Motor home

[jow104]

Planning a return trip to Australia in the period 15 th January anytime upto 31 March.
I have been quoted $205 plus $40 per day (van and insurance) 4 berth tourer
this seems quite high price to me any suggestions ? (21 days) .Pick up Melbourne drop off Brisbane or reverse direction.

[bitingmidge]

Woody,

I believe there are different rates for "victims" from overseas!! (which is fair enough I reckon!!) Check this link for an example:http://www.getaboutoz.com/catalogues...eset_rates.htm

That way we get to dud people who don't live around the corner I guess!

This seems to go on in every country, and is the reason I rarely book a car before arriving at my destination...(although sometimes packages can work the other way?? :confused: )

If you are travelling with someone from here, that may be an option, or it may be worth browsing the Campervan and Motorhome Club website: http://www.cmca.net.au

Hope you can do better than that rate, you could stay in some great B&B's, pubs and guesthouses and hire a flash car as well for the same dough!

P

[TheDad]

I wuz gunna recomend the cmca, but you aslready have a link

enjoy Australia, hope to see you in Casino (big CMCA village here!!!!)

GAz

[jow104]

Yeah we hired a car last time because we thought van rates and insurance was pricey.
Looks like the same again.

Enjoyed the trip down the mountain from Tentafield to Casino last time. I wouldn't like tobe going the reverse direction though! Unless cruise control is fitted.

[DanP]

I think the prices of motor homes is not just dear, but closer to exhorbitant :mad: You can hire a car for $60 - $100 a day. Cheaper the longer you have it, and get a hotel room for $80 - $150 a day. So by my figurings, you get:

$80 a day for a mid sized car.
$100 ish a day for a decent hotel room, not the Hilton, but decent.

That puts you $60 a day in front ($1320 for the 21 days), not to mention cheaper fuel costs, cost for powered/unpowered sites at van parks, easier to get around, more comfortable, etc.

IMHO you would have to be mad to get the motor home.

Dan

[jow104]

Yeah Dan P , You are right, plus the insurance (and without cover for water damage at all).

Its just if calling on someone they do not feel that they have to oblige with accommodation etc.

[Wood Borer]

Jow,

Look us up when your in Melbourne, if you are here in January, February or early March. I reckon we might be able to get a few of the BB boys together and have a BBQ and maybe a cold one or two.

[jackiew]

went touring in nz in August ( the only month we could go ... ran ahead of the bad weather the whole 2 weeks ) and looked at motorhomes there. I got the brochures from travel agents here in oz and then did a heap of searching on car hire sites and decided I was better off booking a car direct through one of the global car hire companies via their Australian office rather than through a travel agent.

check out ALL of your memberships ... RAC/AA/Credit Card etc and find out which car hire companies they have a deal with. Its amazing the different organisations which turn out to give you discounts on stuff.

Some of the car hire internet sites have absolute rubbish on them about when their offices are open etc and won't let you book automatically if they reckon their office is closed at that time. Ring them up direct and ask. I could have got a better deal with one company but their website insisted that I couldn't pick up a car from Dunedin in the afternoon - i.e. the office shut before the flight from Australia arrived at the airport. This turned out to be wrong - they must lose quite a few customers that way.

We stayed in cabins at holiday parks - we wanted 3 separate beds which meant that we were staying in the pricier cabins but it was still very good value for money. Holiday parks often have a card which you can buy for about $20 which give you discounts on your first nights stay at every park in their group. If you are touring around as we were in NZ you definately got your money back - and they will ring ahead and book the next night for you for free ( saves the cost of the phone call ) and we can also use the NZ card in Australia for one of the holiday park chains here for 2 years.

While a motorhome gives you flexibility it also means that you are at the mercy of the particular vehicle. We met unhappy campers whose heating packed up in their van or who had other problems with the van and they didn't find the hire company too sympathetic. If you get sick of the enclosed space and you've already paid $X per night accomodation as part of the rental its very hard to justify a night in a motel for a change.

BTW in my experience you can put up with anyone staying in your home for a night or even 2 ( 3 nights is pushing it). Just be aware that they might want you to return the favour. And be generous if you save a nights accomodation - pay for a takeaway - buy them a good bottle of wine - bring flowers or chocolates. I prefer potential guests to be up front about when they are planning to leave .... and to leave when they say they are going to.

Australians tend to be pretty up front so if you say "can you put us up" and it isn't convenient they probably will say "NO" and then go to a lot of trouble to help you find alternative accomodation. You can always ask "Can you look up the phone number of somewhere to stay locally" which means if they offer you accomodation they probably want to.

[craigb]

Wrt to what Jackie said, when we were in NZ a coupe of weeks ago, I couldn't believe the number of campervans that were on the roads. Seemed like every second vehicle was a "Maui" or "Britz" van.

So they must be a better deal over there than what they are in Australia. Which given the price you qouted seems an absolute rip-off.

Personally, I'd rather drive a car than a truck anyway.

[simon c]

If you are coming from overseas, the best option to to try and link the vehicle rental to the purchase price. A lot of airlines/travel companies do deals where if you pay or a flight you get travel extras that can be used for accomodation, cars etc.

With regard to campers, unless you are going to spend a lot of time off the beaten track, it would be much cheaper in Australia to hire a car and then pay for accomodation at budget motels, caravan parks etc as you go. One of the advantages of campers is that they have cooking and cooling facilities but unlike in the UK, most motels in Australia have cooking facilities too and you can probably afford to buy a cooler and fill it up with ice every day on the money you save.

Not sure if you know anybody in Melbourne or Brisbane as there is a significant extra fee for picking up/dropping off your vehicle at the airport, but parking at Melbourne is also very high as is a taxi so it is sometimes worth just paying the extra to just be able to jump in you car when you arrive without any hassles.

Simon

[jackiew]

be aware that the schools are out here in january which means that january is peak period for prices for accomodation and everything else ( i.e. its like august in uk ... no-one without kids would voluntarily take their holiday in august in the uk cos you know you are going to be ripped off everywhere you go ).

If you can hold off until February you will have much more choice of accomodation and will pay less for it.

[Grunt]

Another consideration is that it is damn hot in Australia in January and February. March is the best time of year to visit Melbourne.

[Wood Borer]

We do have an antidote for the heat though.

It comes in glass containers or aluminium containers. You drink the contents and it gives you relief from the heat. You can drink the antidote in colder weather but it always seems to go down better in the warmer weather.

[Sturdee]

Jow,

Look us up when your in Melbourne, if you are here in January, February or early March. I reckon we might be able to get a few of the BB boys together and have a BBQ and maybe a cold one or two.

Yes, I would look forward to meeting you John.

Peter.

[jow104]

WHAT CAN I SAY TO ALL THOSE REPLIES BUT THANKYOU

Janet & I will be pleased to post our holiday plans. Last time we booked a last minute price (Christmas Eve) and departed New Years day this year. We did the northern half of NSW and S.Qld. We had the pleasure of meeting and staying with forum members on that occassion. Had a supertime and would have changed our residence with the U.K. at the drop of a hat.