relocating cross country with dogs

[rh71]

don't want to fly them for health reasons... what's the best way to do this going from San Diego to NY? There are 2 drivers and they'd have to rent an SUV or minivan (the dogs are large) but it looks like drop-off charges, because of the location difference, are over $1k after the 5-day rental fees, so it comes out to between $1500-$2000. Any better recommendations or ideas?

 

[ElFenix]

buy a car then sell it when you get there?

 

[rh71]

buy a car then sell it when you get there?

large, reliable car for under $1k to drive across the country? Hmm.

 

[ElFenix]

large, reliable car for under $1k to drive across the country? Hmm.

doesn't need to be under $1k. could be $10,000 if you could sell it for $9,500, you're ahead of renting. though obviously there's more at risk.


you could also drop the van off back where you rent it. week rental with unlimited mileage. yay. you'd have to get the driver back across country, though.

 

[Born2bwire]

Do you really need a large car? What do you have right now? I know my folks have transported their dogs using a four door sedan and these are labs. Dogs don't need too much room, just enough to sit or lie down. If you can give them the entire backseat of a car then that should be good. You just need to take regular pit stops and give them a quick walk to stretch their legs.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I've driven cross-country with 3 dogs(two large) and we drove using a SUV with a roofbox. B/c other things were being shipped, I wanted to have enough clothing and stuff to live on before all of my other stuff arrived.

 

[trmiv]

We rented a motorhome from Cruise America to move from California to NC. We traveled with two dogs and a cat. It was actually pretty awesome and a fun way to do it. We had our stuff shipped in pods by ABF and our cars trucked and just drove the motorhome.

 

[John P]

don't want to fly them for health reasons... what's the best way to do this going from San Diego to NY? There are 2 drivers and they'd have to rent an SUV or minivan (the dogs are large) but it looks like drop-off charges, because of the location difference, are over $1k after the 5-day rental fees, so it comes out to between $1500-$2000. Any better recommendations or ideas?

I didn't think most rental places charged a large fee for dropping the car off at another location? Have they checked all the car rental agencies?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Drop off charges >$1000 ? Find a different rental company, thats ridiculous

 

[AMDZen]

How about you rent for 10 days, drive there and then drive all the way back? PITA I know but they don't have to know you drove all the way across the country. Then just catch a quick flight that is probably $100 one way.

Might still be a lot though, not sure how much gas and hotel would be.

 

[trmiv]

When we rented the RV from Cruise America it was an extra $1000 to pick up in the SF Bay Area and then drop it off in Durham, NC. I guess because of some shortage of units in the Bay Area, I don't know. But if we picked up in Las Vegas, there was no fee. So we rented a car to drive from the Bay Area to Vegas, picked up the RV there and saved like $850.

 

[Deeko]

When I moved from Philly->Seattle, I drove w/ my dog. Just took a regular midsize car.

 

[lxskllr]

Red Ryder wagon, and some rope from HomeDepot.

 

[Anubis]

my sister recently moved from Boston to Airzona, she has 2 pittbulls and she had a friend of mine drive them out there for her in her Saab 9-3 viggen, he did it in 3 days, she paid him and paid for him to fly back.

unless you have 2 saint Bernards you wont need a mini van

 

[AreaCode707]

Rideshare on craiglist, find someone going cross country with a large vehicle who doesn't mind dogs.

http://jerseyshore.craigslist.org/rid/1978491288.html

 

[uclaLabrat]

Well, I just did LA to NYC last month with my wife, 2 pugs and a ridgeback. All of us were in the cab of a moving van for 7 days. It was actually pretty easy.

 

[EagleKeeper]

We have two cockers that have over 20K miles under their paws over the past 10 years.
IN->NV
NV->IA->NV
NV->AL->NV
NV->CO
CO->CA->CO

One sits on the wife's lap - the other helps with the wheel. :hmm:

Have used mid size SUVs and a full size sedan with no problem.

Worst problem is that some motels will try to charge an extra 10-20 per nose.

 

[rh71]

He drives a Civic so it will be tight with two large dogs. He plans to ship everything else back regardless... but I can't see that being comfortable for the dogs at all. May not need a minivan, but an SUV is just as much $.

I didn't think most rental places charged a large fee for dropping the car off at another location? Have they checked all the car rental agencies?

Well I checked expedia which looks into all of them and they were all over $1500-ish. I think free only applies to local areas... like when my parents did downtown Vancouver then return to the airport. Don't know how someone was able to do it from LV though.

How about you rent for 10 days, drive there and then drive all the way back? PITA I know but they don't have to know you drove all the way across the country. Then just catch a quick flight that is probably $100 one way.

There is a mileage limit of 3300 and then they start charging .35/mi. The trip should be around 2800mi one way. This is all according to Hertz and I have a corp discount with them too... didn't help.

 

[ElFenix]

unless it's a coupe they'll be fine. heck, they'll be fine in a coupe unless they're st. bernards or something. just gotta stop and let them get out every couple of hours.

 

[John P]

Is there anything like AAA you could join where one of the benefits is waiving the drop off fee?

Edit - checked online and it's still ike $1500 for an SUV through AAA for 5 days.