When RV Stands for 'Real Value'

Your dream camper vacation for 1 a day? It’s real—just make sure to read the fine print.

- BY MATTHEW KRONSBERG

CALL ME a killjoy, but firmly believe that any travel deal that seems too good to be true probably is. So, when earlier this winter I rented an RV for a dollar a day, and plotted out a four-day road trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, I wondered if I had failed to heed my own convictions. Was I about to become my own cautionary tale? Why would a rental company let a vehicle go for so little? The arrangement is known as a "relocation deal." RV rental companies often need to shift vehicles around, sometimes en masse to meet seasonal demands, and some times just to return a sole RV to a home base after a one-way rental.

Hiring professionals to do this can cost the company thousands of dollars per vehicle. But if someone like me makes the move, it saves both the company and the customer lots of money.

Some companies, like Cruise America, the largest RV rental provider in the U.S., of fer relocation deals directly on their websites, under the banner of "One-Way Specials." RVs that can top $300 a day during the summer, become available with discounts of 40% to more than 95% off.

To cast a wider net, I had signed up for email alerts from an Australian outfit called Imoova, which offers relocation deals at a dollar-a-day per rental from about 150 providers worldwide.