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DriveNow - One Way Campervan Hire Relocation $5 Including Free Fuel - Destinations Updated Daily

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DriveNow - One Way Campervan Hire Relocation $5 Including Free Fuel - Destinations Updated Daily
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Lhaji on 11/01/2014 - 10:40 drivenow.com.au (5672 clicks)

Destinations are updated daily between 8:30-9:30am, and you can score some great routes if you can line up a couple of destinations in a row within the travel periods. The amount of free fuel ranges from $50 to $350 and so do the km's.

Below is taken from the link:

Why so Cheap?

Rental companies frequently need to move and relocate campervans around the country. This can be due to seasonal changes or because demand for vehicles is greater in different cities due to festivals, sporting occasions or other events. Rather than pay for a driver to relocate a campervan, rental companies offer them to the travelling public at knock down prices producing the perfect win-win outcome.

How it Works

The Campervan Rental Relocation list is updated each day at between 8.30am-9.30am (AEST) for travel in approximately the next 2-3 weeks. This is when the list is fresh and vehicles most likely to still be available. It's the best time to submit a relocation request as we are more than likely able to confirm your request. The relocations book quickly and therefore as the day progresses the availability becomes more limited.

Select from the list of published deals above and complete the online request form.
A member of the DriveNow Reservations team will contact you or alternatively call us on 1300 547 214.
A holding fee of $75-$120 will be charged to your credit card/debit card and applied to your booking. This is not a booking fee!! If you are entitle to a refund or need to pay the balance of the rental cost this is done at collection of the vehicle by the depot staff.

The Australian mileage allowance for each rental is based on distance between pick-up and drop off location plus 550kms. Any kilometres travelled above this will be charged at AU$0.55 per km. When travelling in Australia you will receive a fuel allowance. You will need to complete your rental and keep your tax invoices. This fuel allowance will be reimbursed up to the given amount on completion of your rental.

When booking with DriveNow there are absolutely NO Booking fees and NO administration Charges. We believe in passing the full value of the deal through to you!

More details here http://www.drivenow.com.au/onewayrentals.jspc#/relocations/A…

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closed Comments

  • jv on 11/01/2014 - 10:53
    -5

    this belongs in the forums…

    it's no different from posting http://www.wotif.com/ as a bargain…

    jv on 11/01/2014 - 10:53 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
    • hoondaboy on 11/01/2014 - 11:03

      Agreed - but in this instance thanks for posting here. It was just the distraction I needed this morning.

    • [Deactivated] on 11/01/2014 - 11:08
      +7

      I disagree JV. it obviously works too. Both the Adel> Melb have been sold in the last 27 mins.

      • pmupsinep on 11/01/2014 - 11:17

        Hard to extract anything from that - people impulse buy anything thats posted on here.

        • Cheeper on 11/01/2014 - 12:06
          +3

          Yep but look at how much you save even it you don't need it… :-)

        • aec on 11/01/2014 - 18:34

          if you dont need it, you simply waste it.

    • carpecrash on 11/01/2014 - 12:45
      +6

      jv - here is a suggestion for how you might reply in the future to a similar post….

      "Great work haji!….I would like to use this in the future cos it seems like a great way of getting around australia for a low price. It might be better in the forums though, but thanks for sharing nonetheless :) "

      carpecrash on 11/01/2014 - 12:45 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
      • ozy on 11/01/2014 - 13:03
        -1

        Thats a lot of effort for yet another forum post that ended up being mistaken for a deal.

        I would have suggested:
        Hi Haji,
        Move this to travel forums.
        There is no deal outside of how this and other companies do business every day.
        This is just advertising.

      • laurence on 11/01/2014 - 17:44
        +2

        I like jv because he is sincere and straight forward, no crap

        • Folly on 11/01/2014 - 21:52

          This is funny because Laurence writes comments that are deliberate neg bait.

          I agree with JV and how it was put. Forum post.

        • laurence on 12/01/2014 - 21:50

          what, no i was being serious

        • laurence on 12/01/2014 - 21:51

          i only troll on apple, canon and irrelevant crap people post in comments/ bargains

  • bodacious on 11/01/2014 - 11:24
    +8

    Just thought I'd add http://www.imoova.com/imoova/relocations as another option. Might help if trying to find a match on dates / places.

    • arcticmonkey on 11/01/2014 - 15:43

      Thanks for letting me know about this company.

  • gooddealmate on 11/01/2014 - 11:34
    +6

    I've used transfercar in the past, their rentals are fee free and often still come with free fuel,ferry and insurance etc.

    https://www.transfercar.com.au/

    • karatepsychic on 11/01/2014 - 17:59
      +2

      Yea I just drove Sydney to Perth through these guys. Pretty no nonsense and a great holiday. Pick up full drop off empty so that's a few $ in your pocket.

    • Cheeper on 11/01/2014 - 12:08
      +5

      Maybe to those that are aware of them. To others it is letting others know another source for a "bargain"

      • [Deactivated] on 11/01/2014 - 12:29
        +1

        Exactly. I was speaking to a kiwi bloke at work the other day who was saying they do this in NZ… I didn't know they did it here

      • ozy on 11/01/2014 - 12:42
        +1

        Thats why theres a forum section on this site!
        Maybe explore this site a bit deeper than front page deals, and you'll see there are places for all kinds of posts.

        This not being a bargain any more than whatif.com.au
        has already been explained, Should be put in forums.

        Edit: but say this site gave free fuel or Km's for new signups or a period of time, then yes that would be a deal & a bargain

  • simmo1985 on 11/01/2014 - 13:10
    +4

    Awesome. Love scoring great routes.

    • kronicmacstigator on 12/01/2014 - 04:29
      -3

      And if you find the right backpackers, you may score great roots

      • [Deactivated] on 12/01/2014 - 11:15

        Right on! Positive vote from me!

  • wezza on 11/01/2014 - 13:12

    Is there anything like this for Europe?

    • altomic on 14/01/2014 - 11:08

      yeah, based only in Luxembourg.

  • Junkee on 11/01/2014 - 13:16
    +5

    I agree that this is more of a forum post, but I would not have known these services existed if it were not for this post as I do not read the forums very often.. So thanks!!!

    • INFIDEL on 11/01/2014 - 13:53
      +1

      But then if people are searching Forums in the future for travel saving ideas (as I am doing), they will not know of this regular deal! New OP did not even use tags to make location of this deal easier for future searches.

      I signed up for notification of any campervan deals from Hobart to Melbourne (later in the year after tourist season). Site quotes over $2000 plus fuel & ferry for 6 days hire, whereas relocation from Melbourne to Hobart is $30, a great deal.

  • [Deactivated] on 11/01/2014 - 13:59
    +1

    forum post
    additional charges such as insurance accident excess, bedding, cleaning not mentioned.

    standard pricing, same as always.

    • team teri on 11/01/2014 - 15:20

      Do you have a link showing those charges? Just curious how much they would amount to…

    • kronicmacstigator on 13/01/2014 - 22:00

      Just get a cover-note or a one month policy from an insurance company. Still works out cheaper for that family holiday!

  • h3h3 on 11/01/2014 - 15:11
    +8

    technically speaking this is not a 'bargain' its the same price as its always been

    • slikstick on 11/01/2014 - 16:11
      +2

      It's Ozbargain, not Ozdiscount.

      If a regular price is bargain for the purchaser, is it not still a bargain??

      • BlueElephant on 11/01/2014 - 16:25
        +2

        I take bargain as something with good value for the price. It doesn't always have to be flash sale.
        That's why always available good price is a bargain to me, while 5% discount on 200% overpriced stuff is not. Not everyone would agree, that's why the front page is full of landfill stuff that gets sold out in 30 mins while they offer minus value other than website crash test.
        My 2 cent.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/01/2014 - 16:47
        +2

        49 (currently) people voting + think it's a bargain.

  • stumo on 11/01/2014 - 16:00

    Thanks for posting.

  • shaybisc on 11/01/2014 - 17:10

    Interesting.

  • moooooooo on 11/01/2014 - 17:54
    +50

    I've rented multiple relocation campervans in the past few years, so I offer advice based on my experiences.

    Tip 1: Look at the distance you're travelling, and the distance they allow. For example, Google Maps shows Adelaide to Melbourne is 726km if you drive in a straight line. The deals listed today on that site indicate 1279km allowance, which is generous. Some companies allow 900km, which still seems more than enough because 900 > 726 but you need to allow for some sightseeing or route deviations. Don't want to drive Adelaide-Horsham-Melbourne and would prefer to drive Adelaide-Mt Gambier-Great Ocean Rd-Melbourne? That's 995km and you don't want to be paying per kilometre when you go over the allowance. One solution is to buy an additional day's hire, even if you don't think you'll need it, because you get extra kms with every day hired. I've driven from Adelaide to Melbourne before (planned to do it in 2 days) and rather than take the 900km allowance, I paid $5 extra for another day, got an additional 300km allowance, and then drove it to the yard in 2 days, as I'd planned.

    Tip 2: Some companies charge fees which seem unfair but you can't avoid. For example, if the vehicle you rent is with Apollo Campers, they ask for a $1000 bond to be paid in advance and refunded at the end - this is independent of whatever level of insurance accident excess you take. You can only pay this with a credit card, and they apply a 2% fee on all credit card transactions, so you will pay $20 for the right to pay the non-negotiable deposit to them. I've spoken to Fair Trading about this and their response was that it's legal because the company tells you about the fee, and you can choose not to rent with them. I dispute that because you are only told when you're in the office picking up the vehicle, with all your bags packed and keen to be on your way. It's a nice little earner for them on every vehicle hired, but I avoid using Apollo Campers on principle now.

    Tip 3: If your rental company wants to charge $18-$20 per chair per hire (or if they're really greedy like one company I spoke with in 2009 - $5 per chair per day!), just drive to Big W and buy a chair. If you're planning a holiday and driving back to the same city, you get to keep the chair. If you're doing a relocation, give the chair to a backpacker on your last night in a caravan park - they'll be very happy.

    Tip 4: Bedding costs are about $10 per person per hire - it's basically one flat sheet, 2 pillowcases, and a light doona. All are clean, and it's generally worth hiring them on a relocation so you don't have large luggage costs on the flight there/back.

    Tip 5: The rental company may charge $20-$25 per day to reduce the insurance accident excess from $1000 to $250. Assume a 7 day hire from Perth to Adelaide and you're up for $140-$175. It may be cheaper to pay for travel insurance through a separate company (eg: TID, QBE, etc) and pay maybe only $100 for the coverage. You may still end up paying the same excess in the event of an accident but you pay a smaller premium. Note that some travel insurance companies do not cover campervans in the vehicle rental so you do need to be careful of that.

    Tip 6: Windscreens are usually not covered in the rental company's liability deduction, but often are with private travel insurance. That's another reason to get travel insurance elsewhere. I got a stone chip in a campervan windscreen in WA once, and the TV antenna for the vehicle was actually embedded in the glass (sort of like the rear demister lines on the rear window in most cars). If I'd used the rental company to reduce liability, I would still have been up for the total cost of the windscreen ($855) but the insurance covered me with a $100 excess payment.

    Tip 7: Check the fuel consumption on the vehicles - it's illogical at first but some of the 4-berth vehicles use more fuel than the 6-berth vehicles because the smaller ones are petrol and have less grunt to drag that big frame into the wind. On the other hand, you'll really feel it when you're battling the Nullabor winds with a 6-berth van so you may prefer a smaller wind profile.

    • effgee on 11/01/2014 - 18:11
      +1

      great tips, thanks

    • chuq on 11/01/2014 - 18:12

      You can only pay this with a credit card, and they apply a 2% fee on all credit card transactions

      That does sound a bit dodgy. Do they take Amex? If so, and you have Amex, use that, it costs them more than 2% (I think). Plus plenty of frequent flyer points!

      • moooooooo on 11/01/2014 - 19:11
        +3

        Sorry, I should have been more specific there - the percentage I quoted was the minimum percentage fee. This quote is from the Apollo website:

        "For credit card payments in Australia and New Zealand (including bonds), a non-refundable credit card administration fee is charged (2% Mastercard and Visa, 4.5% American Express)."

        You receive frequent flyer points only on the $20-$45 you spend on the credit card fee, because they refund the $1000 deposit to the card 2-3 days later, preventing frequent flyer points laundering.

    • rawm on 11/01/2014 - 18:40
      +5

      This post DEMANDS an award! ++++++

      • moooooooo on 11/01/2014 - 19:13
        +5

        Thanks rawm - happy to help others because the world of reloc's is quite murky at times. :-)

        One of our early experiences started off as "oh, look, a $5/day deal Melbourne to Brisbane" and by the time we factored in all costs, it wasn't quite as cheap as first appearances suggested:

        • taxi from our house to the depot in Melbourne
        • taxi from the Brisbane depot to the airport
        • taxi from Melbourne airport to our house
        • airfares from Brisbane to Melbourne x 2
        • fuel
        • caravan park camping fees
        • credit card fees
        • insurance
        • bedding x 2
        • etc, etc, etc…

        In the end, it worked out to be ~$830 for a 3-day break, not $15. :-D

        • JuryWheel on 11/01/2014 - 20:09

          Great post Moooo, so what are the companies that you have used and best experiences? Anything in NZ?

        • danyool on 12/01/2014 - 01:46

          caravan park camping fees

          What the?? You're in a mobile house already!!! Pull that bad boy over anywhere and sleep for free!

        • moooooooo on 12/01/2014 - 02:10
          +2

          @danyool - Sure, pull into a side street or carpark and sleep for free but…

          1. If you need to go to the toilet and use the van toilet, you will be charged a fee ($5 - $15) to replace the toilet cartridge.

          2. Your van may have solar panels which will power the lights but certain devices (eg: microwave and/or TV) will not work without mains power.

          3. If you use the van toilet, you'll need to discard the waste at a dump station, which are inside caravan parks. You could stay one night in a carpark, and the next night in the caravan park - that's worked for me for travel lasting a couple of months.

          4. If you have a few people in the van and you want to shower (or even if it's just hot and you need to shower more), you may run low on water and need to refill the tank.

          5. If you have kids, they'll love you more if you take them to a place with a playground compared to some side street in the suburbs.

          You can certainly avoid caravan parks for a while, but you'll probably need/want to go to one eventually. It will boil down to personal preference on how long "eventually" is.

        • moooooooo on 12/01/2014 - 02:33
          +5

          @cjb - I've rented through Kea, Maui, Britz, Apollo, and ______ (a name I can't remember at the moment) - all in Australia, not NZ.

          My two rentals through Apollo were the worst for customer service - in one case, they had the van ready but their employee was sour and grumpy, whilst the other case was a disaster. The vehicle was supposed to be ready for departure at 8am, and I'd allowed 45 mins for the pre-departure paperwork. but it took just under 3 hrs and I ended up taking the van without it being cleaned nor fully fuelled merely to get on the road. When I'd arrived, I was #2 in line, and when I left, there were more than 20 people in the office - all angry. All other companies have been straight-forward to deal with, so there's nothing to report.

          The smallest vehicle I've rented was through Kea. I can't find it on their Australian website any more, but it was the same model as this one from the NZ site - http://nzrentals.keacampers.com/en/vehicles/2-plus-2-berth-f… I was worried about it because I'm tall and figured only half the roof lifted up but it turned out to be no problems - the roof was high where the kitchen was, and low at the back where the bed was (and I could not stand up there anyway). The solar panel on that allowed us to use a non-powered site for 3 days, and because the roof folded down, we had a low wind profile when driving.

          The largest has been a 6-berth - http://www.apollocamper.com/campervan-hire-euro-deluxe.aspx - which I personally enjoy driving more than a 4-berth because it's ridiculously large. The advantage of the larger vehicle with only a couple of people is you never need to pack anything away - throw your bags on top of the bed above the cabin and leave the main bed at the back of the cabin in "bed mode" not "couch mode" and you've still got plenty of table and bench space. I would not pay the premium for this much space on a regular rental but it's fun as a relocation vehicle.

        • danyool on 12/01/2014 - 12:53
          +1

          Wasn't thinking side streets per se - and specifically nowhere around Bondi!! (lots of No Stopping 11am to 7am signs or something) but driver rest areas, national/state parks.

          It's been a few years since I did one, and don't remember being charged extra for using the toilet, but yeah, had to find dump stations. Was pretty good in Tassie (Melb to Hobart relocation of a 4 berth) as several towns just had a sign to a public spot - didn't have to go into a caravan park.

          Electricity - yeah, couldn't use the microwave, but had gas cook top.

          Water - did go through that pretty fast (from showers) which was a bit annoying, but could fill up at petrol stations/public toilet. I've heard of people bringing along their own hose and connectors.

          Kids playgrounds - there are general parks/playgrounds around, could go play there, and then find your parking spot for the night elsewhere. One day we saw a sign to an Alpacca farm - so just rocked up there, found somwhere to park and had a great time feeding and patting the alpaccas. Another night was at a secluded beach. Fantastic!

          But this was only on a 5 day trip. (3 days cheap deal $1 per day i think it was, plus 2 extra days at $75) Certinally could see the use of caravan parks for longer trips or if facilities aren't available elsewhere.

  • xfiledavid on 11/01/2014 - 19:18

    also be aware if you breakdown, its a case of find your own way home destination in most cases.

  • zooter on 11/01/2014 - 19:24
    +1

    wow nice one….

    though I must say "Melbourne to Adelaide" (in transferacar.com.au site) says pickup 9 AM and drop by same day 6:30 PM….almost non-stop driving I would say as google maps says it's about 7 hours 46 minutes drive….only 1.5 hours grace time seems ridiculous especially since there could be traffic, you need to stop for breaks/meals etc….

    • he3at on 11/01/2014 - 22:42

      Don't forget the bonus 30min due to time zone differences.

      And yeah, don't do it in the other direction.

  • Ms Mars on 11/01/2014 - 20:45

    Great post, thanks!

  • tim_geo on 11/01/2014 - 23:33
    +2

    Just had a quick look through some of the offers. Using the fuel efficiency supplied and Google maps distance, it would seem you would have to chip in for the fuel. Then add allowance for actual fuel efficiency less than shown, detours, it would seem unless you really enjoy the drive, it's not really saving anyway compared to budget airline flight prices.

    • moooooooo on 12/01/2014 - 01:55
      +2

      I think if you plan in advance and get a cheap airfare, flying is cheaper for 2-3 people. If you had to move a family of 5 suddenly next weekend and didn't have a chance at cheap airfares, you could find the relocation is cheaper. Of course, your time is not without value.

      And yes, you'll need to pay for fuel. I've only once seen a relocation deal where (my estimate of) the fuel costs would have been covered in entirety by the rental company.

  • Yael on 12/01/2014 - 01:35

    Do all of the vehicles come filled with fuel, and then you get the fuel allowance on top of that?

    If you are doing one that goes to Tas, is there anyway to go other than the Spirit of Tasmania? Even using the $350 fuel towards the ferry means it is still very expensive.

    • moooooooo on 12/01/2014 - 01:52
      +1

      Be wary of that assumption - if the deal is for $350 fuel, you must provide them fuel dockets, not ferry fees. They will only reimburse for fuel if that's what it states.

    • danyool on 12/01/2014 - 13:08

      I did one Melb to Hobart and got $350 for any expenses - could be ferry, flights or fuel. Just had to show them receipts. The FAQ on the site states that for Tassy ones that still appears to be the case - and your costs are most likely going to be well more than $350

      I think the ferry was about $350 alone
      ~$100 per person on day sailing x2
      ~$150 for the campervan (and you have to arrange ferry booking yourself, relocation company didn't do it for you. So have to double check availibity of both - reserve with relocation company first, then reserve spot on ferry, then confirm both)

      Fuel - had to fill up at the end i think. Can't remember $, but it's not like filling a small car!

      Flights home

      Still - was a great holiday and unusual one. And compared to hiring a regular car there, and paying hotel accomodation probably not that different.

  • anna10 on 12/01/2014 - 08:02

    I have seen these things in the past and wondered if it may be a good way to move some stuff over a not very long distance, so not for the camping side.

    So, pick up van, fill it up at home, drive to destination etc. Not for people who have to move on a particular day, but say for moving a really big carpet or whatever.

    • billy bass on 12/01/2014 - 09:43
      +5

      transporting cans to SA for the 10c collection

  • anna10 on 12/01/2014 - 09:49
    +1

    Wyatt, maybe have to wash all cans out first or invest in lotsa garbags. ;)

  • anna10 on 12/01/2014 - 12:16

    I hope we are not perpetrating Belanglo State forest behaviuor:

    kronicmacstigator 7 hours 43 min ago
    And if you find the right backpackers, you may score great roots

  • twitch1979 on 13/01/2014 - 10:46

    Has anyone had experience with websites / brokers / companies who do one way car rentals ?

  • hsk on 20/01/2014 - 09:47

    thanks for this post, I am hoping to find this a good as it first looks :-) would love to see more feedback from people who have used it

  • freo on 21/01/2014 - 12:01

    Awesome post and discussion from original poster and MOOOOO especially for the tips and warnings.
    I've thought about trying this quite a few times!

  • bsk on 21/01/2014 - 23:08

    Following some of these sites daily thinking of doing a Sydney to Melbourne drive, just not sure if there is a REALLY good company one that works out better then the others? Would love to hear some more stories good and bad from people who have done this thanks

  • hsk on 27/01/2014 - 23:12

    Yes, I am sitting on the fence trying to decide if there are lots of hidden costs with these trips as well, so anyone who has found a good deal please post your experience, thanks

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