Tips for Saving Money When Planning Your Next Road Trip

From the dawn of the automobile, road trips have seized the popular imagination. Many novelists, filmmakers and songwriters have been drawn to the road tripfrom Jack Kerouacs On the Road to David Lynchs Wild at Heart and countless works of art in between.

The first documented cross-country road trip in an automobile was taken way back in 1903 by Horatio Nelson Jackson and Sewall K. Crocker in a used Winton touring car. Bear in mind, there was only about 150 miles of paved roads in all of the United States at that time.

In the 100-plus years since that first successful transcontinental automobile trip, hitting the road with friends, family or co-workers for a lengthy trip has grown ever more popular and so much easier. In the age of fast direct flights and cheap airplane tickets, there are still so many good reasons to load up the van rental for your road trip and hit the country for a few days or even weeks. The passengers get to bond, there are sights to be seen, local color to be absorbed and, best of all, the road trip can change as you see fit.

Driving through Arizona and want to take a detour to finally see the Grand Canyon? Go right ahead. On your way to Miami and decide you want to hit the Florida Keys? Whos to stop you? Planning a road trip has always been about freedom, mobility and excitementeven for Jackson and Crocker back in 1903and no doubt thats why you and your buddies want to hit the road for a spell too. So lets look at a few ways for you to have the best road trip ever, saving you the most money possible while ensuring your trip goes off without a hitch. Wherever your destination, try to work in a visit to the National Museum of American History. You can find Jacksons used Winton on display.

1. Choose Your Traveling Mates Wisely Road trips are many things: fun, exciting, romantic. But theyre not for everyone. Rule number one for planning a road trip? Give real thought to who is coming along. That high-maintenance friend prone to car sickness? Maybe theyre not the best choice to spend six days on the road with on your way to Philly. Your bassists mother may be swell for letting your band use her credit card, but its probably best to have her fly and meet you at the destination.

In other words, a great trip starts with great people. So select the right group to load into the rental van on your road tip. You will have more fun and a better-planned tripand good planning always saves you money.

2. Plan Your Route Carefully in Advance Funny how people often skimp on this one when planning a road trip. Simply looking at a map, placing your finger on a highway, running it along to a distant city and thinking, Thatll work! is not good planningand youll regret it.

First, discuss with the group exactly what the goal is. To get to your destination as fast and inexpensively as possible? In that case, plan on the fewest stops possible and youll want to hit the highway. Maybe you desire a languid trip, filled with detours and small adventures. Well, youll want to take more back roads and make sure everyone on the trip is open to flexibility and surprises.

Whatever the goal for your trip, plan thoroughly and accordingly. You will save so much money this way and ensure that the trip goes off the way you want it to. Wherever youre going, a simple Google search will turn you on to the best route, great places to stay and help you plan for contingencies.

3. The Right Set of WheelsA Van Rental for Your Road Trip Now that you know where you are going and how you want to get there, lets talk about the one thing can make or break your trip: The Vehicle. And the right vehicle for a road trip comes down to a few simple things: comfort, space and cost-efficiency.

You and your group will need roomheadroom and legroom, plus space for food, luggage and gear. Think logically: Will five people crammed into your two-door really be happy and comfortable on a four-day road trip from Denver to San Diego?

In short, you want a van rental for your road trip. Its the best, most comfortable and most cost-effective way for you and your group to hit the road and travel. Airport Van Rental is the home forvan rental for your road trips. Their vehicles can accommodate small or large groups, short term hauls or even weeks of driving across the country. Whatever your needs, they can fill it.

Do you and your need to save every dollar you can? Not to worry. Airport Van Rental has Corporate and Non-Profit Programs that offer discounted rates, priority booking and special customer service specific to your needs, as well as discounts to AAA and USAA members. Are planning on spending some nights at a hotel or motel? AVR can help. Through its Value Club Program, they can get you and your group great rates on lodging.

Traveling with a child? AVR has child seats available for rental for children between 10 40 lbs. How about WiFi? These days, we are always on our smartphones and laptops, especially when traveling. AVRs vans can connect up to 12 devices to the access point. AVR also provides GPS and discounted international calling rates. How great is that?

AVR offers an array of services to meet any of your trips needs. Want to pick up a van at their Chicago location and drop it off at the Houston location and then fly home? Go right ahead.

And lets not forget that essential ingredient for all modern road-trippers: GPS. Airport Van Rental offers an optional GPS unit in our vans. This makes traveling so much easier and less stressful, and helps ensure you and your group gets to where you need to go. Simply choose your destination and the GPS does the rest. You can look up addresses, hotels and attractions, too, all at the touch of the screen. The GPS unit even comes with a convenient window mount.

Put simply, AVR is the home of great, comfortable and affordable van rental for your road trips.

4. Fill Er Up! So now youve got the right group of people, a great travel plan and the perfect van rental for your road trip. Heres another practical money saver that people often overlook: Fill up the gas tank at the start of your tripbefore you hit the road.

A road trip is no fun if youre going to be wasting time looking for cheap gas. Go to the nearest affordable gas station and then begin the trip. Heres something even better: With AVRs Prepaid Fuel Service Option you can pay in advance for either a full or half tank of gas and pick up the van rental for your road trip all fuelled-up! Thats one less hassle for you to worry about. The fewer worries, the better the trip! Ask Airport Van Rental to fill er up for you when youre planning your road trip!

5. Bring Coolers and Food Ah, the final money-saving essential: Food and beverage. Whether it is a short day trip or a long cruise across the country, it is simply impractical to assume you will just stop and eat whenever the group is hungry. Experienced road trippers know its not uncommon to go miles and miles without even seeing a place to eat.

In this age of gluten-free, no tree nuts and other dietary restrictions, finding an eatery along a back road to suit everyones needs and tastes will likely be a problem. You will save a lot of time and money and make the trip so much more enjoyable by bringing along a few well-stocked coolers with healthy food and snacks everyone can eat. And remember: you can never have too much healthy, tasty food on hand. So pack generously.

There you have it: five great tips guaranteed to save you money and make your road trip a whole lot easier. Now do yourself a favor: Give us a call at (877) 826-4680 today, or contact us online, to get a great rate on a van rental for your road tripget started on the best road trip of your life!