Editor’s update: My friend in this article actually got stuck with a bill for repairing the LATCH on a cargo door for $850 PLUS a damage deposit of $2,500. It appears that this cross country trip has turned into a sour story for my friends. After discussing with them the RV52 end analysis – Don’t do it. The trip is too long. The time is too short. The rental place doesn’t cover any expenses and is “gunning” for you so they can collect the damage deposit on minor repairs. In the long run, buyers and dealers should be paying for the ferrying charges with no exceptions.

Recently a friend told me that he was flying to Indiana to start a cross-country trip in an RV from Indiana to Alaska.

As the editor of RV52, I started asking questions. My first question was “are you renting the RV?” He said we was renting the RV for a substantial discount over normal RV rental rates, which I believed after he shared the weekly rate for me.

He pays an RV rental company $XXX/week to rent a Class C RV and drive it from Indiana to Anchorage. My friend also pays for gas and incidentals along the way of course.

The rental company listing is Alaska RV Rentals. The more I thought about it though, the more clever I thought this little deal was.

For the rental company, who is getting new RVs delivered to them… instead of PAYING someone for the ferry, they actually are getting PAID to have their RVs delivered. Since their business is a rental business, the RV doesn’t have to be new and unused like it would be for a normal retail buyer.

For my friend, he gets a stellar rate for the ferry service, gets to have a really great trip along the way, but doesn’t have to worry about a return trip. So my friend got a great deal too. He was able to compress his RV journey into about a 3-4 week journey.

The rental company also has ferry trips where you can get a reduced rate RV rental on a weekly from Indiana to Florida.

You can find a little less ambitious rentals on the RV52 Rental Page.