The best-kept secret to saving on road trips

by Alison Brick on

It could be the dream road trip. You want to see the US. You want to save money. And an RV company needs someone to make the drive, so they’re practically paying you to do it.

Hey, you just want to help them out, right? How altruistic of you.

Think about it. When customers are driving RVs to the far corners of the country, and the company needs the flock of vehicles back to the factory in Mesa, Arizona, how do they get the RVs back?

That’s where you come in. Cruise America‘s website lists 10 cities with RVs waiting to be picked up and driven to Arizona, and includes the date to return them by, vehicle size, number of nights allowed, and free miles allowed. And rather than costing you about $100/day for your home-on-wheels, you pay $24/day, although gas is an extra expense. Plus, you avoid the insane $1500 one-way drop fee that they normally charge.

Consider this: Denver is about 860 miles away, but they give you 1500 free miles. Indianapolis is about 1700 miles away, but they give you 2500 free miles. Detroit is about 1980 miles away, but they give you 3000 free miles. Where would you go with those extra miles and extra days?

Sign up on their website under “View our Rentals: Hot Deals!,” then “Rolling into Arizona” (or “Rolling out of Arizona” to depart from Mesa). You’ll need to fill out the request form three days in advance of your departure. All listings are first come, first served. Drivers must be at least 21 years-old.

They’re also running a few discounts to relocate RVs to other locations besides Mesa (i.e. Texas and east of the Mississippi River, excluding Florida). Check out their “One-way Specials” to save 50-60% and avoid the usual one-way drop-off fees.

Or else, if you want to scale down and go with a car rather than an RV, try Auto Driveaway. Their website lists offices and destinations across the US–just pick a pick-up/drop-off city that suits your fancy. Drivers must be at least 23 years-old with a valid driver license.

Let’s Load Up Someone Else’s RV

by Brett Atkinson on

The early movies in the National Lampoon’s Vacation series did a great job in capturing the trials and tribulations of travelling with your family, and a new website has just launched that might really get Clark Griswold’s interest.

Already there are schemes where you can exchange your house or boat with someone in another country, and now the idea has spread to motorhomes and recreational vehicles. The www.motorhomeholidayswap.com site currently lists vehicles in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Austria, Spain, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Founder Chris Farrow, a motorhome owner (naturally) from Northumberland in England is behind the website and claims “Owners can have the reassurance that they will exchange with like minded people who care about their motorhomes.”

I wonder if that would include families like the Griswolds?

News via TravelMole.

RVs: Handy Tips

by Jamie Rhein on

Two years ago we sat in an RV of a friend of a friend contemplating buying it. It was a passing fancy, but it was fun to look at the bathroom, open the cabinets and watch the walls whir out as the owner flipped the switch to show how we could make it expand. My son mentioned buying an RV this week. I don’t know where he got that idea.

There is something about the idea of driving a vehicle you can live in around the country that has some appeal. But, on the other hand, every time I see one, I think of the gas they use.

Here is a resource I came across if you are thinking about putting an RV in your future. DMV.org has pages devoted to RVs. There is a link devoted to stocking an RV. Another tells you how and where to park it. Another gives handy info about how to drive it and not get stuck under overpasses. I read about a particular overpass in Colorado where RVs are always getting stuck which gave me the idea for this post. I can’t find the specifics now that I’m looking. Just be careful.

Maybe I think of RVs from time time since I once had fantasies of becoming a truck driver. Since the car I’m most comfortable driving is a Toyota Corolla, I’m not sure how that would have worked out.