Key takeaways
- RV relocation deals offer dramatically reduced rental rates (as low as $1/day or even free) when you help rental companies move vehicles from oversupplied locations to areas with higher demand.
- Major companies offer cheap motorhome rentals through RV relocating programs, including Cruise America, Road Bear, El Monte RV, Travellers Auto Barn, Escape Camper Vans, and Native Camper Vans, with each having specific routes, vehicle options, and conditions.
- While the base cost to relocate RVs is minimal, travelers should account for additional expenses such as kitchen/bedding kits, fuel costs, camping fees, and potential mileage restrictions when planning their trip budget.
- Common RV relocation routes exist between major cities in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, with availability varying by season and demand patterns.
- Strategic use of self-storage facilities before pickup and after dropoff can make RV relocations economical for cross-country moves, allowing you to pack at your own pace and avoid late return fees.
Cross-country trips are a fast track to a deeper understanding of both ourselves and where we live. Whether you’re moving long-distance, traveling solo, or embarking on a family vacation, a long-distance jaunt across the continent is a breath of fresh air to our minds, bodies, and hearts…
… But not so much for our wallets. With daily fees, insurance, gas mileage, and expensive campgrounds, renting an RV for vacation purposes adds up quick. Before you know it, there’s not enough left in your travel allowance for a hot meal and a souvenir.
That’s where RV relocation deals come in as a means to finding cheap motorhomes for rent. When an RV rental ends up in a slow area, it can sit there for months without generating business. Camper vans and RV rental companies are looking to move the vehicle to a Buscher branch somewhere else.
Picture this: over the course of a year, a few dozen international families fly into LA, rent an RV, and take it to the Pacific Northwest for a week of secluded camping. Now, the branch in Bend, Oregon, has a small fleet of RVs where there’s no demand, and the LA franchise has a shortage.
To get some of those RVs back where they came from, the branch in the smaller town will start relocating RVs and camping vans to busier centers in time for the rush. They accomplish this by renting them out for a low day rate—as cheap as $1 a day or even for free!
This guide covers everything you’ll need to know about relocating RVs and finding cheap motorhomes for rent. We’ll cover the biggest brands known for hooking up customers as a means to relocate RVs, as well as the ins and outs of RV storage. We’ll also provide details on how to find RV rentals in the United States.
Finally, we’ll explore how Storage.com can help you and your crew prep for the road trip of your dreams.
One-Way RV Rentals in the United States: Top-Rated RV Rental Companies
RV relocation deals can save you on more than just the cost of RV storage. With a daily rental rate of $1 and no extra mileage fees, when you’re helping a rental company relocate RVs, the only real cost is paying for fuel.
In fact, some RV relocation rentals don’t even charge the $1 daily rental rate. When a company has too many RV units at a single rental location, they’re often desperate enough to let you take one to another branch for free!
The primary factors are supply and demand–when the company needs help moving an RV one way to another rental office. Another situation is factory relocations–when the rental company needs an RV relocated to fix it up and sell it on the used market.
But not every RV rental company offers relocation deals. Let’s take a look at the most popular RV rental companies offering RV relocation deals:
- Cruise America: With 126 rental centers across Alaska, Canada, and the USA, Cruise America is one of the largest RV rental operations offering RV rentals in the United States. You can visit the Cruise Americas website for all kinds of RV relocation deals, including info on the various starting and ending points.
- Road Bear: RoadBearRV.com has 7 locations in the US and lists all their one-way RV rental deals on their website.
- El Monte RV: ElmonteRV.com boasts 14 locations for RV rentals in the United States. El Monte offers one-way RV rental deals that often include free gas at a low nightly rate.
- Travellers Auto Barn RV: Travellers Auto Barn has 5 locations for RV rentals in the United States: Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Vegas, and Los Angeles. Visit Travellers-AutoBarnRV.com for a list of RV relocation deals, where you’ll find some of the most affordable rates for RV hire in the US.
- Escape Camper Vans: Escape operates 12 Camper Van rental centers in the US and one in Canada. Visit EscapeCaperVans.com and enter an RV relocation discount code to score significant savings on a one-way RV trip, providing you drop it off at one of their main centers that are short on RVs.
- Native Camper Vans: Native is a smaller camper van rental company with locations in Los Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Phoenix. They have a whole section of their website–NativeCamperVans.com–that lists factory relocation deals, but scoring a cheap motorhome rental with smaller camper van companies is all about the timing.
There are also some third-party companies you can look into, like Imoova, who work with companies like El Monte, Road Bear, and Indie Campers to relocate RVs by finding travelers like you who are willing to drive a luxury RV one way.
All you do is pay a booking fee of $1. You can save even more money by camping in public parks and on public land. Some of these services will even reimburse a percentage of your fuel costs. Let’s take a deeper look at how to find a great deal relocating RVs instead of spending thousands on renting one.
Costs to Relocate RVs: How to Find a Great Deal Relocating RVs
Ok, so now you’ve got the jist of how RV relocating works and what companies participate in it. Readers looking for cheap motorhomes for rent or an affordable RV hire in the USA should be aware that, although the average cost is typically listed as $1 a day, there are some extra costs to be aware of.
First, not all companies offer unlimited mileage. That means they let you relocate RVs from one branch to another as long as you’re staying within the mileage limit. If you detour and take more time or clock more miles than they’ve allotted, the rental company might hit you with some additional charges.
There are also the more obvious extra costs, like overnight camping fees and fuel. Camping fees can vary from park to park and state to state, and fuel costs depend on the average gas station prices in the areas you’re traveling through.
If you’re betting on a cheap road trip, we suggest planning at least some of your routes ahead of time. Start by browsing all the companies offering relocation deals and looking at the available starting and ending points. You’ll first have to factor in the cost of flying to the pickup location and flying back home from the drop-off location.
Find out if there are any mileage restrictions, and plan your route from point A to B accordingly. There are lots of scenic routes you can take that don’t add too many extra miles to the odometer.
Next, plan your camping stops. There may be a few non-negotiable national or state parks you’re willing to pay a bit extra to stay in. Try to offset the high overnight costs by finding some free or cheap overnight RV parking on the other nights.
We suggest calling the branch you’re picking up from and asking a manager about all the costs involved point blank. Some of the unforeseen costs include:
- Kitchen Kit: $25-$100
- Bed Linen Kit: $25-$100
- Fuel
- Lodging/Parking Costs
- Fluid Changes (if needed)
- Maintenance Fees (if required)
You can cut the costs of some of these amenities by bringing your own supplies, such as linens and kitchen equipment. That said, if you’re flying rather than driving, renting some gear from the RV company might be cheaper than checking a bag full of heavy blankets and pots and pans.
The further ahead the company posts about the relocation deal, the more expensive and less inclusive the deal will be. For example, if a deal is posted a few months in advance, the cost may be $25 a day plus fuel. As the date they need the RV relocated gets closer and closer, that price will start to drop.
If you find a deal a few weeks before the relocation date, you’re more likely to get that $ 1-a-day rate. You may even score some additional perks, like a free kitchen and bedroom set up and partial fuel reimbursement, meaning they’ll pay you back for between $50 and $500 of the fuel cost once you arrive at the relocation destination.
The final consideration when scoring a great deal on a cheap road trip by relocating an RV is the route limitations. Let’s take a look at the most common routes available for RV relocation.
Cheap Motorhomes for Rent: Common RV Relocating Routes
Booking relocation deals start with determining the current pickup locations available. Then, you determine the dropoff location and ensure the deal allows you plenty of time to explore the scenic routes in between the two. Here’s a list of the most common RV relocating routes–remember that which routes are available depends on the season, supply and demand, etc.:
United States
Australia
New Zealand
Canada
Note: All routes are subject to change based on seasonal demand.
How to Use RV Relocation Deals and Self-Storage to Move Across the Country on the Cheap
With enough luck and a bit of planning, you might be able to relocate RVs as a means of moving long-distance. For example, if you’re moving from Los Angeles to San Francisco or Las Vegas and the timing works out, you can load up a recreational vehicle with your belongings.
Relocating an RV full of your stuff can save big money on a moving truck rental and bring additional costs down significantly.
But keep in mind that you’ll need to get the recreational vehicle or camper van to the rental facility destination by a certain time, or they might hit you with extra costs and late fees. You also have to consider the time it takes to pack up your belongings and how difficult it would be to coordinate your packing schedule with the RV pickup date.
That’s where self-storage comes in. You can use online services like our Storage.com search tool to find a storage unit next to your current residence. That way, you can slowly pack and prepare for the move at your leisure, staging all your belongings in a storage unit. Then, when moving day comes, you grab the RV, hit the storage unit, load it up, and hit the road.
But wait, there’s more! You can also use our zip code search tool to find a storage unit somewhere between the RV drop-off location and your new address. When you get to your destination city, you simply unload your belongings into the storage unit and drop the RV off at the rental facility.
Then, you can move your belongings from the storage unit into your new home at your leisure without stressing about returning the RV late.
Just be sure to get the same storage unit size on both ends–if your belongings can fit into the first unit, you’ll know they’ll all fit into the second, ensuring you can empty the whole RV into the unit before you drop it off.
And if you need to store the RV on the way while you go hiking or visit some friends, storage facilities can help with that, too. If you’re moving long-distance, you’re probably pulling your personal vehicle. There might be some nature or nightlife stops you plan to make that are easier to access with your own car or truck than with a massive recreational vehicle.
Not just any facility can accommodate indoor RV storage. Most RV storage and parking spaces are built for the specific purpose of RV storage. RVs can be up to 13.5 feet in height, and an enclosure that tall isn’t always available at a standard storage facility, so make sure you have proper clearance if you plan to store indoors.
With that in mind, let’s take a quick look at the various RV parking and storage options available:
- Garage RV Storage: A house garage works for camper vans and smaller Class B RVs. A house garage offers protection from weather and theft but may not be feasible for larger RVs–not to mention they may be storing vehicles of their own.
- Driveway or Backyard Storage: Parking your RV in a friend’s backyard or driveway is easy and cost-effective, but it leaves your RV exposed to weather damage and potential security risks and may be subject to local restrictions or HOA rules.
- Open-Air RV Storage: As far as storage facility options go, open-air RV parking, where your RV is parked in an outdoor lot, is the most affordable. Outdoor RV parking provides easy access and protects the recreational vehicle from theft and vandalism via coded gate entry and security cameras but offers minimal protection from weather and pests.
- Covered RV Storage: Covered storage protects against the elements, as your RV is guarded under a roof or awning at a storage facility. Covered storage can save your RV from precipitation, but wind and UV rays are still a considerable factor.
- Fully Enclosed RV Storage: The most secure and protective option storage facilities offer is to store your RV in a climate-controlled indoor facility, shielding your RV from weather and theft. That said, fully enclosed indoor storage is the most expensive and may not accommodate larger RVs.
If you have a Class A motorhome, the largest size, you’ll need a space up to 40 feet long. If you’re moving a class B motorhome one way, you need an enclosure between up to 25 feet. Class C are longer than Class B, requiring an indoor enclosure up to 30 feet long.
All available RV storage options have pros and cons, so the best choice depends on your RV size, budget, storage needs, and your travel itinerary.
Final Thoughts on Relocating RVs: Finding Cheap Storage with Storage.com
Now that we’ve covered the process of RV relocating in detail, you should have a pretty good idea of where to look for a deal, the type of deals you can expect to find, and how to plan a move or vacation around the process.
We’ve also covered how to utilize storage facilities during the packing and preparation stage and their RV parking services for stops along the journey.
But not all storage facilities are created equally. While some provide 24-hour access to your camper, on-site security, coded-gate entry, or climate-control units, others are more like a glorified parking lot.
But don’t fret–Storage.com is here to help you find the storage facility that meets all your expectations.
Whether you need one storage unit or two, our Storage.com search tool makes finding ideal facilities for self-storage as easy as entering your zip code, filtering the options, and scrolling the results until you find exactly what you need.
Whether you’re on vacation or moving long distance, RV road trip costs add up fast, so it’s essential to get it all right the first time by staying organized, packing beforehand, and storing your belongings in a safe space before it’s time to pick up and relocate the RV.
And if you’re moving and need to drop the RV off by a specific date, you can often rent a storage unit for a whole month for the cost of renting a moving truck for a single day. Use our search tool to score yourself an RV close to your new home and drop your RV off on time.
Then, you can use our personal vehicle to move your stuff out of the storage unit and into the new home at your own leisure.
Searching for the best price on storage solutions for your RV used to be a hassle involving calling several locations and asking about their pricing. Searching on the web for “indoor RV storage near me” or “trailer storage near me” can also take a lot of time and lead you in different directions.
The best way to find RV storage parking in your area is to simply search on Storage.com. In addition to thousands of storage units online, Storage.com helps RVers find the right RV storage unit or parking spot at the best price.
