FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions concerning your motorhome and camper holiday in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and Canada.
Frequently asked questions concerning your motorhome and camper holiday in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and Canada.
The difference between packages start with the level of insurance. This varies from vehicle supplier to vehicle supplier, but generally means the excess and corresponding customer deposit at pick-up is reduced significantly, in most cases down to zero. A lot of suppliers also include such free-ons as camping table and chairs, free gas bottle and child seats.
The BasicPLUS package is an extension of the regular, Basic package, but with an additional insurance from our international insurance partner, HanseMerkur, that entitles customers to a refund of any lost deposit after their trip. Please note that you are still required to pay the full excess and deposit at vehicle pick-up and a refund is only given if the procedure and doucments required by HanseMerkur are followed and the vehicle supplier's terms and conditions have not been broken.
This refers to customers making multiple rentals over a short period of time. Most international operators offer vehicles in multiple countries (AU, NZ, US) and will offer customers discount when making multiple bookings within a certain period of a time. Please note, vehicle suppliers will not offer a multi-booking discount for and individual booking two serparate vehicles travelling together.
We have created an separate point for this in the service menu – the subject needs more than just a few words. For more information, please click on “Travelling with Children“.
Motorhomes may only be picked up and returned at the depot of the rental operator during depot opening hours. In Australia and New Zealand, you may also pick up the vehicle directly on the day that you arrive when arriving on an international flight. However, you should consider this carefully... a delay to your flight or even baggage pick-up may mean you miss depot opening hours and lose a day of travel. When at the depot, it is also not safe to assume that you will receive the vehicle immediately – you may experience wait times, especially during peak season. Based on this, we recommend booking an overnight stay before picking up your vehicle. If you are unable to pick up the vehicle as planned, you will not receive any compensation for unused days. You should also allow extra time when planning your vehicle return time- things such as traffic can cause delays. For example, if you have an early morning flight departure, it may be more comfortable booking an overnight stay the night before.
Customers picking-up in the United States or Canada are required by most rental operators to overnight after arriving on an international flight due to insurance purposes.
All rental operators have travel restrictions on routes that may be harmful to the motorhome, for example Nevada's Death Valley. They must be approved by the individual operator prior to your departure date and always declare your intended route at vehicle pick-up. It is possible you will only get permission at the time of vehicle pick-up. Vehicle suppliers generally always approve the route unless there are circumstances that require them to deny the request, for example weather conditions. Needless to say, receiving authorisation does not absolve you of using due diligence and the rental operator's terms and conditions must be followed at all times, for example, not crossing waterways or flooded roads.
For visitors to Australia and New Zealand, please take into account that it is NOT enough just to have your driver's licence from home. For the USA/Canada, this is handled differently depending on the rental operator. InAustralia and New Zealand, non-English language licences must be accompanied by an international driver's licecne or certified translation.
You can find further information on licences and weight limits here.
Payments are currently only available for credit card. As our bank is located in Germany, please be aware if your bank will charge you a fee for an international transaction (applies in rare cases and usually only with small banks).
Customer's will always receive and quote after making a request or booking. If you wish to proceed with the booking, you will receive a link to our secure online payment portal.
Leave us a quote request by searching your dates and locations or drop us an email or call (contact details above) and we'll endeavour to get back you as quickly as possible!
With our price calculator, you can quickly and easily view a concise price list for the vehicles on offer. Please state the actual number of people travelling as some charges are calculated per person and also so that you will only be shown the registered vehicles that are relevant for you. In the price list, you can receive a non-binding offer by clicking, “Request a Quote”. Here you can also find detailed information on the services, vehicle model, and rental conditions.
Customers are required to make a booking or quote request via our website, which can be done on the bestcamper.net homepage by searching your pick-up/return dates and locations.
You will receive a quote via email and instructions on how to procede with your booking.
Bookings cannot be made without the customer receiving a quote via email. Vehicle availability must always be confirmed first on our end. Some vehicle suppliers do not provide us a portal to live availability and your request may need to be manually checked, which can take some time when the supplier is located in another time zone.
We close weekends so that our vehicle suppliers can update their rates. Unfortuantely prices can change during this period, meaning quotes are only valid during the Monday-Friday working week.
In New Zealand, only vehicles certified for “freedom camping” may be used outside camping sites or holiday parks. This certification not only requires appropriate sewage and toilet facilities but also a corresponding inspection by a certification authority. For this reason, it should not be automatically assumed that a vehicle with shower/toilet facilities has an appropriate certificate. Please note, accommodation options outside camping sites and holiday parks are very limited nowadays – “camping in the wild” is only possible in certain locations.
In New Zealand, some rental operators charge a diesel tax per 100 kilometres travelled when you return a diesel vehicle. This charge is sometimes included with PREMIUM packages with various rental operators – please take this into consideration when comparing prices. The costs will be displayed in our quote.
This refers to a rollover accident not involving any third parties, for example a vehicle rolling over due to high speed or collision with an animal. Please note that the type of accident is not usually covered by the vehicle supplier's insurance and is the cost can be the responsibility of the customer. This however varies from supplier to supplier and some do provide insurance coverage. Information is provided within our quote.
Paying for road tolls varies depending on what country and/or state you are in. A lot of tolls can be paid electronically (via credit card for example), and most still accept cash. Some of our vehicle suppliers offer packages at pick-up to electronically cover the cost of any toll prices. Please see the information provided in our quote for more information on tolls.
Most rental operators, especially in Australian and New Zealand, include extras or funishings. This generally includes kitchen equipment with pots, dishware, cutlery, and personal equipment such as a sleeping bag or duvet, pillow, bedding, and one towel per person. In the US and Canada, linen and kitchen/eating equipment are often only included in the Premium Package or available at pick-up as 'personal' or 'kitchen' kits for rent. Please pay attention to the services included with the respective vehicle.
As the leaseholder, you are completely and solely responsible for any damages incurred to the vehicle by excess cooling, frost, or freezing of the tank, water boiler, and pipes. These costs are not covered by any insurance. Please note the instructions given to you by the respective rental operator; the following generally applies:
If temperatures are expected to be below freezing, all pipes as well as water and chemical tanks must be drained. If freezing temperatures are expected, the rental depot will already have drained all water and made the vehicle “winter-proof” before departure to protect against possible freezing. "Winter-proof" means that the water has to be drained from all tanks. Afterwards, the fresh water tank may no longer be filled with water and the water supply cannot be used. There is no water available in the vehicle. The renter must then purchase their own water in bottles and any resulting costs for drinking water must be paid by the renter themselves. Sinks, showers, and toilets cannot be used. It may be possible to use the toilet in some cases, provided that it is flushed using a windshield antifreeze product. In severe frost, however, the use of toilets is not possible even with this method, and you will have to find public toilets.
It is the sole responsibility of the renter to winterise or return the vehicle in a winter-proof state, in case the winterisation has not been done when the vehicle is picked up in a warmer area or if it is removed during the journey. In the case of a violation, regardless of the prevailing weather conditions when returning the vehicle, a fee will have to be paid. When planning your route, please bear in mind that camping sites in some areas may be closed in winter. Even some roads, especially in the mountains, may be partially inaccessible in winter conditions.
Rental operators in the US and Canada usually only provide furnishings (such as bed linen, cooking/eating utensils) in the Premium Package. Information will be provided in our quote. You have the option to rent such items at pick-up if booking the Basic or BasicPLUS packages.
Most rental operators require customers overnight before picking-up their vehicle off an international flight due to insurance purposes.
The customer deposit at vehicle pick-up may be increased or doubled if you are booking during periods featuring the huge West Coast music festivals, including Burning Man. Information can be found within our offer.