Where should I rent an RV from: Traditional (CruiseAmerica, El Monte) or Peer to Peer (Outdoorsy.com, RVShare.com)

If you are planning to rent an RV for family vacation, drive your family or pets to your destination, use RV as a living quarter at your destination or any similar purpose then one of the first questions you face is what RV Rental companies should you consider for booking RV for your trip. This article will provide you with a good starting point.    

Traditional RV Rental companies (Cruise America, El Monte RV Rentals) or Peer to Peer RV Rentals (Outdoorsy.com, RVShare.com)

If you are someone who has never used Uber or lived in an Airbnb vacation rental then perhaps you are better off renting from a traditional brick and mortar RV Rentals where you can walk into a traditional office and touch and feel the RV before you rent it. On the other hand if you prefer to use Uber instead of calling a cab/taxi and prefer to stay in an Airbnb instead of traditional hotel/resort then you should explore Outdoorsy.com and RVShare.com Peer To Peer RV Rentals.

CruiseAmerica.com

This is the traditional brick and mortar RV rental company that has offices across most major cities, has offices wherein you can walk in and get your questions answered, check out the RV model that you wishto rent. This provides you a touch and feel to your RV rental experience, however the models that you can rent are select and standardized, you will not have any say in what precise RV you get to rent, how many miles it may have and if any visibility to its recent maintenance issues. Please refer to the following article that may provide you more in-depth view of experience with CruiseAmerica: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i12567-k6794551-Renting_an_RV_from_Cruise_America-Road_Trips.html

Outdoorsy.com

Outdoorsy is a peer to peer RV rental company that connects you with various RV owners who rent their RVs. Booking and selection process is similar to peer to peer vacation rental company AirBnB.com. You will have a wide range of listings from which you can select, you can read through the review of the RV Owner that will provide you a good idea of how your rental experience will be. Reviews will be for the precise RV that you will be renting, if there are adequate reviews then you will get a very good idea of issues with the RV (if any). Outdoorsy is a virtual company that you can interact only through their web site, chat, email, and phone calls. You can exchange messages with the RV Owner to get your questions answered, however you can meet or talk to RV owner only after you book the RV. Please refer to the following online review that provide a reasonable view of overall experience with Outdoorsy: https://thervnomad.com/outdoorsy-review/

RVShare.com

RVShare.com is an online Peer to Peer RV Rental company that connects you to a wide range of RV Renters. You can provide your dates and other selection criterion and RVShare.com provides the best local RV Owner listings that best meets your criterion. You can read through these listings, send your questions to various RV Owners. Responses from RV Owner depends on the RV Owner personality type, there are some obsessive compulsive RV Owners who will respond to your questions immediately even in the middle of night, on the other hand there could be RV Renters who can respond after few days when they check their email or RV Share Inbox. RVShare customer service provides multiple channel for you to contact them wherein they can hand hold you through the RV booking process and also answer your questions after you book the RV. Please refer to attached link for a detailed review: https://www.travelingmom.com/road-trips/rvshare-review-what-you-need-to-know/

Local RV Rental Company

These are traditional brick and mortal RV rental companies that provide full service RV Rental Service. There will be regular office where you can meet the customer service and check out the various RVs. RV rental dealer front desk is available to answer all your questions and also walk you through the RV operations before you make a final decision to rent an RV. They do the complete booking for you, all you need to do is to provide the right documentation and sign the final contract. Most local RV Rental Companies are also RV sellers i.e. they buy and sell RV Rentals. You are likely to rent a relatively new RV with just a few thousand miles at most. Most such RV Rental companies also have RV workshop that can address any maintenance issues on your RV before you begin your rental. Usually local RV dealers are the most expensive of all options due to the relatively new RVs and the large maintenance overhead they have. Please perform a search on google or Yelp.com for review of RV dealers near you.