national trust membership query

caris

Hi

We have a national trust family membership which runs out in May 09. Could anyone tell us when we should renew our membership as we do not want to be left without any membership, but we also don't want to double up cover and end up paying for the last month twice over.

Also if we decide to join via national trust scotland are we allowed to use this all over the uk as we would using the english national trust.

Thanks
caris

Mum_of_3_3

I'm not sure about the best time to renew would be as I've never joined the NT.

However, I do remember someone on here advising someone to join the New Zealand NT as you can gain free entry to any NT property here in the UK for a fraction of the cost. Here's the link (if you scroll down to the very bottom you will be able to read up on the UK benifits) http://www.historic.org.nz/join/memberbenefits.html

M_o_3

PS $69nzd converts to roughly £25 :j

McKneff

Yes, i have also heard of the New Zealand NT but please remember that if you join the NZ one it means that the English NT gets nothing from this and they are just desperate for funds which is used for the upkeep of the NT properties so please search your conscience before joining NZ NT

Mum_of_3_3

anniehanlon wrote: »

Yes, i have also heard of the New Zealand NT but please remember that if you join the NZ one it means that the English NT gets nothing from this and they are just desperate for funds which is used for the upkeep of the NT properties so please search your conscience before joining NZ NT

I agree to a certain point Annie, but I've never joined the UK NT because I feel it's a lot of money for a family membership (£82 a year unless you agree to join via their annual DD scheme). Maybe if the UK NT dropped their prices to the same rate as the NZ NT they would have a lot more members & therefore more money to spend on their properties

M_o_3

eslick

try national trust scotland, cheaper and you can pay monthly.

if you want to stay with the english one, remember to cancel it and take out a new one, you then get the extra discount. Quidco also have some good offers.

which ever you choose you can ask them to start it the next month, so you can order it on May1

k8te

I am a member of the English heritage, and have been wanting to join the National trust to, so if i join the Scottish one is it free entry to all English sites? As would love to be able to pay monthly, thanks x x

claire21

This may help

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=596058&highlight=national+trust

MTDancer

Just looked at the NZ site and joint membership comes in at £494! UK cost would be £1390 and the NZ one has offers from all sorts of Companies. Why can't UK trust operate this way?
Couldn't make up my mind wether one would have to pay for parking in UK though

Merkin

MTDancer wrote: »

Just looked at the NZ site and joint membership comes in at £494! UK cost would be £1390 and the NZ one has offers from all sorts of Companies. Why can't UK trust operate this way?
Couldn't make up my mind wether one would have to pay for parking in UK though

You do have to pay for parking unless you are a UK member.

eslick

Merkin wrote: »

You do have to pay for parking unless you are a UK member.

free parking is really an odd one, most properties have free parking anyway even members have to pay at Tatton Park for example, if I remember correctly the free parking is mainly at the likes of the sites at the lake district or that type of place and then how much will it cost to park there. We took out the scottish one you dont get free parking in England but to be honest we didnt think it was worth it.

aloiseb

Parking is probably quite useful if you have a dog you need to take for walks every weekend....the NT-owned land car parks are pay and display in a lot of places but are often(?evidently not Tatton Park) free with an NT sticker on display.

But if, like us, you don't have a dog and use NT properties as somewhere to visit only for weekend outings, the car parks attached to the sites are usually free anyway. they usually have a gatehouse where you have to show your card before you can get in.

I have just joined NT for Scotland - cause i've been to most of the local places now and we're planning a visit to Scotland soon, so it'd be nice to see what we might go to. Also I want to see if their literature for children is a bit less patronising!!

I also wanted to pay monthly (and quite a bit less......£3 per month)

I too can't work out if car parking is free in England with NT for S card. Usually you can display your membership card in the windscreen so i guess I will just have to try that and see what happens!