which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
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Speshact
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Joined: 31 Oct 2007, 11:35pm

which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

Post by Speshact »

Buying some maps in Stanfords for a tour I asked whether they gave CTC members a discount. They don't, but do give 10% off for British Mountaineering Council members. Which got me wondering which organisations are worthwhile joining for the 'incidental' benefits?

As you can see at this page:
http://www.thebmc.co.uk/Pages.aspx?page=83
there are a whole host of other discounts available from camping equipment retailers etc. for BMC members. Membership costs £29.50 (or only £14.75 on direct debit). You can also get cheap subscriptions to related magazines on joining.

Also worth considering is the London Cycling Campaign at £32 a year which enables discounts at most London bike shops
http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=49

As a CTC member you can get 25% off membership of the Youth Hostel Assocation (although you may prefer to use Tesco Club Points).
Membership of the YHA is £15.95 before any discount and offers discounts off a number of travel organisations, camping sites, attractions and map/book retailers:
http://www.yha.org.uk/yha-membership/be ... index.aspx

It certainly seems worthwhile considering joining the YHA as a CTC member even if you never expect to use a youth hostel!

It would be great if CTC and LCC could get together to offer a joint membership deal (particularly if their bi-monthly magazines were staggered so members got a magazine every month).

Any other suggestions?
Speshact
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Re: which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

Post by Speshact »

According to the latest CTC Newsnet, CTC membership now gets you 10% off in Stanfords. Excellent.
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meic
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Re: which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

Post by meic »

The YHA card gives you 10% off at Millets which has paid for itself in many years.

Getting 25% off YHA ONLY applies if you are not already a member.
You can get 50% off YHA membership by paying Direct Debit
or up to 75% by using Tesco Clubcard.

Another YHA benefit I had was 3 months free CTC membership when I first joined but that too is for new members only.
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thirdcrank
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Re: which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

Post by thirdcrank »

It's my impression that the YHA Adventure shop in Leeds would have given a discount to anybody who asked. My wife was once dragged in there by one of our posh label conscious sons (must have been a while ago because they are now both in their 30's) who wanted a Berghaus jacket. She told him he'd have to get me to take him in so I'd get the CTC discount. The hovering assistant immediately offered her 10% off. In one sense he secured the sale but the shop went belly up some years ago.

Actually, if you ask, a lot of places give discounts without you having to be a member of anything.
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robgul
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Re: which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

Post by robgul »

Speshact wrote:According to the latest CTC Newsnet, CTC membership now gets you 10% off in Stanfords. Excellent.


Yebbut, all the stuff in Stanfords is at pretty much full RRP .... but most is available from a plethora of other outlets at much lower prices. (And the CTC "discount" doesn't apply to reduced/offer items)

Bit like Cotswold really ... load the price, give a discount - fool the customer.

That reminds I MUST get down to DFS before the end of Sunday to get my double discount sofa .....

Rob
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goatwarden
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Re: which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

Post by goatwarden »

I once phoned the RAC to complain that their renewal fee was extortionate. The operator asked if I was a member of any organisations, I suggested the BMC and he offered a small discount, I told him who I worked for and he offered a bigger, but still not big enough, discount. So I asked who warranted the biggest discount on his list, he told me a company, I told him I also worked for them and we had a deal!

Discounting generally seems quite immoral to me, in that it is as good as saying to the customer “we are profiteering, but as a valued customer we won’t do it quite so much with you.”

Builders Merchants are a wonderful institution for fleecing the unaware. Many prices are cut by about 60% when I turn up covered in muck and appear to know what I am talking about! I imagine if I had an account they would pay me to take stuff away.
mw3230
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Re: which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

Post by mw3230 »

goatwarden wrote:
Discounting generally seems quite immoral to me, in that it is as good as saying to the customer “we are profiteering, but as a valued customer we won’t do it quite so much with you.”



Immoral no, bartering yes - you wouldn't do very well in many countries where bartering is the norm. We are usually too shy to ask for discount here but as is often said "A shy bairn gets nowt"
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GrahamNR17
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Re: which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

Post by GrahamNR17 »

My best discount card is Mrs Aged Parent. I don't think she's paid the ticket price for anything in her life. Only really works on independent shops (we still have plenty of those in Norfolk) but she's sometimes managed good deals with the big boys too. We send her for everything! Her more recent successes:

Hammerite gate system paint, local shop wanted 16.99, she paid 8.99 :shock:

Plumber to replace kitchen waste pipe, he wanted 85 quid, she paid 65 :shock:

Raleigh Record white wall tyres, shop wanted 9.99ea, she got them for 7.99 ea 8)

Rubbish skip for garden clearance, skip Company wanted 78.00, she paid 65 :lol:

Free-range Turkey at Christmas, butcher wanted 35.00, she paid 28.00 :lol:

No idea how she does it, I've long-since become too embarrassed at her haggling to go anywhere with her. :oops: I'll loan the old girl out in exchange for your redundant bike parts :wink:
iviehoff
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Re: which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

Post by iviehoff »

As an official of the Rough Stuff Fellowship, I can tell you that some people join us specifically to obtain the discount from Spa Cycles.
DavidT
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Re: which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

Post by DavidT »

My Ramblers card seems to be accepted at virtually every outdoor gear shop, giving around 10%. I often find myself wishing that my CTC card was accepted at as many LBS as the Ramblers card is at LRS (Local Ramblers Shop? :lol: )

Well done to the Ramblers Association, and respect to so many shops for acknowledging the membership.
mr riff raff
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Joined: 4 Aug 2007, 8:00pm

Re: which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

Post by mr riff raff »

goatwarden wrote:Builders Merchants are a wonderful institution for fleecing the unaware. Many prices are cut by about 60% when I turn up covered in muck and appear to know what I am talking about! I imagine if I had an account they would pay me to take stuff away.


I can assure you, that as a 20+ year employee at a well known national builders merchant you're more likely to get a decent discount if you showed me a CTC card than come in dressed up as a builder. We can see through disguises you know.

Also, we'll fleece anyone, not just the unaware and having an account will make no difference in our book! :D
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Big T
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Re: which membership organisations offer useful discounts?

Post by Big T »

I get 10% off all non-sale items at Evans Cycles in Nottingham with CTC membership.

Worthwhile, as I seem to spend quite a bit of money in there, mostly buying stuff for my wife!
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