The average cost of a vacation for two people is around $4,500 per week (or $9,000 for two weeks) according to Pacaso. That kind of money could easily cover the cost of a new HVAC system for your home and pay for a mortgage payment or two. Therefore, it’s important to get the most bang for your buck (and ideally come in under budget) when planning a getaway.
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The way to do that is by comparing costs. Whether you’re thinking about renting an RV or booking flights and hotels, it’s worth running the numbers before you commit.
Renting an RV
- Overall estimated cost for a two-week vacation (without fuel): $2,093.70 to $2,514.07
One of the cheapest RVs you can rent is $100 daily, or $600 weekly, at American Dream Vacations. It only sleeps two. Most fees are optional, but you will have to pay a $200 damage deposit if you go with this company. The total for a two-week rental with an optional cleaning fee and tank-dump fee is $1813.70.
You might be able to find a little cheaper daily rental rate if you look on Outdoorsy — such as $85 per day — but you may have to pay additional required fees, including collision and insurance, a prep fee and a service fee, which total over $625 for two weeks. The total for a two-week rental for a teardrop-size camper that sleeps two is $1,954.07 on Outdoorsy.
You’ll also need to factor in the additional cost of fuel if you are pulling or driving the RV yourself. If you plan to have the rental company deliver it to your vacation destination — a service some companies offer — don’t include this cost.
To figure the additional cost of fuel for a motorized RV, use the same method you would use to calculate fuel costs for any vehicle. However, if you’re towing and not driving an RV, keep in mind it can reduce your average miles per gallon on your tow vehicle from 20% to 40%, according to RVCostCalculator.com. To be safe, figure your miles per gallon with a 40% reduction. Once you pull the RV, use a full tank of gas and figure the mileage, you’ll have a better idea of fuel costs going forward.
Another expense when renting an RV is making RV park reservations. Budget-friendly RV parks cost $20 to $40 per night, so for two weeks, that could be an additional $280 to $560.
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Booking Flights and Hotels
- Overall estimated cost for a two-week vacation for two people: $2,844 to $4,916
When booking flights, the cost depends on where you’re going. However, if you book at least 30 days in advance, the cheapest average price for a roundtrip domestic flight is $225, according to July 2025 data from Kayak, which would run $550 for two people.
When booking hotels, it all depends on what type of hotel you choose to stay in. Two- and three-star hotels will be cheaper than those that are rated four or five stars. According to Budget Your Trip, the average price for a hotel room in the U.S. is between $171 and $319, which means a two-week stay would run you between $2,394 and $4,466.
RV Rental or Flights and Hotels: Which Is Cheaper?
It’s possible that renting an RV might be cheaper than booking a flight and hotel. However, you’ll have to be willing to stay in budget RV parks instead of resorts, which means less amenities. Additionally, your fuel costs for your RV trip can’t exceed $750, or it could be cheaper to make hotel and airfare reservations (this was calculated by subtracted lowest total cost an of RV trip from the lowest total cost of a hotel and flight trip).
Other things to keep in mind are that the RVs quoted only sleep two, so if you rent a larger camper or even a motorhome, your costs may increase by more than it would cost to buy an additional plane ticket or two. Also, if you book the more expensive hotel room at $319 per night, you could likely save over $1,000 by renting a two-person RV, even with fuel costs.
Methodology: Overall estimated cost for renting an RV for a two-week vacation was calculated by adding the two lowest costs and the two highest costs to get the range. The flights and hotels estimate was calculated by adding two airfares of $225 (the cheapest average price for a roundtrip domestic flight, according to Kayak) to the lowest average cost of hotel rooms ($171, according to Budget Your Trip), and two airfares of $225 to the highest average cost of hotel rooms to get range.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: RV Rental vs. Flights and Hotels: Which Vacation Option Is Cheaper?
