Airstream 2 Go Experience

[NY24]

You're asking GOOD questions. A PROPPER tow vehicle is critical and, it's far easier to get the "wrong" vehicle than you would think. Check out the RVSEF website http://rvsafety.com/ . There are "schools" you can attend to learn the skills you need to be the safest RV / tow vehicle driver possible. Some instructors will come to you (teaching you on your rig), others will have you come to them (or meet at an RV rally). If you have not yet attended an RV Boot Camp, DO SO! The Escapees RV Club run a wonderful Boot Camp. Other groups also offer Boot Camps. You can attend a Boot Camp BEFORE you spend the big bucks on your rig (in fact, getting the education first will help you in your buying decisions). I know quite a few RVers that have chosen to go with MDTs & HDTs (Class 7 Medium Duty & Class 8 Heavy Duty trucks) for use as a tow vehicle. I've never spoken with anyone who's gone that route and regretted it. I realize that those trucks are not for everyone though. A good source of information regarding MDTs & HDTs can be found on the Escapees Forums. Gregg Shields of RVHaulers.ca also has many good videos on his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...lers.ca&page=1

[MaineStreamer]

I periodically provide this like to the annual Trailer Life Tow Vehicle Guides:
http://www.trailerlife.com/trailer-towing-guides/. They contain all of the important statistics for assessing whether a certain truck or SUV has sufficient towing capacity for whatever you want to tow.

[AWCHIEF]

Received a letter from my German cousin yesterday. Last year he and his wife spent three months touring the US. Two months in a rented MOHO and one in a rented Airstream package from Airstreams 2 Go. They enjoyed the Airstream experience so much that they stoped in Jackson Center to buy one and have it shipped to Germany. Airstream worked with them and the EU network to make it happen. They picked up their new Airstream 684 last week in Merenberg, Germany taking 4 days to return to their home outside of Munich. They absolutely love it and say it is everything they expected. They have already joined the EU WBCCI and plan on attending a couple of upcoming rally's. He and his partners own 5 Mercedes dealerships so of course he tows with a Benz.
He is already talking about a possible new business venture. Renting Airstreams with Mercedes TV.

[Zybane]

How do people afford Airstream 2 Go? 14 day's rental for over ten thousand dollars???

[btowntincan]

Originally Posted by Zybane

How do people afford Airstream 2 Go? 14 day's rental for over ten thousand dollars???

To be fair, it looks like you get a backpack and water bottle that you can keep.

[AWCHIEF]

Originally Posted by Zybane

How do people afford Airstream 2 Go? 14 day's rental for over ten thousand dollars???

As far as my cousin goes like I said he owns 5 Mercedes dealerships. He and his wife private charter a yacht in the Med or Carib every season for a week or two. Cost of that is over 10k a week. Three months renting RVs is petty cash. Unfortunetly several of his kids are line before me for any inheritance.

[Denis4x4]

Originally Posted by Zybane

How do people afford Airstream 2 Go? 14 day's rental for over ten thousand dollars???

They worked real hard and were not into instant gratification! BTW, that was a real tacky post.

[AWCHIEF]

Originally Posted by Denis4x4

They worked real hard and were not into instant gratification! BTW, that was a real tacky post.

Well said.

[MaineStreamer]

What was tacky? The cost of $10,000 to rent an Airstream trailer and tow vehicle for a few weeks seems pretty extraordinarily high to me.

[Zybane]

Paying 1/8th the entire cost of an Airstream for a 14 day rental is pretty extraordinary in any measure.

Could you imagine paying 1/8th the price of the car for two weeks of car rental or vacation home.

[n2916s]

Two weeks of bareboat charter in a 36' power catamaran in Miami is 12 grand. There are lots of rich folks out there -- the top 1% in the USA is 3 million folks...

Check out the number of private jets parked in Jackson, Wyoming on any summer day.

Me, well, I have an 11 yo truck towing a 30 yo Airstream. But, I am rich in other ways: lovely wife, pretty house, great job in the summer...

Mike

[AldeanFan]

$10,000 is a lot of money to go camping.

[AWCHIEF]

And plus or minus $100k is a lot to spend for what essentially is nothing more than a tin tent but a lot of folks here have done just that.

[Foiled Again]

Once upon a time I couldn't spell entrepreneur - and now I AM one. I think the owners are making a good, not fantastic but good profit...

If you rent a top of the line beach "cottage" in Virginia Beach for Labor Day Week you'll spend $4000 or more - for one week. These are pretty palatial cottages and you can easily put six, eight or even more people in them. And then there's the security deposit - because people have been known to get drunk and trash the places.

The "cottage" probably sells for $900K (if the market ever really recovers) or more, and the owner may live in the cottage for a few weeks during the "cusp" season - a few weeks before summer starts or in September after school starts. The rental season is 12-13 weeks, and if the owner doesn't occupy it during the whole off season, it may sit vacant or have a couple of sailors paying modest rent and doing all of the maintenance for the other 9 months.

Why does the Airstream cost so much to rent - because it's sitting on the lot for six to twelve weeks for every week it's in use. AND a house doesn't ordinarily go down the highway being a target for oncoming vehicles, or have someone living in it who has never pulled a trailer before.

Of course then the "why use a half ton Tahoe" question gets answered too.. Because it's SO much more expensive to buy, insure and run a 3/4 vehicle - or even a Tundra/Titan which both get labeled as " 5/8 ton" vehicles.

Of course a badly set up combo is just inexcusable if you're in the business of renting the whole ball of wax. It makes me wonder if the management of Airstreams to Go ever consulted with CanAm Andy about getting the best from a Tahoe... and if not, why not?

Paula

[OTRA15]

Different strokes for different folks . . .

For the truly wealthy the amounts being discussed are chump change -- all year long . . .

On the other end of the scale there are thousands of people dying of starvation somewhere on this planet right now . . .


"To Everything There Is A Season"

[moosetags]

Here in the western Florida Panhandle, the larger oceanfront homes rent for eight to ten thousand dollars a week in the summer season, and folks are lined up to get them.

I guess that there are many people who spend big bucks to vacation.

Brian

[Denis4x4]

Why is there this preoccupation with how other people spend their money? I see this on other forums and the envy factor becomes a distraction just as it has here.

[Zybane]

Originally Posted by n2916s

Two weeks of bareboat charter in a 36' power catamaran in Miami is 12 grand. There are lots of rich folks out there -- the top 1% in the USA is 3 million folks...

Check out the number of private jets parked in Jackson, Wyoming on any summer day.

Me, well, I have an 11 yo truck towing a 30 yo Airstream. But, I am rich in other ways: lovely wife, pretty house, great job in the summer...

Mike

But you are missing one key ingredient. Those 36' power catamaran's and Private jet's have WAY higher value than an Airstream.

The Airstream cost to rental ratio of A2GO is extremely high. Just eight, two-week rentals they've already paid off the trailer.

[SCTX]

Here is why we chose to spend approximately $10,000 to rent an Airstream.

Our previous camping has always been tent camping.
Airstream plus tow vehicle would be over $100,000.
We would have to pay to store an Airstream plus insurance.
We are not retired and have limited time to travel.

We did not want to invest that kind of money and realize that we did not like trailer life or picked the wrong size etc etc etc.

For us, it was a splurge in terms of vacation expense, but we felt it made sense for US.
We didn't want to be one of those folks who were selling a slightly used AS and getting soaked on depreciation.

So in our case, we weighed the rental cost versus making a potentially disastrous major investment.

Questioning how people spend their money is pointless. Why buy a Mercedes when a Toyota will get you to work and back safely? Same type of argument.

Their target market is people who just want the "experience" or who are like us and want to "try before we buy".

Someone else in this thread posted that they rented from A2G and later did buy an AS and tow vehicle. They bought a different size AS and tow vehicle and are happy with their decision.

[MaineStreamer]

Originally Posted by SCTX

So in our case, we weighed the rental cost versus making a potentially disastrous major investment.

Questioning how people spend their money is pointless.

I disagree that it is pointless to question the pricing of this rental program. I think this discussion has been very illuminating.