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Well, the OP hasn't made any comments on CityData since 2007, so I doubt that he is online anymore.
That said, I recently thought about renting a class C and touring some of the country. I found that between the daily rental fee, low gas mileage and mileage fees; it was sooooo expensive that it would have been more economical renting a good hotel room every night and eating out every meal.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johninvegas
Well, the OP hasn't made any comments on CityData since 2007, so I doubt that he is online anymore.
That said, I recently thought about renting a class C and touring some of the country. I found that between the daily rental fee, low gas mileage and mileage fees; it was sooooo expensive that it would have been more economical renting a good hotel room every night and eating out every meal.
Add a few campground fees...
thus I prefer to fly-drive and use guest hospitality homes. ($20 / night WW)
Or use my 50+ mpg vehicles and camp or use guest homes, and health clubs (I usually spend a day and night at a hot springs pool each time I can find one)
My 20mpg MH gets very little use. But if I want to be remote / stay in National Parks, the MH is a very sweet deal.
I have a spreadsheet that compares costs for fly-drive, Car, Van, MH... Usually fly-drive wins. Many rental cars get ~40 mpg, and I still can find them for <$40 / day ($0.10 / mile + fuel for a 400 mile day) + a $20 guest home and usually <$10 for food. I have 6 fly-drive trips booked for Jan - Feb. (Airfares are Really, really cheap, rental cars not so cheap ~$40 / day). March - May will be minivan with ADV motorcycle in tow (Usually camping), summers in PNW, Fall in New England and SE USA, Winter in Texas Hill country. (As FREE hubs)
The Europeans who rent from Cruise America are not cost constrained, they just plan to pay what it takes. (Similar in NZ, they rent really expensive campervans). I have bought a few used cars / vans for more cost consious international travelers. I just resell for them after they leave and send then the dough. I plan to do the same in NZ and Australia (when I get to go again).
I expect there will be some significant bargains in USA (and WW) on used RV's in 2024+
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 01-15-2022 at 03:23 PM..
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I did this in 1970, with a friend, in my 1964 Buick Skylark wagon. We did a total of 18,000 miles in 10 weeks, sleeping in campgrounds in tents, or in the car. We did also stay with people we new in about 5 cities. My car got 16 mpg and gas was 30 cents a gallon, the total cost for gas, oil and a few other car expenses was about $500.
A typical class B that sleeps 6 such as a Sprinter will get 14-17 mpg depending on what you are carrying with water and food.
If we take it at 15 mpg and gas now at $4, that's almost $5,000 for that same trip. Of course you have the advantage of splitting the cost 6 ways, but you also have to pay the rent on the RV. Still a bargain compared to 6 people flying to Hawaii and renting a condo for that long.
We're getting ready to do a two week car trip. That means boarding our pets. Two dogs, one cat, 14 days. $700. That's on top of my anxiety to leave my puppers and kitteh in a strange place, worrying how well they are doing. It's at our vet; I feel confident they'll receive good care; but I know I won't enjoy the trip fully.
This is our first long car trip in .... oy, years. Checking the hotels within our budget ($150/night), I'm dismayed at the reviews. Sure, you will eventually get one that is OK, but it has meant hours of research for me. Also, the thought of sleeping in the same bed, using the same pillows, linens and mattress that others have? *blech* Revolting.
This fall, we'll do a long RV trip. We'll be in a self-contained vehicle. Park it, undo the TOAD and take off. Our pets will be in a familiar place with cameras and alarms to assure us they are OK. We'll sleep in the same bed every night, with my own trained pillow and a place to stow our CPAP devices. I won't have to pack us up every time we change to a different spot. Just undo the hookups, attach the TOAD, bring in the slides and goooo.
People generally have an RV for reasons other than the cost.
Do yourself a favor and take a different direction with your vacation. Such a trip would take you 6-8 weeks, and being cooped up in a Class C that long with others would not be enjoyable.
There are vast areas in this country where there are few if any places of interest. From my home to the Continental Divide is about 1300 miles, and that's about halfway to Seattle.
Fly to Seattle and pickup a rental RV there. Then you can run up and down the coast--picking out the really great vistas. I warn you that RV's are relatively expensive to rent. Hotels can be a cheaper way to travel.
Do yourself a favor and take a different direction with your vacation. Such a trip would take you 6-8 weeks, and being cooped up in a Class C that long with others would not be enjoyable.
There are vast areas in this country where there are few if any places of interest. From my home to the Continental Divide is about 1300 miles, and that's about halfway to Seattle.
Fly to Seattle and pickup a rental RV there. Then you can run up and down the coast--picking out the really great vistas. I warn you that RV's are relatively expensive to rent. Hotels can be a cheaper way to travel.
Hotels are always cheaper than an RV. RVs are very expensive but are way better than staying in hotels IMHO. Hotels are a last resort if nothing else is available. Also we all have different areas of interest and I can't imagine not finding many many places of interest no matter the location someone is traveling through.
A couple years ago we spent 5 months traveling east and the following year 6 months traveling west. We averaged 5 nights/stop and logged almost 400 nights altogether. That was way, way cheaper than staying in hotels would have been.
A couple years ago we spent 5 months traveling east and the following year 6 months traveling west. We averaged 5 nights/stop and logged almost 400 nights altogether. That was way, way cheaper than staying in hotels would have been.
Out of curiosity could you please post your expenses for that trip? Just the big 3 like fuel, camping fees, and RV and any repairs to it. With that many days I could see it being cheaper. It also helps if you have a cheaper RV and own it for a long time.
Out of curiosity could you please post your expenses for that trip? Just the big 3 like fuel, camping fees, and RV and any repairs to it. With that many days I could see it being cheaper. It also helps if you have a cheaper RV and own it for a long time.
I don't always keep careful track, but for the westward trip in 2021, I did. We left on 2/16 and spent 174 nights on the road. We stayed in 41 different campgrounds. The campgrounds averaged $39/night. We tried to find places where we could get a weekly rate which is typically "pay for 6 nights, get the 7th night free" and our average over the whole trip was 4.4 nights per campground.
We put about 10,000 miles on the truck, 5,850 towing the camper. We spent $2,560 on diesel. There were no repairs, but I did have the truck serviced in Kansas on the way back for about $400. Add in incidentals like propane and DEF and we were at about $55/night not counting food & entertainment.
And, of course, to get to this point we had to make a considerable investment in a truck + camper, which depreciate daily regardless of if we use them or not. In the end, though, I trust they will return a decent portion of their investment to me when I sell.
Compared to today, obviously diesel is much higher now. Also, if what I saw booking hotel rooms for a different trip next month are any clue, campground rates have probably gone up 50% We're taking off again in June. We shall see.
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