Nobody likes to wake up in a wet tent or try to cook dinner in the rain or the cold.
With an RV rental, you will have a solid roof over your head and all the amenities inside to make your next family camping trip way more comfortable.
A long-term RV rental is one of the most affordable ways to explore the U.S. Whether you are organizing a national parks road trip or looking for boondocking sites in national forests, an RV rental will get you there.
There are many benefits to a monthly RV rental, including comfortable sleeping space for the whole family, no responsibility for maintenance costs, more privacy than tent camping, and much more.
Learning how to find great deals on long-term & monthly RV rentals starts with proper planning. You need to research peer-to-peer rentals and explore campsite search engines to book campsites in advance.
Our money-saving tips will help you find discounted campgrounds and affordable monthly RV rentals.
That way, you will have more of your hard-earned cash left in your pocket for healthy meals and fun activities when you get to your camping destinations!
Why Should You Get A Monthly RV Rental?
There are many benefits to renting an RV for a month or more. It is one of the most logical starting points for first-time RV buyers, but it also has benefits for people that have years of RVing experience.
Here is a quick breakdown of the reasons why you should get a monthly RV rental:
As you can see, there are many benefits of renting an RV for a month or longer.
You may even experience additional fringe benefits, such as increased family cohesion, a greater appreciation for nature, and an additional understanding of U.S. geography (just to name a few possibilities!).
How Much Does a Monthly RV Rental Cost?
On average, a monthly RV rental can cost as little as $1,200 per month and as much as $7,500 per month (or more). That breaks down to anywhere between $40 and $250 per night.
While that is a vast discrepancy, it is important to compare those averages to what you would spend on nightly hotel rooms if you didn’t rent an RV.
Plus, most RV rentals will have space for 4-6 people to sleep comfortably, which would otherwise require you to book multiple hotel rooms.
These averages hopefully give you an idea of what you will need to budget for a long-term camper rental, but there are many factors that will impact these prices.
Some of the most common ones include:
In addition to these factors, your ability to negotiate will also come into play.
In some cases, you may be able to find a better deal if you agree to return the RV with empty holding tanks, a full gas tank, and certain other concessions that could entice the owner to lower his or her rental price.
Average Long-Term & Monthly RV Rental Prices by RV Type
The average cost of renting an RV on a long-term basis can vary depending on the type of RV or travel trailer you are interested in renting.
So here is a quick table that breaks down average monthly rental costs by RV or trailer type.
| RV/Trailer Type | Average Monthly Rental Cost (Based on 30 Day Term) |
|---|---|
| Class A | $4,500 to $7,500 ($150 to $250 per night) |
| Class B | $3,000 to $6,000($100 to $200 per night) |
| Class C | $3,750 to $6,000($125 to $200 per night) |
| Travel Trailer | $1,500 to $3,750($50 to $125 per night) |
| Teardrop Trailer | $1,800 to $3,900($60 to $130 per night) |
| Fifth Wheel | $1,800 to $4,500($60 to $150 per night) |
| Truck Camper | $1,200 to $3,000($40 to $100 per night) |
Tips to Save Money on a Long Term Or Monthly RV Rental
Even though it costs significantly less to rent an RV than to buy one outright, you can still do some bargain shopping for monthly RV rentals.
If you are looking into a long-term or monthly RV rental in the near or distant future, we hope you will benefit from these money-saving tips!
Invest in a Campground Membership for Discounted Stays!
Keep in mind that once you rent an RV for a long period of time, you will still need to find places to park every night.
Campground fees can add up quickly if you aren’t smart about it. So our first money-saving tip is to join a network that offers discounts on select campgrounds around the country.
There are several membership groups out there that you can join in order to get discounts on monthly RV rentals.
These membership networks can sometimes be focused on a single state, but the best ones to join operate on a nationwide scale.
Passport America is one of the largest and most beneficial campground membership networks you should consider.
They partner with more than 2,000 campgrounds throughout the United States and allow you to enjoy deeply discounted rates (sometimes up to 50%!).
Some of the other popular campground membership networks out there include Good Sam and Escapees RV Club.
Join Harvest Hosts and Live at a Farm, Winery, or Brewery!
Another cool network that you should consider joining is called Harvest Hosts.
This can be an alternative for, or a complement to, the other networks we mentioned above, but the network of campsites you can stay in after joining Harvest Hosts offers something a little bit unique.
The properties that are included on Harvest Hosts are all working farms, wineries, breweries, and other sustainable enterprises.
These locations allow you to camp FOR FREE as a part of your Harvest Host membership dues.
In exchange, the unwritten understanding is that you will enjoy a few beers, glasses of wine, or bunches of carrots while you are there.
Many properties also offer paid tours that help to support them and also give you the chance to learn more about their efforts.
There are nearly 3,000 unique locations now included on the Harvest Hosts platform and it continues to expand.
Interested campers pay an annual membership fee in order to join and begin searching for cool places to camp.
Boondock on Private Property!
While most of the spots on Harvest Hosts would technically be considered ‘private property’, there is another network of property owners that are encouraging RVers to come and stay on their land.
This network is called Boondockers Welcome and it also offers members the opportunity to stay on unique pieces of private property FREE OF CHARGE! Unlike Harvest hosts, however, the expectation is that you simply respect the property, share travel stories, and leave honest and thorough reviews after your stay.
There are also more than 3,000 locations currently available nationwide on this platform and it seems to be growing as well.
You must pay an annual fee to become a ‘Guest’ and then you can search for free places to stay and benefit from local knowledge along the way.
Lock in Your Booking Before It is Too Late!
RV travel has dramatically increased in recent years, which means demand is quite high for monthly RV rentals these days.
Unfortunately, this means that rates also tend to go up as you get closer to the proposed dates of your trip.
If you know you are going to be renting an RV next summer, for example, a solid money-saving tip would be to lock in your RV rental as soon as the calendar flips to the new year.
You may even do it earlier if you are certain of where and when you will be RVing.
Schedule Your RV Rental Wisely!
If you have a flexible schedule or you are a remote worker, our next money-saving tip is to schedule your RV rentals for the off-seasons.
These are going to be different for all of the locations you consider traveling to, so further research is needed.
In the Florida Keys, for example, the off-season is actually from the late spring through most of the summer.
Fall and winter tend to be packed down there because of all the people coming down to escape the cold and precipitation up north.
The inverse is usually true for more northern destinations, which you may not want to travel to in an RV in the heart of the winter.
For these locations, you are usually better off booking a trip in the early spring or late fall instead of in the heart of the summer.
Be Bold and Negotiate For Better Terms!
When you begin discussing the terms of your rental with the RV owner, you will have a little wiggle room to negotiate on certain factors.
This is especially true if you are looking into peer-to-peer monthly RV rentals.
Some examples of the things you can negotiate on include maximum allowable miles per day (i.e. how far the owner will let you drive), the cost of exceeding that limit, allowable generator operating hours (i.e. how long you can run the generator on your trip), the cleaning fee, and, of course, the base rental price itself.
You may not be able to get a discount on all of these items, but being a shrewd negotiator is certainly a money-saving tip.
Knowing a breakdown of all the costs associated with your RV rental will help you negotiate in good faith.
Make Sure You Are Getting A Road Trip-Ready RV!
Our last money-saving tip is to make sure that the rig you rent is truly ready to support your lifestyle on the road.
That means it is fully stocked with utensils, kitchenware, plates, and mostly everything else that you use in your residential home on a daily basis.
If you are paying these kinds of prices to rent an RV, it should come with everything you need to cook meals, use the restroom, handle emptying and filling the holding tanks, and all of the other steps that go along with RV living.
Otherwise, you are going to spend additional money to equip your rental RV with these things once you hit the road.
If you are smart, you can even use this point as an additional bargaining chip in your rental rate negotiations.
Where To Find Monthly RV Rentals
There are a number of places where you can now find monthly RV rentals in your area. In the United States, big companies like Cruise America and Good Sam are some of the most recognizable names in this niche.
That being said, one of the fastest-growing RV monthly rental options is now available through something called peer-to-peer renting.
That is when the renter goes directly to the owner of an RV to inquire about the terms of renting their rig for a longer duration.
On the flip side, there are also platforms that now specialize in giving RV owners a place to advertise that their rig is available to be rented on a monthly or long-term basis.
One of the most popular and most trusted platforms for peer-to-peer monthly RV rentals is called Outdoorsy.
Is Outdoorsy The Best Place for Long-Term RV Rentals?
Outdoorsy is like Airbnb for RV owners and renters. It is now a nationwide platform that connects interested renters with RV owners that want to earn a little extra cash when they aren’t actively using their RVs.
The platform provides renters with 100% free roadside assistance and a host of additional perks and protections.
Their customer service team is available around the clock to answer your rental questions before you finalize a rental and also throughout the duration of your rental agreement.
They also help to facilitate having the RV you rent delivered to your location if you find a rental that is slightly out of your area.
That is a huge benefit to being able to stage all of your camping gear at home and then load it right into your rental RV when it arrives on your doorstep (well…almost!).
Additionally, Outdoorsy’s network is built on the strength of user reviews.
Like Airbnb, you will be able to read how previous renters enjoyed a rig, what they struggled with, and, sometimes most importantly, what it was like to communicate with the RV owner directly.
While there are other peer-to-peer RV rental networks out there (like RVshare and RVnGo), Outdoorsy is easily the most popular and trusted rental facilitator out there right now.
Is It Really More Economical to Rent an RV?
There is an old saying that the word ‘boat’ should signal the need to “borrow another thousand.”
This highlights the incurred and often unanticipated costs that come with being a boat owner and, in many ways, owning an RV is no different.
It is akin to owning a home instead of leasing. You will be responsible for the costs of unexpected repairs as well as routine maintenance. This is true for RVs, travel trailers, and fifth wheels as well.
They just include an engine, transmission, and chassis that need maintenance in addition to their own versions of all the appliances and conveniences you will find in a residential home.
In short, owning an RV is far from cheap and it really only makes sense if you are going to use it very often or live in it full-time.
Of course, if you have the money to spend on it, go fit it because we believe that RV travel is one of America’s greatest pastimes!
That being said, here are a few critical reasons why renting an RV can be more economical than owning one:
All of these are compelling reasons to explore monthly RV rentals versus going all-in and trying to buy one right away.
But the most compelling argument, in our opinion, is that you simply will not have to shell out tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy an RV that you are only going to use a handful of times every year.
Conclusion
For those of you that did not grow up RV camping, we know that there are some myths and misconceptions about RV living.
While you can read about these myths all you want, there is nothing like a real-life RV experience to help you decide whether you like it or not.
Coming from experienced RVers, you might be surprised to find out how accurately movies like RV and We’re The Millers actually depict RV life.
That being said, Hollywood tends to over-dramatize everything and most RVers enjoy a relaxing and rejuvenating lifestyle in their comfortable rigs.
We hope that you can use the money-saving tips we have provided above to find great deals on long-term and monthly RV rentals in the future.
As always, we encourage everyone to RV responsibly and we wish you the best of journeys in the months and years to come!
