Reserveamerica Dying?

[CZNEDY]

I do agree that RA is easy to use. The worst part (for us in Massachusetts) anyway is that they allow people to reserve sites and then cancel dates. Once the dates are cancelled, RA does not re-post those sites as available. Even though they are, due to cancellation.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by 67L48

In years past, there were two complementary public campground reservation sites (and some private cgs, too): reserveamerica.com and recreation.gov. Yes, I understand that some national parks used other 3rd party sites and some states (e.g., SD) used their own systems for state parks.

For the past couple of years, all USFS and federal campgrounds could only be reserved through recreation.gov. However, reserveamerica.com would show these federal campgrounds in various searches and was apparently linked to whatever database that showed availability. Thus, a person could use reserveamerica.com to browse for campgrounds and then be redirected to recreation.gov for booking. Easy peasy.

State, county, and other local campgrounds in Colorado, however, were exclusively available via reserveamerica.com. So, if you wanted a complete, comprehensive search of available campgrounds, reserveamerica.com was the place to go. Recreation.gov wouldn't show you the state parks, e.g.

While Reserveamerica.com and Recreation.gov started out using incredibly similar interfaces, they had diverged in the past 3-4 years, with recreation.gov becoming increasingly less user-friendly than reserveamerica (obviously, just my individual opinion). This made is even that much more likely that I'd use reserveamerica for browsing/shopping, even when I knew I was looking for a USFS cg.

I have noticed this year, that reserveamerica has no connection to federal campgrounds and will not display them on a search. Similarly, recreation.gov remains singularly focused on federal facilities. So, there is no longer a comprehensive view of available campgrounds ... a person needs to search both places.

Colorado also has started its own system through the parks and wildlife department. The following disclaimer shows on reserveamerica now: "Attention Colorado Parks and Wildlife Customers: please use www.cpwshop.com to make, cancel, or change reservations or make any license, pass, or retail purchases. ReserveAmerica.com has limited functionality for CPW customers." (emphasis added) So, federal goverment has cleaved reserveamerica's access to federal sites and state/local goverments are pulling up stakes, too.

Also, Recreation.gov has undergone a huge transformation in user interface. I think it's crappy, more difficult to use, and the interactive campground maps are at about 25% loaded (and this was before the govt shutdown). Additionally, site photos that were previously present are mostly gone. User reviews, including their uploaded photos, are all gone. For me, everything about the new recreation.gov is a major, major step backward.

I'd be very curious to know the reason why reserveamerica has effectively been mothballed by the various government agencies. I always found the site incredibly easy to navigate and thought it worked quite well. Now, I'm left with multiple sites to try to navigate, none of which are very good.

Anyone know what the deal is with reserveamerica's apparent demise?

Thanks.

Ref to you question on Reserveamerica not covering federal campgrounds anymore. I hope its not a trend within our federal government that they may be less and less accommodating when it comes to providing Americans with national park services. The fact that one of our federal environment officers suggested opening up golf course in the national parks to help pay for them might explain things.

[MinneweeseMI]

https://www.outsideonline.com/233047...pp-access-land

This was encouraging to read.

[Tampajohn]

I have lost too much money reserving campgrounds with reserveamerica. I now go directly to the campground and talk to them directly. I do not book Florida state parks anymore or National Parks due to their policy. Changes have been necessary since we rent out house and sometimes the date when the renters change. No more. Sometimes we call to see if available but no more reservations. We belong to passport America and Thousand Trails and is usually able to find something available with them. Bad policies with the way they have it set up. This has been going on for a few years now. By By.

[OYO]

I have no issue with RA. It's pretty obvious that each state defines their own requirements and RA tweaks their implementation to meet them. We state park in rhe south east a lot and most every state has different reservation windows, assigned site, cancellation policy, fees, site change policy. As a retired software engineer I'm impressed with their flexibility.

And it's nice having a common interface across multiple park systems.

I will admit that the US national parks implementation is the worst I've seen. But I'd bet RA did what they were told.

Besides, I'd much rather have a park ranger being a ranger rather than a clerk.

JMO

[cfb1141942]

PA still uses Reserve America. I don’t like the cancellation policy but the transaction fee of 6.00 for a 3 night stay isn’t the end of the world.

[markjamestx]

I don't believe that anybody mentioned that Reserve America does not consider the America the Beautiful senior passes. I always had to get a refund when I checked in at the campground or if I was staying multiple nights then they discredited it back towards the total cost. Arkansas has their own system now as well as Texas

[harleyfltri]

This is what we bought to get into and reserve spots however I haven't been able to actually use it yet. Only $80.00 lifetime fee for seniors and good all over America. https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/pa...P_JUMP_5088578

[67L48]

Originally Posted by harleyfltri

This is what we bought to get into and reserve spots however I haven't been able to actually use it yet. Only $80.00 lifetime fee for seniors and good all over America. https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/pa...P_JUMP_5088578

Unfortunately, you may have been misled. That won't actually help you get into and reserve spots. It will, however, reduce the price you pay when you camp at or enter certain federally run facilities.

[harleyfltri]

Originally Posted by 67L48

Unfortunately, you may have been misled. That won't actually help you get into and reserve spots. It will, however, reduce the price you pay when you camp at or enter certain federally run facilities.

You are correct, I meant to get into the parks themselves. They do have a list of campsites you may be able to book with or without a discount.

[pjames19641]

Originally Posted by harleyfltri

This is what we bought to get into and reserve spots however I haven't been able to actually use it yet. Only $80.00 lifetime fee for seniors and good all over America. https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/pa...P_JUMP_5088578

I have had a Senior Pass/America the Beautiful for 3 years now. Every State Park DOES NOT accept this pass unless you are checking into a National Park. Texas does not accept in their parks, you have to purchase their pass. I have used mine State Parks in Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio, New Mexico, Arizona and a few others. All National Parks accept it. Got ours for $25, but they went way up in 2018, and may 2017?

[harleyfltri]

I thought they were only good for the National Parks and figured the state parks would not be included. Grand Canyon for 4 of us was pretty expensive which is actually what prompted me to get one. Hope to start using it in July right after I retire.

[mawilson]

While the implementation may be lacking, the concept behind ReserveAmerica is good. For it to work at all, all reservations and bookings, including walk-ins, must use the system. Otherwise, actual performance not withstanding, the system has no means of determining what is available. Too often, in the rush to get something to market, developers don't actually work through all the requirements and don't take the time to vet the user interface with real users. As for the fee structure, were I to build such system (I have the skills but, seriously lack the desire) I'd place a small charge on each night, maybe on a sliding scale. I think I'd still charge for the park to book a site vs. some sort of subscription fee. Come to think of it, a user subscription might be a good thing for frequent users.

[emm-dee]

Pretty sure RA is paid by the state division that operates the park. I’ve never been charged a “reservation fee”. If y’all are paying a fee to make a reservation blame the state for being a poor negotiator.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by emm-dee

Pretty sure RA is paid by the state division that operates the park. I’ve never been charged a “reservation fee”. If y’all are paying a fee to make a reservation blame the state for being a poor negotiator.

I got curious so I went back through reservation emails...

These states had “transaction fees”: Ohio, New York, Florida, private park in Idaho,

Mississippi has one for a cancellation.

Arkansas did not have separate fees (possibly cancellation but I didn’t cancel that reservation).

[RailwayRog]

Originally Posted by MinneweeseMI

https://www.outsideonline.com/233047...pp-access-land

This was encouraging to read.

I like the part in the article that reads "diversifying the predominant older white demographic".
Huh?

[Mr Towed]

My favorite part of RA is that it's a one stop shop for MOST sites that I want to visit.

My least favorite part is that the interface, particularly the interactive map seems to be very resource heavy and very slow on the server side. I feel like each time you scroll or zoom it is reloading all the information and it bogs it down, sometimes activating additional cooling on my computer.

I'm ok with a modest fee, especially since it seems to be a static fee, vs something like ticketmaster which would charge you additional processing fees for each ticket you buy, even though it's one transaction. Once, I didn't realize i could CHANGE my reservation so I cancelled it and started a new reservation basically to move the reservation one day forward, so I paid a cancellation fee that I didn't really need to. I think the cancellation fee is necessary, especially as the date gets closer, so people don't just sit on reservations with no consequence.

[Slow Moon]

RA has worked flawlessly for me every time. My only RA experience is in Florida State Parks.

Sure, there is a fee for cancellations. It's acceptable considering the pittance that the state charges for the sites, especially for seniors 65+. It's also a way to help fund the parks and take load off the state employees. The fee is per reservation, NOT per day.

It does take a little experience to learn the system for highly popular spots in peak season. It's about what I would expect for a state park system.