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mapcat Champion Author Ohio Posts:16,067 Points:2,755,475 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Oct 6, 2007 6:11:41 PM Ignore mapcat Report Abuse Has anyone ever rented a vehicle for a long one-way trip? I'm interested in driving from Ohio to Alaska and flying home. The drive would involve going through Canada. The main reason I'd like to plan my trip this way is that I'd like to experience the Alaska Hwy and see all of the different environments along the way, and also see the Panhandle from the ferry on the way back. It would be nice to avoid having to drive home from the west coast, not to mention saving the $$ for taking a vehicle on the ferry. If anyone knows of some companies that allow long one-way rentals, or has any other ideas about how this could be done, I'd appreciate any info.

mapcat

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Ohio

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Message Posted: Oct 6, 2007 6:11:41 PM

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Has anyone ever rented a vehicle for a long one-way trip? I'm interested in driving from Ohio to Alaska and flying home. The drive would involve going through Canada.

The main reason I'd like to plan my trip this way is that I'd like to experience the Alaska Hwy and see all of the different environments along the way, and also see the Panhandle from the ferry on the way back. It would be nice to avoid having to drive home from the west coast, not to mention saving the $$ for taking a vehicle on the ferry.

If anyone knows of some companies that allow long one-way rentals, or has any other ideas about how this could be done, I'd appreciate any info.

REPLIES (newest first)Ignore Short Messages

mapcat Champion Author Ohio Posts:16,067 Points:2,755,475 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Jan 8, 2008 11:24:12 AM Ignore mapcat Report Abuse Thanks for the ideas--we will check that out!
talljoe Champion Author Orange County Posts:1,087 Points:172,945 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Jan 8, 2008 1:41:28 AM Ignore talljoe Report Abuse You might try advertising in some newspapers in Anchorage and Fairbanks and see if there is anyone there that is working in Alaska but has a car in the lower 48 but didn't want to drive it to Alaska themselves. You might find some people because I once lived in Alaska and met people that didn't want to pay to ship their car or to drive the AlCan Highway themselves. I don't know about now as that was when I was working on the pipeline in the 70's. It might be worth a shot or look in newspapers here for companies that pay you to drive cars to destinations like jimgraham mentioned.
jimgraham Champion Author Akron Posts:10,347 Points:1,975,035 Joined:Oct 2007	Message Posted: Dec 16, 2007 1:34:14 PM Ignore jimgraham Report Abuse A little late in seeing this post, but... Years ago we would find people (thru AAA or something similar) that needed a car or truck taken somewhere - we would get the transportation we needed for just buying some or all of the fuel for the trip.
mapcat Champion Author Ohio Posts:16,067 Points:2,755,475 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Oct 11, 2007 7:15:18 PM Ignore mapcat Report Abuse You know, my dad actually suggested buying a car here & selling it there, and I thought he was nuts. You mean sell it to a lot, right? I'll already have the plane tickets and ferry reservations for the trip home, so I can't afford to spend time showing it to potential buyers. I'll check it out. Thanks for validating my dad!
I75at7AM Champion Author Dayton Posts:66,469 Points:2,429,445 Joined:Feb 2006	Message Posted: Oct 11, 2007 4:01:21 PM Ignore I75at7AM Report Abuse This idea is 30 years old, but it might still be valid. Vehicles cost very much more to purchase in Alaska, some residents there are looking for a bargain. Purchase a vehicle in Ohio (possibly late-model used), drive it to Alaska, sell it while you are there. Then fly home. You would want to investigate the auto market in Alaska, find out what people there are actually paying, and get a model that would be popular up there. If you drive up and sell, don't take too much stuff along!
airduct Champion Author Florida Posts:11,319 Points:293,020 Joined:May 2005	Message Posted: Oct 10, 2007 11:12:58 PM Ignore airduct Report Abuse You do not need to rent a large RV. They come in all sizes. Some are on van platforms and for the most part will get good gas mileage for a vehicle of that size. A class "B" van camper or a small class "C" would fit into what you could comfortably drive.
mapcat Champion Author Ohio Posts:16,067 Points:2,755,475 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Oct 10, 2007 10:03:11 PM Ignore mapcat Report Abuse Sorry, what I wrote below really seems pessimistic. I appreciate the RV idea, but will need to rethink some things about the trip if that turns out to be the best way.
mapcat Champion Author Ohio Posts:16,067 Points:2,755,475 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Oct 10, 2007 11:16:07 AM Ignore mapcat Report Abuse I've never tried driving an RV, and I can see myself hating it, actually. I've never seen one moving too fast, and I can only imagine how much I'd spend on fuel. Seems it would take too long. I looked at Alamo's web site and tried to book from CMH to ANC, they came back with "all vehicles are sold out", which gives me the impression they don't like the idea. Either that or June 2008 is too far into the future. I'll try calling--thanks for the tip.
Stebbins Champion Author Washington Posts:5,025 Points:1,000,900 Joined:Jul 2007	Message Posted: Oct 10, 2007 10:27:58 AM Ignore Stebbins Report Abuse A RV sounds like a great idea. You would really love the freedom of stopping wherever you wanted.
Phildog Champion Author Akron Posts:10,594 Points:915,200 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Oct 10, 2007 8:35:54 AM Ignore Phildog Report Abuse Try an RV rental, there are many places along the AK Hwy to camp alongside the road
AZMandM Champion Author Phoenix Posts:7,714 Points:1,362,660 Joined:Feb 2006	Message Posted: Oct 7, 2007 2:09:05 PM Ignore AZMandM Report Abuse mapcat - this past summer I rented a vehicle for a one-way drive. It didn't cover as many miles as you will, and it was all within the contiguous US, but I didn't have any trouble renting the car. We used Alamo because they didn't charge us the fee for dropping the car off at a different location than where we picked it up. Also, we flew to our initial destination and drove from there rather than driving right from home. Maybe flying to somewhere between Ohio and Alaska would work for you. There might be an issue with you going into Canada - don't know anything about that, but you'd be leaving the car in one of the states, so that part shouldn't be a problem. Good luck.
AZMandM Champion Author Phoenix Posts:7,714 Points:1,362,660 Joined:Feb 2006	Message Posted: Oct 7, 2007 2:08:43 PM Ignore AZMandM Report Abuse mapcat - this past summer I rented a vehicle for a one-way drive. It didn't cover as many miles as you will, and it was all within the contiguous US, but I didn't have any trouble renting the car. We used Alamo because they didn't charge us the fee for dropping the car off at a different location than where we picked it up. Also, we flew to our initial destination and drove from there rather than driving right from home. Maybe flying to somewhere between Ohio and Alaska would work for you. There might be an issue with you going into Canada - don't know anything about that, but you'd be leaving the car in one of the states, so that part shouldn't be a problem. Good luck.