One way rentals

[Andrei]

Greetings... planning my first road trip longer than 2 states, and am hoping some of the veterans here can help. I'm hoping to fly from Los Angeles to Minneapolis where my parents live, and then take 2 weeks driving back (hopefully taking some things in storage back with me). I am wondering what alternatives exist other than renting an SUV/minivan from Hertz/Avis/Enterprise (or even U-Hual) and paying the weekly rate (and not all that comfortable to sleep in) and the unbelieavably high expense of renting an RV. The Euro-Cruiser vans seem perfect for my needs (2 people and about 5 boxes), but the only rental places I could find rent the newest models, and charge a lot extra for one-way (more than double of the Hetrz option). Any alternatives? Do any of those car relocation companies from the 80's roadtrip films still exist? I would also consider dirving round-trip, I guess, if the weekly price was better than the weekly rates the commercial companies quite. Alternatively, anybody got a late model they're willing to rent or need transported this June?

[Mark Sedenquist]

There is no major US rental company that will allow one-way rentals of mini-vans for any price... Most put serious restrictions on how far a mini-van can be driven from the renting location. SUV's can be rented for one-way drop-off- but the surcharges are pricey.

About 85 car relocation firms exist -- for more information look at the Drive Away options at http://www.roadtripamerica.com/links/international.htm

Given your parameters, have you considered buses or trains?

[imported_margie]

Hi,
I need to move from Chicago to Seattle and am running into the one way car rental "drop-off" fee cost problem.. Is there anyone who needs to relocate their vehicle, or who has a suggestion? We will be leaving Aug. 21st and arrive in Seattle Sept. 2nd.
Thanks,
Margie

I have read in a magazine about Auto Driveaway. The article
writes:

Hit the road-in someone else's car

Like road trips but hate putting the miles on your car?
Maybe you don't own a car at all. Check out Auto Driveaway,
a Chicago-based company that offers an unusual travel service: free use of a car in exhange for delivering the
vehicle to a specified destination.

Here's how it works. Corporations and individual car owner
pay Auto Driveaway roughly $300 to $500 to find people to move their wheels to a new location. Drivers, who must be at least 21, receive the use of a car in return for driving it to the desired destination. You might, for example, drive a car for San Francisco to a corporate executive who is waiting for it in NYC, or from Portland to someone vacationing for several months in Orlando, Fla. The routes are always within the continental United States and Canada and they are almost always very, very long.

The cars are usually medium-size, midprice, newer models, such as the Ford Taurus or the toyota camry (sorry, no Ferraris or Porsches). Drivers must cover several hundred
miles per day, because the delivery date is determined by the distance between locations. For instance, you get nine days to travel the 2900 miles from San Francisco to Nyc and 10 days to cover the 3000 miles from Portland to Orlando. Mileage is regulated, and exceeding the set limit
results in fines. But drivers do receive some extra miles
(15 percent of the total distance) for discretionary side trips. The car comes completely insured and with a full tank of gas. The required $300 to $350 deposit is refundable upon the safe and timely delivery of the vehicle.

To check out what's available, visit www.autodriveaway.com .....



What people have to worry about after delivering the car
is to find ways to go to the desired destination. You will probably have to call a cab to take you to the airport or elsewhere.

In the past few days, I saw an ad for Advantage Rent-A-Car that was promoting one-way rentals at (about) $50 a day and no drop-off fee from any of their locations nationwide (USA). $50 a day is certainly not cheap, but perhaps is affordable for some folks and some trips. I know absolutely nothing about Advantage as I have never rented from them, but this is worth checking out. Perhaps others have had experience with this company and would care to comment?