Alaska Pick-Up Campers
 

My travel plans for summer in Alaska have changed. Instead of driving and spending 3 months, I will now be flying and spending two weeks. I would like to rent a pick-up camper in Anchorage for some or all of that two weeks.

Do any of you have any good or bad experiences with companies that rent that kind of RV in Anchorage?

Not specifically with Alaska, BUT READ the fine print. Many of the RV rental places say that they can CANCEL you at the last minute. My friend was stuck with airline tickets for a family of 6 when one of them called to say that they wouldn't be getting an RV. This wasn't in Alaska, but two of the BIG RV rental places both have that in their contracts.

Utahtea

We rented two years ago from ABC Motorhomes in Anchorage. We had no problems. Everything seemed quite new and clean. They picked us up at our hotel and drove us to the airport at the end of the trip at no extra charge. The camper slept the two of us fine and came complete with sheets, towels and cooking stuff at no extra charge. It had unlimited mileage too.

This was a much better deal than we're finding this year for our trip from Salt Lake City to Yellowstone. No one that I could find in the Salt Lake City area rents truck campers. You have to go with a class C, which is larger and sleeps more than we need. They all charge for sheets, towels and kitchen stuff plus a per mile charge.

Thanks. I booked with ABC. I'll let you know how it went when I get back in late August.

You might want to check out Cruise America. www.cruiseamerica.com I believe they rent out of Anchorage. We used them in Canada a few years ago and everything was great.

We loved our RVing experience in Alaska but I won't recommend the company--a little mom and pop group because we waited so late to make reservations.

Make yours ASAP.

cough, cough, but Cruise America was the one that canceled on my friend.

We used them one year and had no problem but then we weren't flying 6 people 3,000 miles to get to one either.

Utahtea

I don't believe Cruise America rents pickup campers. A camper on the back of a pickup truck gives you higher clearance, which is certainly nice on Alaska's many dirt roads. Especially the Denali Highway, the highlight of our trip. We had absolutely no problems with ABC and neither did friends who rented from them the year before. And what's wrong with Mom and Pop companies? ABC looked like a fair-sized outfit to me, with lots of pickup truck campers and Class Cs in their parking lot. And when you call them up to make reservations, they are actually in Alaska instead of somewhere else and can answer questions.

We are renting a class C from Cruise America in Salt Lake City this summer because we couldn't find anywhere to rent a pickup camper, which is our first preference. As best as I can determine, Cruise America contracts with a local company that does this a sideline. When I called the Salt Lake City office, the folks there could answer questions. So essentially, except for the reservation part, you're getting what amounts to a Mom and Pop anyway.

The problem with the mom and pop type company was that they had no reputation to check on and sure enough when we got there the camper wasn't ready and we didn't get it til mid afternoon the next day. With only nine days that really cut into our travelling time. After we got it, we got the impression this was their personal camper that they rent out and maybe the only camper they had.

I just won't recommend a company that didn't come through for us and has no references that I ever read like I do with the larger companies.

This was a last minute trip so everyone else was sold out.

Connie - I certainly think you had reason to be upset. I guess the key in renting a camper is to ask how many they have. When looking for one in Salt Lake City, I nixed a company I found on the Web that didn't list a phone number. It seemed to be one that represented lots of companies and wanted customers to book online. I remember one that I found on an RV rental company list that didn't answer the phone during the day. I crossed that one off too.

I think dwooddon will be fine with ABC. They had lots of campers in the parking lot, have a Web site and were professional about the entire rental.