Advice for a new road tripper

[fayebutler]

Hi,
Currently planning a roadtrip in America with my boyfriend for next March -> May. We will both be 24 at the time, from the UK.
We've planned a route starting in San Francisco and ending in Miami. The main issue we are having is with car rental! It's so expensive - especially with the age surplus. Has anyone had any experience with this?
Any advice on how to keep costs down would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Faye

[DonnaR57]

Welcome to RTA!

Yes, under age 25 is a big issue in the US, when it comes to car insurance. Are you attempting to find a car on your own, or are you using an overseas car rental consolidator? The latter might be able to get you a better deal, perhaps with the under-25 fees for 2 unrelated drivers reduced or even waived.

A one-way trip is also adding to the cost. Most car rental places cover their own costs of getting the car back to its originating state, by charging a one-way fee. It could be up to $1000 of your fee. Once again, the consolidator may be able to get that fee reduced or waived.

Really, though, if you can't get the one-way fee reduced or waived, the other way to avoid it is to plan a loop trip. If you are over here for 6+ weeks, it can be done fairly easily. Start and end in the same city. It may be better on your airline cost, too.

I'm sure that one of the moderators will chime in here with the proper URL for the consolidator that has a good reputation among UK-->USA travelers.


Donna

[glc]

http://www.rentalcars.com/

[AZBuck]

Since competition is a good thing, here are a couple of others:

Europcar
Auto Europe

AZBuck

[Southwest Dave]

Doing a loop will certainly help with rental costs and it seems as though you have time to do this. Also flights into and out of NY should be quite a bit cheaper than into LA and out of Miami. As always it's a matter of planning and juggling around time and funds and what you want to achieve.

[Lifemagician]

Also flights into and out of NY should be quite a bit cheaper than into LA and out of Miami.

But don't rent out of NY. It is much cheaper to rent out of Newark NJ.

Lifey

[fayebutler]

Thanks everyone!
Sorry I'm so late to reply - planning takes a lot of time!
I think we've finally found a place to rent from : Has anyone booked with bakpakdave before?
The prices seem really great and we're quite excited to use a campervan!

Thanks!

[Southwest Dave]

I have not heard of that company and it's important that you read all the small print and you know what is included in the prices you are being quoted and more importantly, what isn't. You may want to make direct comparisons with the Escape campers webpage who have been used before by members of RTA and have been recommended for service and price. "Dave" might be just fine but it's clear he is an agent who has turned his experience of travel into money making, it's just working out who actually pays for that service, you, the rental company or both !

[Midwest Michael]

It looks to me like "bakpakdave" is just a middleman, and is doing most if not all of his bookings though Escape. I would really question what he is actually offering for a service that you couldn't do cheaper and easier just by booking directly through Escape. Perhaps he does enough business with them that he gets a discounted rate that he can pass onto you, but if a price sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Particularly with campervans, extra fees - especially mileage fees - can quickly add up and make a decent rate very expensive when all is said and done.