Community Forums

vincee · 02-11-2021, 09:26 AM

Oldracer, great post putting why we love our RV's so much in a nice tight and concise post.

Since you have made that Smokey Mtns. trip previously, what are your thoughts on the cost comparison RV vs. your prior visits?

bneiva · 02-11-2021, 06:34 PM

We find the longer you stay out, the less money it costs!

OldracerJim · 02-12-2021, 07:01 AM

If you do not figure the payments/cost of the RV, we spent less with the RV. Gas mileage in our coach averaged about 8 MPG so gas was our top expense, still less than airline tickets for the two of us and if you add children the savings continues to increase. Park costs were much less than hotels, averaging under $50 per day, hotels normally avg more than $120 per night. Food was a big cost save for us. We are foodies and enjoy going out but with the coach we usually ate two meals a day at "home" instead of eating out three times a day. We did have to pay $25 for a mobile repair guy but other than that our cost was about 70% of what we paid without the coach and we stayed three days longer.

EasyRVing · 02-23-2021, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewH

I have a question for those of you who have done vacations/trips of decent length (7+ days) with your family both staying at hotels or rentals vs traveling with a trailer. Which method was more cost effective overall and which method was more enjoyable? Which method was more convenient? I am trying to weigh out the costs of owning and using a trailer vs doing trips and staying at hotels or rentals. Any help would be much appreciated.

As a long-time, experienced RVer, I offer you the following:

#1 If your goal is to enjoy and explore a city (like Boston, New York, San Francisco, etc.) you will be much better off staying at a convenient hotel (or more than one) to stay within walking/public transport distance of whatever you want to see. RV parks are never close enough, a waste of sightseeing time and energy.

#2 If you are talking about 7+ day commitments, then why buy a trailer? In fact, why buy at all? Think. Is owning anything worth it to you? How can it be cost-effective?

#3 Rent an RV. My suggestion is not a trailer, which requires that you set up and do all sorts of complicated things, which I regard as a total pain --- unless you are planning on staying there for weeks at a time.

Rent a small "motorhome" from a commercial operator, which you drive off for your adventure. This way, you can see if RVing appeals to you at all. There are many, many places you can go with an RV like this. So, go, have fun!

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By the way, if we were taking an RV to Alaska (kinda tough now because Canada won't admit Americans --- oops!), even though we have a nice motorhome RV, we would rent: Why take our RV over rough roads and get it beaten to death? Renting makes sense!

My bottom-line advice: Pack what you need to take, fly where you want to go, see whatever's there to see, then pick up your rental RV to drive to your next adventure.

twogypsies · 02-23-2021, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by See the USA

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By the way, if we were taking an RV to Alaska (kinda tough now because Canada won't admit Americans --- oops!), even though we have a nice motorhome RV, we would rent: Why take our RV over rough roads and get it beaten to death? Renting makes sense!

This I don't agree with. We've done Alaska multiple times with absolutely no damage to our 40' motorhome towing our Jeep. It's just another trip... only longer. The highways are good and they have areas of construction just like in the lower 48.

We had everything with us that we're familiar with using. Weather isn't predictable so we had plenty of alternate clothing and bedding.

Have you ever rented? It's bare bones. You have to go shopping first thing to stock it and for many things other than food, such as a lawn chair, BBQ, etc. You just leave the extras behind.

We rented once because we took the ferry up the Inside Passage and were meeting friends who flew in from Michigan. All 3 rented and we tooled around together. The company of our friends was great but the accommodations; not so much. We really missed our own RV.

Bill Gail · 02-23-2021, 07:25 PM

It's an apple or oranges argument .

Neither one is cheap.

We own our MH and Boat so the cost of ownership amounts to Insurance , maintenance , moorage and registrations . The cost of 1 weeks rental for either covers our ownership costs for a year. Plus with rentals you still have fuel costs , CG or Marina fees , toll's , parking meters , etc.

When traveling without the MH or Boat . Consider Air Fares , cabs , car rentals and fuel , lodging , meals , entertainment , shopping . Shipping costs for everything you buy that won't fit in your luggage that needs to be mailed home .

Costs can be saved in either form of traveling . The trips can be budgeted prior to the trip , or do like we do , we establish a S.W.A.G. before leaving and then we compile all the receipts at the end of the trip to reconcile our checking acct. and check for any suspect charges on the plastic.

At the end , we are either pleaseantly surprised we were under our estimate or not surprised if we blew the estimate.

The important thing is the memories we made.

EasyRVing · 02-24-2021, 08:26 AM

QUOTE=twogypsies;5648101]This I don't agree with. We've done Alaska multiple times with absolutely no damage to our 40' motorhome towing our Jeep. It's just another trip... only longer. The highways are good and they have areas of construction just like in the lower 48.
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Have you ever rented? It's bare bones. You have to go shopping first thing to stock it and for many things other than food, such as a lawn chair, BBQ, etc. You just leave the extras behind.
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Yes, we most definitely disagree. I'm happy that you responded because your comments have made me think and re-evaluate what I have done. This has brought me great pleasure. Thank you.

Now, my specific responses:

You are a full-time RVer, which I know from personal experience (10 years full-timing to "See the USA), is not the same as a week-long vacation.

We lived in our 39' motorhome and towed our Jeep Grand Cherokee. The RV was basecamp, used as center of operations for touring the area in our 4-wheel drive Jeep. We would never, ever risk our RV home.

Yes, we traveled in Canada --- very successfully because we found the highways to be very good --- both in the Canadian Rockies and cutting across Canada as a short-cut from Michigan to Vermont (had planned on seeing Eastern Canada, but were turned off by the total contempt for English in Montreal --- in sharp contrast to western Canada. We vote with our dollars, so we took our money home to the USA.).

Given what other RVers have reported about damaged rigs and rough roads, no we would never take our home to Alaska. You were lucky and I am very happy for you. We, however, would have left our RV and Jeep in Canada or the states.

Flying in and renting a RV could be an option, but better yet is the trip I took: Connecting Anchorage and Fairbanks, the Alaska railroad's absolutely splendid tour is a stunningly beautiful route between the cities with wildlife in Denali and an add-on to visit the glaciers, with another side trip to fly around Mt. McKinley. Train travel through the wilderness beats an RV on the highways every time. This train trip is awesome!!!

About paraphernalia:
A few weeks touring means exploring, going and coming with ease. It does not mean sitting outside next to the RV in an expensive lounge chair. No. Buying cheap throwaways makes RVing in a rental easy and fun. A rental RV is a means to an end, the pleasure of going and doing something delightful.

I am so very, very glad that we saw the USA the way we did --- so many beautiful sights, so much joy and pride in our country and in our American adventurers.

I hope you have enjoyed yourself as much as we do.