Is it just me?

No Arthur, it's not just you.
We are totally self sufficient, so cannot justify paying those sort of site fees, just to park up for the night. We too like the Aires and Stellplatz type networks in France and Germany, but have yet to try any in Spain or Portugal.
Our CC membership is due this month, and after 25 years, we have cancelled the dierct debit. We have taken up membership of the MCC again instead.
The only reason we are maintaining membership of the C&CC, is because of their THS and the ease of attending without having to prebook, unlike CC Rallies.

Anybody any experience of Britstops?

We have had in the past when it first came out, but not renewed since, as there are many places to overnight if you ask the owners nicely. If we don't see anywhere on Neil's Pub Stopovers for a stop off, I use Google maps to find somewhere, and phone in advance to ask politely. I've only been turned away once, and that was because new managament no longer wanted MHs on his premises. If it is worthy of a mention, I pass it on to Neil.
BTW, even though they may be listed in Britstops, they are not exclusive to Britsops, and there is nothing to stop the landlord inviting whoever he likes to stop on his land.

Cheers for now,

Jock.

Absolutely not just you. We hardly ever use C & CC sites for the reasons you say. We are in Romania at the moment and using campsites much more than we usually do. I know you can't equate prices here with those in UK, France, Germany and so on, but we are paying between £6 and £10 a night including electric [which we don't really need, but at about £1 it's worth it for the quick boiling kettle and hair dryer!] and wifi which is about 90-120 mps. The sites themselves are beautiful - more like parking in someones beautifully kept garden, not the sterile places the UK campsites have become.

We are in the C&CC just to be able to be a member of the Walking and Cycling Section [actually known, bizarrely, as the Mountain Activity Section], which I can thoroughly recommend if you like walking in beautiful countryside across England. We stop in fields under the 'exempted camping' rules, so have to be members of an accredited organisation in order to be able to do that, otherwise we would have no interest in being a member at all.

A friend just gave me a read of his June 2015 MMM magazine. On pages 121 and 123 there are some details of three French Camp Sites. Two adults, pitch and electric from £10.59 per night. Opening dates vary but generally 1 April to early October. Nearest village/town - 5/10 mins walk. Leisure facilities, bar, restaurant .....

Makes you think ............... :sick:

A friend just gave me a read of his June 2015 MMM magazine. On pages 121 and 123 there are some details of three French Camp Sites. Two adults, pitch and electric from £10.59 per night. Opening dates vary but generally 1 April to early October. Nearest village/town - 5/10 mins walk. Leisure facilities, bar, restaurant .....

Makes you think ............... :sick:

You could easily pay that on some Aires and Stellplatz Arthur. :blink:

Cheers

Jock.

Just returned from Spain & was paying £11.67 per night for 2 adults with electric and a fully serviced pitch. Also bar , restaurant, swimming pool, club room and really helpful staff. Rest of the trip we used aires. Caravan Club sites are expensive & staff often do not understand the concept of service but give an attitude of doing you a favour. We use sites only when Britstops etc not availoable