Motorhome Rental

[Bait O' Eggs]

I get to spend a week with the family :smile: and Mother-in-law :depressed: and drive back to Minnesota this summer.

We were thinking it would be nice to rent a motorhome and have some room on the trip, save on motel bills and such.

I have only talked to one motorhome rental place and they want $1300 for a 30 foot unit with the first 700 miles free and then $0.29 a mile after. I figure we will drive around 4000 miles which would make this rental in the neighborhood of $2300 +/- probably more since we may drive more than that. And I will certainly have another $1000 in gasoline.

Has anybody rented a motorhome on a cross country trip? I think I can fly, rent a car and spend less. Are their deals on motorhome rentals out there? Its all new to me :whazzup:

[Paddlefish]

It was all new to me too. :depressed:

Our Thanksgiving trip to Los Angeles to visit the new grandbabies, using my mother-in-law's middle-aged motor home, didn't make it out of Oregon. :depressed:

We were perched in a parking lot near Roseburg while my wife cell-phoned RV rental places from Medford to Portland, trying to salvage a substitute ride.

Your price-per-mile rate sounds typical. We found that we could get off somewhat cheaper by driving a 2001 model vs. the new 2004 model.

It all cost way too much for my craw to swallow, although, with some analysis, the other options seemed somehow worse.

At least we had no motel bills on the road, and my daughter didn't have room for all five of us either, so we avided local lodging costs. And everybody snacked non-stop on the Costco provisions we'd stowed aboard, saving restaurant meal costs. (Aargh!) :grin:

Good luck. (And it cost way too much for my taste, but I would be sorry if I hadn't done it.)

[fishchaser]

What you might check into Roy, is renting a tent-trailer. They are much cheaper, and since you aren't pulling a boat, you should be able to work that out. I think they only run a couple hundred for deposit and a weekly rate. You can sleep 6 to 8 people in these things. You can make your in-laws have to sllep on the table. No, just kidding. They have them with king and queen beds and then the table will fold down for a double bed. They are easy to put up, and you can even get them with porta potties in them. check it out. It will save you some money. For that matter you might be able to get a full size trailer, to pull. I think you would be better off with the tent trailer.

[Otolith]

My parents rented one in Georgia last year and drove round trip out to Portland to visit. It was a pretty nice rig. I think they paid ALOT more money than you estimated.

[2LEYS]

My sabatical is due next summer. (7 weeks paid vacation on top of my normal 3 plus 2 weeks of holiday :smile: ) I looked into it and it is just way too expensive.

[chummer]

I know some of the R.V. rental outfits in anchorage, Alaska will fly you down to R.V. manufacturers in N. California to pick-up the new R.V. and drive it up to anchorage. They give you about a week to do this. Once you get up there they will let you rent it quite cheaply if you would like to continue touring. Only down side is this all occurs around april and may, a little early for fishing. You are also responsible for your own transportation home from Alaska.

[k9jeff]

You might also want to check with a private party rental, it might be a little cheaper.

remember to watch one of the chevvy chase vacation movies before you head out on the road.