Last week

Renting the motorhome was odd. We went to their shop, looked around the different motorhomes, picked one and asked, “What would it cost us to rent this for a week?”. Simple question, maybe even an obvious one, but he seemed unprepared to answer. The response… “It depends.”

“Do you have a weekly rate?”

“No. We rent by the day.”

“Okay, then, what is the daily rate?”

“It depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“Date and availability.’

“The date is now. Are you telling us you may not have any available on Monday?”

“No. We have plenty available. I just can’t tell you what it costs to rent one until I go back to the computer.”

It turns out this entire exchange was legitimate. It might have cost $400 for a week, it might have cost $1,400. There is no standard rate. Cruise America prices their motorhome rentals like airlines price their seats. It depends on where and when you call, how long you want to rent, what day you call… maybe even what hour you call. There was no way he could tell the rate without putting our trip into the computer.

We finally got the rate. It was about the same as renting a hotel room with a kitchen for the week. That seemed reasonable, so we jumped on it quick, before it changed.

What a smart way to run a business. Variable pricing as a function of demand. It changes every day. It is a well designed process. Check-out and check-in was a breeze. There wasn’t much going on while we were there, but they said they’ll check-out thirty rigs a day out of that location when they’re busy. Wow.