The average vacation for a family of four costs more than $5,000 these days. It can also cost much more than that, depending on where your family plans to go. Is your family interested in taking a vacation this summer without breaking the bank? If so, a recent study found RV-ing could cut the cost of a family vacation by up to 60% in some cases. With this in mind, you might want to head out on an RV adventure with your family over the summer. Learn about the costs and savings associated with RV-ing below.
The Costs of RV-ing
First things first: There will be some costs that will come with taking a summer vacation that involves RV-ing. The highest cost will obviously be
purchasing an RV. But when you decide to buy an RV, you should consider it an investment instead of an expense. This investment will save you money each year, so as long as you use it early and often, your RV will eventually pay for itself.
There will also be certain ongoing costs you’ll need to be prepared to deal with. Buying an insurance policy for your RV will be one of them. Performing regular maintenance on your RV will be another. And, of course, you’ll need to be ready to foot the bill for fuel every time your RV is running low on gas. This could end up costing you several hundred dollars when you need to fill up your RV’s gas tank. You should consider these costs when buying an RV and find room for each of them in your budget.
Savings With RV-ing
As you can see, there will be some costs you’ll face when you buy an RV and drive it home so that you can start using it for family vacations. But at the same time, there will also be tons of ways in which you’ll save money by going RV-ing versus taking traditional family vacations. You should remember these savings to see just how much money you could save every time you take your family out for an RV trip. Let’s check out some of these specific savings.
Flights
The average cost of a flight for you and your family members will depend on when and where you’re planning to fly. But generally speaking, you can usually expect to spend at least a few hundred dollars per plane ticket when flying during the summer months. This will easily lead to you spending over $1,000 for a family of four to fly to your final destination for a summer vacation. You can pocket this money by taking your RV to your preferred destination instead.
Baggage
If you and your family fly when taking a summer vacation, you’ll need to worry about paying for more than just a flight itself. You’ll also typically need to pay for any baggage you’d like to bring along in addition to your carry-on bag. Baggage fees have gotten very expensive through some airlines and can lead to spending more money than you might like. They can also prevent you from bringing everything you’d like to bring on a family vacation.
You won’t need to worry about baggage fees when you go RV-ing. You can bring as much baggage as you can fit in your RV without paying a premium price. It’s yet another big financial advantage of RV-ing versus taking a traditional family vacation.
Rental Car
After you catch a flight to wherever you’d like to go on a family vacation and land in your final destination, you’ll often need to rent a car to get around. This is another added expense that people don’t always consider when planning summer vacations. It could send the price of your vacation skyrocketing by hundreds and sometimes even thousands of dollars. On an RV trip, you won’t need to spend any money on rental cars. Your RV will be your primary mode of transportation.
Hotels
You’ll normally have to pay campground fees when you park your RV in a campground. But even the most expensive campground fees will cost just a fraction of what hotel rooms will cost for you and your family when you’re on vacation. Your family can sleep right in your RV and save an impressive amount of money. This will be especially true if you can find either a campground with very low fees or a place where you can park your RV overnight for free.
Food
If you go on a family vacation that has you living out of hotel rooms, you’ll likely have to eat out for all your meals. As you can imagine, this can make the costs associated with your family vacation go up a lot. When you’re RV-ing in an RV with a kitchen, you can save your fair share of money on food. You’ll be able to buy food from the grocery store just like you would be able to do at home and cook it yourself.
Activities
You’re more than welcome to stop by theme parks and other fun destinations during an RV trip if you don’t mind spending money on activities like this. But, if you’d like to save some money, you can also do many free things while RV-ing to keep you and your family entertained. For example, you can visit most national parks nationwide without spending a cent. Doing this will ensure you have a fantastic family vacation in your RV while still keeping your costs under control.
Buy an RV From Us to Enjoy the Savings With RV-ing
Does buying an RV and using it to take cost-saving yet exciting vacations appeal to you and your family? Bretz RV & Marine can help you pick out the perfect RV for your upcoming trips. We sell RVs in many shapes and sizes, and we’d be happy to tell you all about them. Contact us today to schedule an RV test drive.
Camping at Kiptopeke State Park by Virginia State Parks is licensed with CC BY 2.0
