National Trust For Scotland= Cheap membership for England

colemanbrown

For all those about to join or considering joinign the National Trust which allows free entery into all their sites for a set price may I suggest not joining in England but up in Scotland instead.
The National Trust prices are as follows

Individual- £40.50 (or if you pay by direct debit £30.38 for the first year)
Joint- £68 (£51 direct debit offer)
Family- £73 (£54.75 direct debit)
Family one adult- £55 (£41.25 Direct debit)
Child under 13/ Young person (under 25)- £18.50 (£13.88 direct debit)

The National Trust for Scotland is

Individual- £37
Family- £60
Family one adult- £42
Young peole (under 25)- £15
also there is a discount for senoirs (over 60) £27 or £45 for joint membership

Now on the face of it it seems that the National Trust with their direct debit scheme is cheaper but that is only for the first year. The National Trust for Scotland prices are the standard proces they charge.
You can use the National Trust for Scotland cards anywhere in Britain, Northen Ireland and the like.

Plus if you are thinking of splashing out for a life membership you can make substanial savings by joining the National Trust for Scotland as much as £100 pounds (think how many high teas that would buy you)

Anyway give them a look yourself and save on your days out.

the sites are
National trust-: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-trust/w-support/w-jointoday/w-jointoday-categories_costs.htm

National trust for Scotland-: http://www.nts.org.uk/web/site/home/join/JoinNow/membership_home.asp?NavId=2026&NavPage=50

waster_2

A colleague of mine recently visited New Zealand. He discovered that if you join the NZ NT then that gives you free access to GB NT properties also. And the NZ NT Cost is really cheap (cannot recall what he said, but about half I think).

I'm not sure if you can join on line from UK but anyone who is going to NZ or have relatives out there who can join up on their behalf may be able to save some money on joining?

waster_2

Just looked up on line. See here.

Family membership to NZ NT costs $45NZ, which at tody's Travelex exchange rate is £14.71!!!

And, as well as NZ NT, you get free admission to all these NT's as well:

The National Trust (UK)
National Trust for Scotland
National Trust of Australia (all states)
Barbados National Trust
Bermuda National Trust
Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
Gibraltar Heritage Trust
Japan National Trust
National Trust for Zimbabwe.


There is an on line application form, so may be worth trying to join? You could be an NZ visitor to UK who forgot to join before leaving!!!

monkeyspanner

There is nothing to stop you cancelling your direct debit as soon as they take first payment and most likely you will receive another offer next year.

At one time if you joined by paying by cheque or credit card they would send a new membership card without having received a renewal payment in the second year relying on your honesty to renew or return the membership card. I don't think they do that any more!

Another oddity was that if you joined say on the first of the month your card was valid until the end of that month the following year i.e 13 months for the price of 12.

colemanbrown

Admittedly so about the direct debit situation but on life time memberships it's certainly is worth-while joining the National Trust for Scotland instead.

darrenforster99

colemanbrown wrote:

Now on the face of it it seems that the National Trust with their direct debit scheme is cheaper but that is only for the first year. The National Trust for Scotland prices are the standard proces they charge.
You can use the National Trust for Scotland cards anywhere in Britain, Northen Ireland and the like.

There is one solution to this cheaper for the first year, once they take the first DD payment cancel the DD. The next year just re-join again as a new member and get three months free again (and another free cool bag!). Also if you join at properties make sure you get a code from a magazine 'cos at properties you don't normally get the free cool bag & 3 months free (or even better join before you go to a property!)

Noozan

waster wrote:

Just looked up on line. See here.

Family membership to NZ NT costs $45NZ, which at tody's Travelex exchange rate is £14.71!!!

And, as well as NZ NT, you get free admission to all these NT's as well:

The National Trust (UK)
National Trust for Scotland
National Trust of Australia (all states)
Barbados National Trust
Bermuda National Trust
Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
Gibraltar Heritage Trust
Japan National Trust
National Trust for Zimbabwe.

Is it definitely free entry to UK National Trust? On the NZ website, it says free or discounted entry!

Safiya_2

Hi

We had Australian NT membership when in the UK and we were allowed free entry and discounts on special events - perhaps that's what they meant by discounted. I checked recently to make sure the reciprical agreement still exists and they confirmed it did, can't see the Kiwis being any different.

Cheers

Safiya

stevem999

Surely this entire thread is really going against the grain of MSE? Please remember that you are talking about ways to reduce the amount of money you are giving to a charity, not a way of reducing the cost of days out.

Would you look for some way to avoid having to give as much money to Cancer Research or something? I don't think you would.

The membership fee is to give money to the National Trust who are preserving the country's heritage for ours and future generations; trying to weedle out of a few quid by joining elsewhere just makes that harder for everyone. The access to properties should be seen as a secondary bonus.

bobsa1

Has anyone tried joining the nz nat trust from england?

alison74

I agree with Stevem999