California - hiring an RV for a few weeks

maggiesoop

Hi

Just back from a 16 day holiday down west coast of California (San Fran to Irvine)and now caught the travel bug. Not the warmest of weather at this time of year however have dreams of going back in warmer climes and hiring one of those RVs for a few weeks, perhaps May this year. Anyone done anything like this? Pitfalls? Expensive? Secure? We hired a car and drove many a mile so know that the freeways are a doddle and gas is cheap(ish)

mgdavid

About 10 years ago we booked an RV on the net from a place near Orlando airport, went all across Florida and down to Key West and back for a couple of weeks, met some lovely people in the sites, everyone friendly, had a great time. Except it was a bit rushed, could have spent a month or two doing it!

blindman

maggiesoop wrote: »

Hi

Just back from a 16 day holiday down west coast of California (San Fran to Irvine)and now caught the travel bug. Not the warmest of weather at this time of year however have dreams of going back in warmer climes and hiring one of those RVs for a few weeks, perhaps May this year. Anyone done anything like this? Pitfalls? Expensive? Secure? We hired a car and drove many a mile so know that the freeways are a doddle and gas is cheap(ish)

Expensive to hire
Expensive to run (12 miles per gallon)
Slow to get from A-B
Still have to pay for camp sites-Can't just stop (not supposed to :cool:)


If you go in May you don't have to book ahead for hotels so hire a car\stop where you end up and forget about one way fees if NV\CA

jackieblack

Whenever we have looked at doing this it has always been cheaper to hire a car and stay in hotels/motels

markandkate

I have not hired an RV in USA but did in Australia and people we met all said he same thing, the popular sites all get booked a long way in advance and you can't just turn up particularly at the sites attached to the National Parks such as Yosemite. We also found in Oz that there were often only a couple of sites and they closed very early eg 5pm and we ended up parking in a car park on our first night

photome

jackieblack wrote: »

Whenever we have looked at doing this it has always been cheaper to hire a car and stay in hotels/motels

The Rv appeals to me but have always been put off by cost amongst other things.

When hiring a car and doing it, have you booked hotels in advance or just turned up, if you have turned up dont you get stung by rack rates?

Just to add I have been to the west coast a few times, but not done a proper road trip and have always prebooked hotels

jackieblack

photome wrote: »

The Rv appeals to me but have always been put off by cost amongst other things.

When hiring a car and doing it, have you booked hotels in advance or just turned up, if you have turned up dont you get stung by rack rates?

Just to add I have been to the west coast a few times, but not done a proper road trip and have always prebooked hotels

We always have a good idea of where we want to go and pre book hotels, mainly because we always travel at peak times, but have sometimes cancelled/changed these during the trip as we go along if we decide to stay longer/shorter somewhere and/or change our plans. (I take a small laptop with me)
We always book on-line direct with the hotels involved and mostly these can be changed/cancelled with 0-48 hours notice at no charge.

We've found:
Early booking often gets us a discount
A polite email to the sales/reservations manager before booking to enquire about any available discounts often elicits the offer of a discounted price
Lots of hotels give AAA discount to AA members

blindman

photome wrote: »

The Rv appeals to me but have always been put off by cost amongst other things.

When hiring a car and doing it, have you booked hotels in advance or just turned up, if you have turned up dont you get stung by rack rates?

Just to add I have been to the west coast a few times, but not done a proper road trip and have always prebooked hotels

Uness there's a Junior league ""World" Cup :cool: Majorettes Competition in town

(Yes it did happen to me once in 15 years )

then "rack rates (Walk-ins) in the USA are about $50 for a room that can sleep 4.

Most places-even small towns have a lot of accomodation of vaying cost so on the shoulder season you should be fine.

The RV myth is for USA residents who actually own the thing so don't get stung by exhorbitant hire costs\one way fees etc.

For road trips of one night stays I prebook hotels for the arrival and departure airport.

After that it's winging it-Though I do travel in shoulder seasons.:cool:

mgdavid

blindman wrote: »

Expensive to hire
Expensive to run (12 miles per gallon)
Slow to get from A-B
Still have to pay for camp sites-Can't just stop (not supposed to :cool:)
If you go in May you don't have to book ahead for hotels so hire a car\stop where you end up and forget about one way fees if NV\CA

- possibly not as cheap as cheap motels but more freedom and style plus you get to meet people etc
- 12 to the US gallon maybe, nearer 20 to the English gallon and it's way cheaper per gallon anyway - I'm sure you can do the maths.
- will cruise at the speed limit so not slow unless you break the law in the car
- if you go in May you prob won't need to book sites either

RVs / motorhomes are Marmite - love it or hate it. We love it.

ETA - you save a fair bit on food and catering, having the facilities with you. And you don't need to live on junk food all the time either.

photome

mgdavid wrote: »

- possibly not as cheap as cheap motels but more freedom and style plus you get to meet people etc
- 12 to the US gallon maybe, nearer 20 to the English gallon and it's way cheaper per gallon anyway - I'm sure you can do the maths.
- will cruise at the speed limit so not slow unless you break the law in the car
- if you go in May you prob won't need to book sites either

RVs / motorhomes are Marmite - love it or hate it. We love it.

ETA - you save a fair bit on food and catering, having the facilities with you. And you don't need to live on junk food all the time either.

Any tips on where to hire for the west coast

cubegame

I would love to RV in the US but the cost and lack of freedom to stop by the roadside is a killer. You would also miss on on the bits that an RV can't get to.