Ever fancied of taking an epic journey across the USA or along the historic Route 66 with your partner, some friends or the whole family?
Just you, the open road and the sun (and maybe snow) at your back? Drive wherever you like, you make your own plan on what to see and do?
All this in the convenience of your own motorhome, fitted out with beds for everyone, full kitchen, full bathroom, heaters or air-cons and even a TV?
I had that dream too, only now it's a reality because I found a way to do it for only $1 per day.
I bet you've heard of the phrase 'if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is'? Well, not this time. I'm about to make you aware of a fantastic deal that you'll want to share with everyone you know, cos it's that good! Read on if you love to find awesome deals, and want to save a heap of cash.
I've literally just finished an incredible cross country trip from the state of Indiana, all the way across the US to California, in a brand new 22 ft long, 5-bed motorhome for next to nothing. Seriously.
Let me introduce you to my new favourite website, Transfer Car. This is a website for driving or relocating cars, vans, RV's and motorhomes to other parts of the USA.
You might score a new car from one airport to another in California with 2 days free hire, unlimited km's, etc. Alternatively, you might be lucky enough to relocate a spanking new motorhome from one side of the country to the other for a very small fee.
How can it be so cheap?
TransferCar work with a large group of different car hire and RV companies advertising vehicles they need to be relocated to different cities for paying customers. The alternative for them is to pay huge trucks and drivers to do the same thing, so this way it's a win for us, and a win for them. Don't you think?
The website is super easy to use. Just sign up in 5 five minutes, you need a major credit card to do so. Once you have a profile, you can search for a vehicle that might fit in with your holiday plans and make a request to relocate it. The car company respond via email within 24hrs, a contract is sent to you with all details, and you've just saved yourself a bundle of cash.
Drive across the USA for $1 per day. What's the catch?
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There is no catch. Our drive across the USA for a dollar per day deal was incredible! We hired a brand new motorhome to relocate from Indiana to Los Angeles in 15 days, for only US$14.99, or $1 per day. This included 3000 miles (a lot of km's) and $300 fuel allowance too. Any extra miles over 3000 were charged at 0.32c per mile. We were allowed to take an extra 15 days if we chose, which would be at a rate of US $60 per day, which included an additional 150 miles per day.
All this = GREATEST DEAL EVER!
It's up to you if you decide to stay in campgrounds that are conveniently located all over this country, or you can try and keep the budget down and pull into rest stops or Wal-Mart parking areas.
But how much will I spend on gas?
If you need to crunch numbers to work out the amount you are likely to spend on fuel for a journey such as this, I am happy to offer my experience too.
The USA price their gasoline in gallons. The price of gas varies greatly according to what state you are in. The price of gas compared to say, Australia is much more affordable overall. Generally, we found the price of fuel to be the cheapest in the Southern States. As you approached the states of Nevada and California, fuel creeps up to almost twice the price.
If you are fuelling an RV like the one we had, you will find that your tank fits 55 gallons, you'll get approximately 380 miles to a tank, and gas can range from $1.99 per gallon (3.8 litres) to $3.89.
We found a very helpful app on our iPhone to find the cheapest fuel around us. GasBuddy gives you updated cheap rates on fuel in the town or city you are in, and we found it invaluable for saving cash to fuel the RV. When you have to fuel a big tank, even finding a fuel station that is 30c cheaper per gallon can mean a saving of $30 per tank.
To sum up, our motorhome relocation for $1 per day (including insurance) was an awesome deal. In addition, to the US $300 fuel allowance that was reimbursed to us at the drop-off in Los Angeles, the extra cash we spent on fuel was approximate $700.
Tell me if you can find a better deal than this?
Oh, if it's too far to travel to take your motorhome trip across the USA right now, I'll let you in on another little secret…
TransferCar also do this in Australia and New Zealand! Yep, so get planning, and go and buy yourself something nice with all that cash you'll save!
You're welcome.
Martin Wynn
