Any tips for getting National Trust membership discounted?

deanos

I have just renewed my NZ family membership for £51, this gets access to National Trust and English Heritage sites, if i bought them in the UK it would cost me £216 a £165 premium !

We always spend cash when on the sites on food etc, something they wouldn't get normally because we wouldn't be able to afford visiting these places

The parking isn't an issue as i have yet to visit a site that charges, and if they do i would just pay

Alikay

There's a current offer for a £15 National Trust gift card which you can use in the shops and cafes. Code is S17020 if you join online at https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk

NT membership is not exactly a bargain, but if you like visiting NT properties and were going to join anyway, it's a bit more useful than the usual offers of free binoculars or picnic rugs.

dodgy

Looks like New Zealand won't be an option moving forward, I received this email this morning:

The new price is £155 for a family - a staggering 360% increase.

As a member of Heritage New Zealand based overseas, we would like to notify you about some significant changes in our overseas membership prices and categories. It is the first time we have increased our prices for some categories in 11 years, so they reflect the truer value of the membership package we offer.

The changes follow an investigation into our membership programme charges and costs. Factors such as dramatically-rising postal charges are impacting us. But it was also clear there was a significant gap between the charges Heritage New Zealand sets for access to NZ and overseas properties and historic places and those of our sister organisations overseas like English Heritage and the National Trust.

We believe the new prices create a like-for-like market for people supporting heritage. Our aim is to promote the message that people overseas can, and should, support their local heritage agencies. The changes enable us to focus more prominently on our New Zealand-based members (and potential new members), as well as overseas members who enjoy visiting and experiencing the unique heritage in New Zealand.

Doc_N

dodgy wrote: »

Looks like New Zealand won't be an option moving forward, I received this email this morning:

The new price is £155 for a family - a staggering 360% increase.

Good news for members of the English National Trust - looks like they've finally paid some heed to the complaints they've been getting from members about this exploitative little trick.

dodgy

Or you could view it as price fixing .. which is illegal.

There's no way to justify a 360% increase on the back of 'increasing costs', so clearly they've only done it (and chosen the price carefully) to match the English National Trust.

There are obviously other options as this thread outlines, however I suspect those organisations may also end up with similar shady agreements if English NT gets its way.

deanos

Still $95 (roughly £50) for family membership on NZ just checked , just renewed 2 weeks ago as well, or is this price rise for the future ?

Not received any email

dodgy

They said it was effective immediately, although they'd allow me to renew at the old rates (as my renewal is up in June) - but yeah, they don't seem to have updated the site yet.

Please note that we will honour our old pricing for current renewals up until midnight 31 July 2019. After this, your membership will be considered as lapsed and will be eligible for the increased pricing. Your next renewal, in 12 months, will of course feature the updated prices. For your information, the new prices and categories are:

Individual adult membership NZ$200
Family membership NZ$350 (2 adults and school-aged children)

Doc_N

dodgy wrote: »

Or you could view it as price fixing .. which is illegal.

There's no way to justify a 360% increase on the back of 'increasing costs', so clearly they've only done it (and chosen the price carefully) to match the English National Trust.

There are obviously other options as this thread outlines, however I suspect those organisations may also end up with similar shady agreements if English NT gets its way.

Illegal? I'd love to see you trying to nail that one on a New Zealand charity given two options - put the price up or lose the concession!

English NT are working through the others, as you suspect. And about time too. Let them charge what they want, obviously, but lose the reciprocal arrangement that's being exploited by people intent on cheating a British charity.

fred246

But they aren't cheating because they sometimes buy a coffee when they visit. Surely the odd coffee will pay for hundreds of historic buildings and gardens, miles of coastline and vast areas of beautiful countryside. It seems sad that the bad behaviour of a few Brits threatens a great international collaboration.

beefturnmail

Looks like the game's up with Heritage NZ, as I received the received the following e-mail from them yesterday



As a valuable member of Heritage New Zealand based overseas, we would like to notify you about some significant changes in our overseas membership prices and categories. It is the first time we have increased our prices on some categories in 11 years, so they reflect the truer value of the membership package we offer. We are also removing some categories to make it easier for us to manage and for you to join or renew.
The changes follow an investigation into our membership programme charges and costs. Factors such as postal charges – which have risen exponentially– are impacting us. But it was also clear there was a significant gap between the charges Heritage New Zealand sets for access to NZ and overseas properties and historic places and those of our sister organisations overseas like English Heritage and the National Trust.
Unfortunately it became increasingly apparent there were many UK nationals using our membership programme simply to enjoy the reciprocal access we provide to properties and events managed by the likes of English Heritage and National Trust. Many people were not aware of, or supportive of, our work in New Zealand.
We believe the new prices create a like-for-like market for people supporting heritage. Our aim is to promote the message that people overseas can, and should, support their local heritage agencies. The changes enable us to focus more prominently on our New Zealand-based members (and potential new members), as well as overseas members who enjoy visiting and experiencing the unique heritage in New Zealand.
With immediate effect, there will now be two overseas membership categories priced as below:

• Individual adult membership NZ$200
• Family membership NZ$350

Thankfully, I manged to renew just in time, as in the post today was my renewed (at all prices) membership card until 1 June 2020.


No doubt some posters will still indulge in a bit of self-righteous schadenfreude though!