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Should I renew my National Trust subscription?

(60 Posts)
Ladyleftfieldlover Thu 03-Jul-25 18:26:17

We use our membership a lot - and we didn’t have to ask for the Seniors discount as they just offered it to us. The NT property which is barely 10 minutes drive away, we visit a lot. They do a brilliant cream tea too; there are several other properties within an hour’s drive or so. When we are on holiday in UK we usually visit a couple of NT places. Plus, when I was in Sydney this year I used my card when visiting an art exhibition! We are very happy to be members.

MayBee70 Thu 03-Jul-25 18:25:31

Crikey. It is a lot cheaper. You can’t visit Scottish properties with an English one though, can you?

J52 Thu 03-Jul-25 18:17:33

We’ve been NT for Scotland members for years, it’s cheaper. You can also use the membership for NT England properties.

MayBee70 Thu 03-Jul-25 18:13:26

I’ve also realised that, unless you’re a member they don’t offer pensioner discounts.

MiniMoon Thu 03-Jul-25 18:04:01

We didn't renew ours. We didn't use it often enough to justify it.
We give to The Woodland Trust instead.

MayBee70 Thu 03-Jul-25 18:01:22

I need to check if I’m getting the 25% discount for being a member for over 3 years. My partner pays by direct debit and I reimburse him but I’ve just read that you have to ask for the concession , it isn’t automatically given, and he just adds it to anything else I owe him ( he does our food shopping).I pay for my children’s family membership, too even though they rarely, if ever ask to meet up with us there ( they usually meet up with my ex and his family). I do need to have a rethink, especially as I only remain a member so that I don’t lose the three year concession. I hadn’t realised just how expensive the family membership now is. Can’t remember the last time I visited our local one either although, when we first joined we visited lots of NT properties.

PamelaJ1 Thu 03-Jul-25 17:33:29

Oh dear so are we. We’ve done the ones close to us so many times and have visited most of the ones that are convenient to us to drop in and have lunch in whilst on the way to some where else. We used to deviate from our route to visit.
I don’t think we have used our card at all this year so it would be much cheaper to pay as we go.
This thread has just given me a nudge.

Grammaretto Thu 03-Jul-25 16:57:48

I am also considering dropping mine. Like you I have visited very few places recently and had to pay the entry fee at one, Pollock House because I couldn't locate my online membership card because the WiFi didn't work at the the desk.

I found it on the bus home!
There are only a few properties in or near Edinburgh and I hardly ever get to England these days.

So maybe it's time.

Lathyrus3 Thu 03-Jul-25 16:43:17

I used to meet relatives regularly at one property but the last time we went there was nothing my cousin could eat because they had changed to a plant based menu, most of which was bought in and they could not guarantee that nut milks or oils had not been used.

None of their food had allergen advice displayed.

I contacted Head Office the next day and they couldn’t have cared less. It’s policy.

So our policy is to meet somewhere that actually operates for the benefit of those who go there.

No more membership for me.

mrsmeldrew Thu 03-Jul-25 16:25:43

It is now £120 for a joint senior subscription and last year we only used it once, to park in an NT car park.

It's not an insignificant amount of money. We have a few NT properties near us however we have visited them many times, indeed one of them, Coughton Court is coming out of NT management so one less to visit now anyway. I have been a member for years and I joined initially as we have a caravan but often we used to go away and there are no NT properties nearby. Last year we did not go away in the caravan except to France and this year looks like the same, especially as the van needs quite a bit of work.

I was a bit annoyed as the NT did not send out their AGM notes and voting information by post last year so I missed out on the vote as well.

I know it is a charity and needs the money but let's face it everything is going up in price so that £120 could be used more usefully!

Anyone else not renewing?