One way RV Rental for Cross-Country Trip?
 

My daugther is relocating to the Los Angeles area this summer from the east coast. She doesn't have much in the way of furniture (she'll be bringing mostly personal items), but she does has a huge dog, which she's reluctant to transport on a plane. We were considering the possibility of renting an RV, piling in the dog & the stuff she's bringing and make it a vacation. My husband & I would then like to drop the RV in California & fly back. Has anyone done anything like this? Suggestions for good rental companies & good rates on a one-way RV rental? I'm finding most rental companies wabt you to bring the RV back to the point of origin.

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Yikes have you seen the price of gas lately? Don't those RVs get like 6 miles per gallon? You'd be better off sending her things in a moving van and renting a car or mini van for the trip with the dog. Even if you stay in luxury hotels along the way!

It is very expensive to rent an RV - if you add up cost, mileage, gas, insurance - it is almost always at least as expensive as staying in cheap hotels and eating inexpensively. While you may not like cheap hotels, even the smallest room is going to give you more space than an RV, even for the 3 of you. With a simple breakfast, a cooler for lunch, an local dinner, I think you will find it less expensive, even with the huge dog (there have been lots of posts here about dog-friendly hotel chains).

If you add the one-way factor, it is likely to be really, really expensive.

Moving companies will take small loads - they just piggy-back it onto someone elses move - you get a little less choice in delivery time and it may take a bit longer, but it is not all that expensive. We did that to move a few pieces of family-sentimental furniture up the east coast.

One way car rentals are not always expensive, especially if you are going major city to major city, using a name company, and sometimes using airport locations for pick-up or drop-off. One thing to keep in mind - and you will need to tell local company - is that you need a "California car". That means one with emission controls that meet CA requirements - they can not re-rent it in CA if it does not have this. The rental company should know this, but we ran into huge delay renting car in Las Vegas for drop off in San Diego while they looked for a "California car"

Have a good trip - it must be sad to see your dtr move so far away - you have my empathy as our son is in an industry that after college that is probably where he is heading as well.

Cruise American allows pets and has one way. This is not going to be cheap! Summer probably won't be the time to find one way specials, but you can keep checking.

http://www.cruiseamerica.com/hot_rental_deals.asp

Another biggie in the RV rental business is El Monte RV. I don't know if they allow pets but they do offer one way rentals.

http://www.elmonterv.com/map/

Gas mileage is bad but not 6 mpg, good grief we got 7.5 with our old 1985 motorhome and they have made vast improvements since then! You will probably get more like 10 MPG.

With an RV you won't have to worry about motels that take dogs & you won't have to eat out all the time which will save money.

Utahtea

gail,

Have you been in the new motor homes that have slides? They are pretty roomy and they have bedrooms with doors. If they want privacy in a motel they would have to rent two rooms vs one much cheaper campsite.

We traveled in a small 23 1/2 foot motorhome (without slides) almost 4,000 miles for 3 weeks with our sons who were 17 and 20 and our dog. We had a great time. It was the last vacation that the 4 of us took together because the older one had already moved out of the house by then and the younger would start college.

I'm not saying this will be cheap, but sometimes the experience is worth the cost.

Utahtea

oops that should have been a bedroom with door, not bedrooms.

Utahtea

Another option would be to rent a mini-van or SUV and do the trip - but stay in LaQuinta hotels or similar. Oh, heck! Stay at Four Seasons (which allow pets). Plan reasonable day shifts to drive with time to stop and see things - and stretch your legs. Pack the far back of the vehicle with stuff you don't need to get to.

One thought about RV's - they don't have much storage area. I'm not sure it would hold as much as you think - without getting in your way of using it (eating, sleeping, living in it).

Another interesting idea. I heard of someone who priced out shipping things via movers and on their own. One member of the family went out early, and the other shipped boxes via USPS. For them it was cheaper than a moving company.

CONGRATS to your daughter for not wanting to fly the dog! :-)

Having driven from NY to FLa. in order to bring my dog along, I can tell you this is not an easy trip unless the dog is verrry mellow. I was recently looking for other options of getting the dog down to Fla. again (my husband absolutely refuses to drive again ;(

While I found no good solution for myself for a short vacation, I did find a number of specialized cos. that handle pet relocation. Several use special planes rather than regular passenger planes or cargo planes. I also found a website where animal lovers offer to drive your pet for a fee. I can't seem to find that site again, but here are some others

http://www.petride.com/

http://www.pettransporter.com/

http://pettaxi.com/main.html

Here's lotf of good info if you do decide to drive
http://www.dogfriendly.com/server/general/whatsnew/

You can do a search on that website for renting an RV and you'll get a number of different cos. that do one way rentals.

utahtea - I have great respect for your opinions and you, in fact, practically planned our trip to Zion, Bryce, GC several years ago. And I have followed you adventures in your RV - (and here is the big but) - rental RVs, in my opinion, are a completely different story than owned ones.

You lose all the advantages of "comforts of home" because it is not home - just like a motel room is not home, no matter how nice. When we looked at, both in person and on-line, options for rental RVs from Cruise America none of them had "slides" and all would have given us much less room at much greater cost than a motel room.

Then, for purpose of OP, there is issue of how much space she would have in a rental-size RV for "mostly personal items". I suspect this is going to amount to far more stuff than could fit in an RV with dog and parents - roof rack might be option, but don't see it fitting inside RV without feeling like they were traveling down the highway in a moving van.

I still think for their purposes - comfort, financial, logistical - renting a mini-van, or even full-sized van would work better.

Hi gail,

I realize everyone has different views on motor homes. El Monte does rent RV's with slides. Sometimes the cost isn't an issue, and I don't know if that is the case or not with the KathyM. If cost is a big issue then renting an RV probably isn't the best solution.

We rented a motor home the summer before we bought our. You put your bedding & stuff in it and it's like home. The class A's that El Monte rents have a lot of out side storage! More than you would get with a full size van.

Utahtea

Thanks for all the information. You've given us some things to think about and other options to consider.

To Gail -- Honestly, it's all what you have to compare to -- we feel releived that my daughter is "only" moving as far as California -- my son moved to Australia -- that's a trip!

One option that hasn't been mentioned, rent a pull-behind trailer like a U-Haul for your car. It could be left at the U-Haul outlet in Los Angeles. You can also rent the trailer hitch. Put her stuff and your suitcases, cooler or whatever in it and the three of you plus dog in the car. Crowded? depends on how well behaved the dog is. It might work. We transported three college kids back to school one year like that. We left the trailer at the last stop.

Last April, my husband and I moved from Long Island, NY to Phoenix, AZ. We rented a 30 foot RV from Cruise America and packed what little belongings (about 20 Rubbermaid totes of stuff), two cats, and a male Great Dane dog in it. It cost about $2400 for the one way rental, and with added expenses, I would say the trip cost approx. $3000. We did not sleep in any hotels (we slept in the camper) and made the trip in 3 days. (Approx. 2500 miles) It was the best choice for us because our beloved hound is GIGANTIC and a bit of a baby, but by the end of the trip he was really enjoying himself! If your daughter does not have many belongings, it's not too bad. I would suggest calling Cruise America or visiting their website. I know that, on occassion, you may be able to find reduced rates on the one way rentals if you choose to travel in an older model RV that may need servicing at one of the west coast facilities. I know two facilities in Phoenix offer that, but I am not sure about LA.....but, it's always worth asking! I hope that I have helped you get a better sense of the cost involved....for me it was way more important for my big dog to be happy, so I did pay more than I normally would have for a move. But I do not regret it in the least and would do it again if I had to move back to NY.

KathyM - I am assuming you did not rent an RV or drive to Australia!

No, Gail, no RV to Australia! Although someday I'd like to travel around Australia in an RV -- lots to see there!

Maddy, you're encouraging! My daughter's dog is a Bullmastiff, a big baby, but good in a car. We need to check out all the costs, benefits and downsides of going in an RV and look at the options.

Thanks to all for your input!