montaya

Hi,
I have been in other forums but need now to concentrate on motorhome hire. We (my husband and I) are planning to be in the USA about 8 weeks in Juy/August or August/September. We'll be flying to Los Angeles (from Australia).
We were told that there is a website where Australians (maybe others too), who keep a motorhome in the USA, put their motorhomes up for hire.
Has anyone come across this website ? I have tried all kind of searches on the net but no luck

spirobulldog

just google "RV For Rent By Owner" and you will find several. I don't think you will find a site where aussies rent to other aussies here in the US.

We don't normally refer it as "hire" we call it rent or lease.

If this is an activity you enjoy that great, but I do think it is a big big big hassle and I don't think you will save any money at all. I would encourage renting a car.

janisj

Whether a motorhome is a good idea (or makes any sense at all) depends on where you are going. What is your itinerary?

montaya

Well, our itinerary is really: fly to Los Angeles, see a bit of America, possibly San Francisco, up to Seattle, maybe some National parts. But we really don't know and probably make it up as we go. Although a visit to New York and to the North East woould be of interest. Whether we can squeeze much of that in the 8 weeks ,,, time will tell.

spirobulldog

A lot of National Parks have limited access to RV's. Meaning some of the roads you will not be able to drive on. Probably the most popular rental company is Cruise America. You will need reservations at all most all of the parks in the west for camping, to make sure you have a spot. So, you will need to plan accordingly.

Again, driving much more than 500 miles is going to get very expensive in an RV.

gail

While you may get a lower price when renting from an owner, wondering what happens if the thing breaks down 1000 miles from where you rented it.

Your adventure sounds fun - and not sure how much of a factor is cost. But after you price out renting an RV and all associated cost, see what renting a car and staying in hotels - or even buying camping equipment and doing some real camping would cost (if that is your thing).

Add to that the logistics of driving an RV across the US and limitations of where you can drive or park it.

We have several times considered and researched renting an RV, and always found that car rental and hotel stays - if one is somewhat frugal and does not demand a lot of frills - always to be less expensive.

But it is also a lifestyle choice - just make sure you have considered all the financial and logistical implications in both possibilities. Many posting on RV discussion boards own their RVs - and that has cost implications.

nytraveler

Do check first about one-way rentals. Some companies don;t allow them and others have a large drop-off charge. If you have to return it - that will severely restrict the area you can cover.

I have heard that Cruise American sometimes allows one-way rentals - but don;t know the details or their rates and drop-off cost.

Also agree to check out places to park (popular ones often sell out months in advance) and roads that are not open to RVs.

janisj

Motorhomes are great some places - but totally useless/a pain in cities like San Francisco, Seattle, New York. And even in Los Angeles w/ its total car culture, a motor home won't be easy. There will be more places on can park a motorhome around LA, but then the public transit to get you from an RV park to the sites isn't that great.

And RV spaces in many national parks are quite limited and require advance booking. Sometimes FAR in advance.

WhereAreWe

Your original itinerary/plan had you taking the train from LA up the West Coast, then over to Glacier and all the way to New York City, then back to LA via New Orleans. A number of people suggested some version of that route using planes, trains and rental cars rather than just trains.

Just my thought but I think you need to really decide what is most important for you to see on your trip and THEN figure out the mode of transportation. It seems like you're doing it backwards, first deciding on transportation and then trying to figure out an itinerary based on that (train, now motorhome).

You can see a lot in 8 weeks, just make a list of 1) what you need to see, 2) what you really want to see and 3) what would be nice to see but not necessary. Then figure out how to get to all those places - I thought the combination of planes, trains and cars made a lot of sense but you seem to have discarded it.