National Trust For Scotland= Cheap membership for England

GrannyKate

We belong to the National Trust for Scotland having joined some years ago in Scotland. We have always lived in England but it has worked out cheaper than the English NT and my husband, as a Scot, feels there is nothing immoral in supporting the heritage of the country of his birth. One thing you have to be aware of though is that you will not be eligible for some reciprocal offers such as those which NT may have with English heritage.

I think that those who visit places with whatever membership card usually make a purchase in shops and restaurants and support the English NT that way.

parahandy

Re the joining the New Zealand National Trust. The NTS (and I guess, the NT) are aware of this loophole and are actively trying to resolve this as they are losing money because of it.

Kazzajr

I thought the NTS membership only entitled you to half price entry to England NT sites?

Quidco are giving £20 for every valid registration to NT [England] Good dea0l, more details on this thread.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=988177

parahandy

Kazzajr wrote: »

I thought the NTS membership only entitled you to half price entry to England NT sites?

From the NTS website

Enjoy free access to over 300 properties throughout Britain (including free admission to National Trust properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and others worldwide).

Parking however must still be payed for at reciprocal Trusts sites.

darrenforster99

Kazzajr wrote: »

I thought the NTS membership only entitled you to half price entry to England NT sites?

I used to work on the NT membership dept. National Trust Scotland has an arrangment along with a few other National Trusts around the world to allow members access to each others properties.

The English Heritage/Scottish Heritage/CADW group is the one that charges it's members half price for the first year to go into any of it's sister organisations.

The weird thing I found when working for NT was that English Heritage is quite heavily funded by the government and they charge people half price to go to their other groups and they don't offer anywhere near as good value for money, the NT however relies mainly on membership to maintain the buildings and allows people into it's other buildings throughout the world. Out of the two of them I'd much prefer to pay NT the proper money than English Heritage.

Uther

I was previously happy to pay the NT membership, because I believed It was like a partnership contributing to the heritage of historical sites.
That was till I bought some refreshments. are they the most expensive in the country,?
They beat airports, motorway services and railway stations for poor value.

Now I will cancel in Autumn and rejoin in spring, to get any new member perks. And I will take my own refrehments.
I don't like feeling cheated.

Kazzajr

Kazzajr wrote: »

I thought the NTS membership only entitled you to half price entry to England NT sites?

Quidco are giving £20 for every valid registration to NT [England] Good dea0l, more details on this thread.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=988177

Just to let you know that Quidco have paid out on this deal, I got 2 memberships for -£8 didn't receive the binoculars though.

I will end up paying the high prices in shops/cafes so don't feel too guilty at making money out of it.

sdooley

careful if you pay for a life membership - what if the reciprocal rights are removed?

Highlandlass1

Kyss wrote: »

I haven't been too happy with my dealings with the National Trust. If you join online, you don't get instant membership but have to wait a few weeks for the card to arrive. I made this mistake once before a bank holiday when I was planning to visit a few properties. I joined and printed out the confirmation and took it along, but it wasn't accepted. I ended up cancelling the membership. So when they say 'Join Today', they really mean 'Pay now and join in a few weeks time'. If you're joining in the hope of using the membership soon, be warned.

I've also been told that I was 'making things difficult for them' when I asked to use a credit card [there was a sign up saying they accepted credit cards], and I find they are bit sniffy if you don't fill in their gift aid forms.

You must have been unlucky...we, and several members of my extended family are NT Scotland members and have not had the problems you have encountered- in fact my online membership card arrived a couple of days after registration. Admittedly i did join in early January when i suppose, in the post Christmas period, not many people will be joining. I was also given a code to use if i visited anywhere before my card arrived- which we didn't need to use as card arrived so quickly. I am also a foster carer and need flexibilty re whose kids can be admitted on my card and again i have found staff helpful

good luck in the future with your visits

M

Hallam001

Does anyone know if the National Trust for Scotland benefits are exactly the same as those for England? I have tried to compare the two but it's not completely transparent. Can you get free car parking in England with a NT Scotland membership?

Thanks.