Benefits of a Campnab membership

Looking to use Campnab to track campsite availabilities? You can do so by running individual scans or by becoming a member. I’d like you to consider the latter because Campnab membership offers some valuable benefits.

Camping is a pretty big deal, and the lockdown has only made it more popular. As such, the idea of driving up to a popular park and setting up camp on the fly is mostly a thing of the past. Instead, you need to book several months in advance. You also need to cover your bases.

Campnab’s pay-per-use (PPU) scans are fine for a lot of folks. That said, rarely a day goes by that I don’t find myself encouraging someone to switch to a plan. This might seem like I’m trying to upsell folks. This isn’t the case, though. Instead, it’s that memberships are the way to go for most. In this post, I’ll explain why.

Run more scans

Campnab doesn’t control the supply of campsites. All we do is notify you when one becomes available. If you’re running just one scan, you might not see as many openings come available. For this reason, we encourage folks to run multiple scans. Running more scans increases your odds of finding a campsite.

With a Campnab membership, you can run several ongoing scans. You can run 3, 5, 7, or 15 scans depending on the plan (respectively: Good, Better, Awesome, Mega) you choose. For some, 3 will be ample. Others will want to scan for multiple weekends or parks; they might choose the Better or Awesome plan. A few hardcore campers will opt for the 15 scan Mega plan.

John Fremont Ridge Trail, Los Padres National Forest
Photo: Harold Litwiler

Save money

Sure, you can purchase multiple pay-per-use scans. For some, this makes sense, as they’ll pay once up-front and be done with it. Adding up all of these individual scans can get costly, though.

Campnab members get lower per-scan prices. For example, on the Good Plan, a scan costs just $3.33 a month, versus the $10 pay-per-use option.

Edit your scans at will

Pay-per-use scans can be edited for the first 24 hours, or until you receive your first alert. Most of the time, this is fine. But if your plans change, you might need to create an entirely new scan.

With a membership, though, you can edit your scans at will. Want to move the date to another weekend? No problem! Looking to switch the park? Do it! Figure you should test flexible dates or a shorter duration? That’s easy!

Memberships afford you a lot more flexibility to test different campground scans. This sort of tweaking and testing can help you figure out what works best at your favorite park.

Stanislaus National Forest, California, US
Photo: pml2008

Scan further out dates

It should go without saying that the more lead-time you have the more chances you’ll have to spot a campsite cancelation. That’s why we encourage folks to first attempt to book a spot on opening morning. If you can’t get one that way, it’s wise to turn on a scan immediately.

With a Campnab membership, you can create a scan to search for any date in the next 12 months. Admittedly, this will be more relevant for some parks than others, as booking windows may be shorter.

Filtering

When you sign up for a membership, you get access to two powerful filtering tools. These help you customize your scans so you get only the results you want.

General filtering allows you to apply a number of different filters to your campsite notifications scans. You might remove ADA accessible campsites from your scan. Or, you could filter by a particular vehicle length.

Site specific filtering lets you get granular with your campsite monitoring. With it you can select the exact site you wish to stay at, or a handful of them—while removing notifications for any sites you aren’t interested in.

Cancel anytime

When you’re done with you’re Campnab membership, visit your Plan page. Then click “Cancel your plan”. It’s as easy as that. Please do note that Campnab memberships automatically renew at the end of your selected term. So, if you intend to cancel, do so at least 1 day before your renewal date.

BTW: You can save 25% with an annual membership. These require you to lock in a year at a time, though.

Silver Strand Beach
Photo: Floris Oosterveld

Really, really, really good support

Sometimes things go wrong. Or, you need help with something unfamiliar. In each of these situations, it’s nice to have someone who can help. We value customers like you and do everything we can to provide friendly and prompt support.

When you sign up for a Campnab membership, you’re never on your own or stuck dealing with a crummy chatbot. Instead, you get one-on-one support from Eric or me. We’ll help you via chat, email, or on the phone.

Sponsor ongoing development

Eric and I have built a lot of products over the years. Each of these has proven to be significantly more demanding than we had anticipated. That’s why membership is so important for the future of Campnab.

With every new member who signs up for Campnab, we’re able to put more time into developing this product. This helps us improve stability, add new features, and cover technology costs. (It also allows us to get out and enjoy camping on some weekends.)

Admittedly, how our business runs isn’t your problem. Truthfully, though, the healthier our tiny operation is, the better the product is for you.

Second Lake and Temple Crag, North Fork Big Pine Creek, Inyo National Forest, California
Photo: Jeff P

Still on the fence about Campnab? I can appreciate that. I also understand that you might feel weird about taking my word for it. So, don’t. If you’re still asking yourself: “is Campnab legit” check out some feedback from Campnab members to help answer your question.

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The gorgeous sunset image at the top of this post is of Long Beach at Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. It was photographed by gmariusica.

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