks if there are any large sites available, but all that’s left is the smaller one, which won’t fit their RV. The campground has to turn them away because the larger site was already booked by the smaller pop-up camper.

Thanks to the site lock fee, the pop-up camper who wants that big site would get to keep it, since they’ve paid extra to reserve it. Without the site lock fee, the campground would have the flexibility to move the pop-up to the smaller site, leaving the larger site available for the big 5th wheel.

So, from a business standpoint, this gives the campground a way to manage its space better and accommodate more guests with the right-sized sites for their RVs.

From a customer standpoint, I get the frustration, as it seems like there are always new fees being added to reservations. Some I’ve seen recently are resort fees, extra occupant fees, pet fees, site power fees, etc. It’s the same you see at hotels these days.

THere’s always the option to book somewhere else too. Vote with your dollars, so to speak