Renting A U Haul Van For Hunt
Equipment
My buddy and I are heading back out to Montana again in September and I had kind of a crazy idea about car rentals and I'm wondering if it would work.
It's our responsibility to get ourselves from the airport to the lodge. Because we have so much gear, we need a truck, SUV or van. The prices on those are pretty expensive. Usually $45 and up per day. Once we arrive at the lodge, the vehicle mostly sits there of the week. So my crazy thought is would renting a U Haul Van for $19.95 a day be a better and cheaper way to go?
Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
If it can get you to the camp and you dont need four wheel drive .. whats the difference as long as everything fits.
What are the mileage costs?
Just make sure you read the fine print. 19.95 for the first five miles then ten bucks for every mile thereafter.
Might throw an add up on Craig's list in the city your flying into looking for an uber driver with a pickup. I gotta believe there is a simple, cheap way to get to the lodge. If it's an outfitter I cant believe he isn't willing to pickup you from the airport.
Curious how much gear you will have? When I fly to hunt I usually find that whatever I get will handle 2 guys and our stuff. You mention a “lodge” so I guess I’m assuming it’s outfitted.
I’ve had similar idea which larger groups, I would suggest checking the milage policy as well. Certainly worth looking into though.
Another thing that would add a layer of hassle and cost is (assuming you are flying) you will have it get from airport to the Uhaul place, and sometimes they aren’t as friendly in hours of operation for pick-up/drop-off if you are arriving early/late. Just some other things consider.
—Jim
If you are a member of Costco try their rental program. It is fantastic. Usually the pickups are 4wd. My last rental had a receiver hitch, where you could put a hitch hauler on it.
You get unlimited mileage and an extra driver at no extra cost.
They usually don't list the pickups on their website, you have to call the travel program to get the price for it.
On their website rentals they usually have SUVs, minivans....
Also - the Costco Citi Card has primary insurance coverage on it for car rentals.
I rented a Uhaul pickup truck two years ago and it worked great. The vans dont have a trailer hitch otherwise I would have done that. If you rent them for a week or month at a time they come with mileage and are cheaper than by the day (discounted rates) so look at that. I used mine for 2 and a half weeks, rented it for a month and it was cheaper than any other rental out there with the discounted rates and it came with a large mileage package.
The extended rental agreement is much cheaper than day by day.
Look into Penske. Did a move back with my daughters stuff from Arizona to Pa. It was 1/3 the price of uhaul. No milage. The cost for uhaul was about 1600.00. An Penske was 550.00. An I do believe they have small vans like you are looking at.
I've rented u-haul pickups in Florida to haul my boat around for extended periods up to a month. It was a flat rate of $19.95/day with a minimal mileage add-on. I only used it for short distances, so the mileage fee was small. As long as you return it to the same place you picked it up, it's much cheaper than most rentals.
Would a taxi service, like Uber, work? I think you can select larger vehicles to accommodate more luggage.
Matt
enterprise is the cheapest rental I have found so far.
If your going with an outfitter then I suggest finding another one that will at least pick you up from the airport.
Lol Uber! I’m going to need you to drop me in the middle of nowhere. Heck, someone would do it!
I see no reason why Uber, or a similar service, wouldn't do it, as long as the roads are decent. My wife has used Uber from the airport to our ranch, which is out in the sticks. It's easy, cheap, and very reliable. If you are only using a rental to get to and from an airport, but not while you are hunting, then a taxi/shuttle service is a legitimate way to go. I've been picked up by shuttle vans that would haul more gear than you'd ever need on a hunt.
Matt
Another thing to look at is Turo.com
Where are you flying into?
Uber in some parts of MT....ain’t happening. Is this guided? You mention a lodge....if guided...you won’t have much stuff. Where are you flying into?
Did you look into the option of shipping the boat?
Buckeye - The Costco price is cheaper than straight Enterprise Rental. THe Enterprise rewards program gives you one level of a discount. The Costco program is cheaper than the Enterprise Rewards program. I rented a 2020 Ram 1/2 ton for a week for ~420/week in November. I rented it through Costco and then I picked 4 rental companies to compare. So the deal came in and I was able to compare Budget vs Enterprise vs Avis through the Costco program and they beat they cheapest price I could find on my own.
Turo is a good program for certain applications. They generally limit you on mileage. So when driving someplace to let it sit for a while (like a trail head) so you can average out the miles for a longer rental may work.
