Wouldn’t it be great if you could fly into an airport and instead of worrying about finding a hotel or campground, your accommodations are waiting for you on the ramp?
That’s the premise behind FLY2RV, a new online platform that allows pilots to reserve a recreational vehicle for their next cross-country adventure.
The idea is simple: Fly into an airport and a recreational vehicle is waiting for you on the ramp. You do a quick walk-through and then off you go on your vacation adventure. When the vacation is over, you drive back to the airport, drop off the RV, climb in your airplane and head home.
“Aviation enthusiasts, private pilots, and aircraft owners can now combine the love of flying with the love of camping, exploring, and the great outdoors,” says Jim Schivley, CEO/President of FLY2RV.
Launched in May 2022, Schivley reports the website had more than 1,500 responses and positive comments in just its first four days. Even better, it has received bookings from pilots across the United States and even one from a pilot from Europe.
The typical rental period is between three to seven days, but pilots can choose as few — or as many — days as they want.
Rental rates range from $120 a night for a Class C RV to $1,400 a night for a luxury Class A RV powered by diesel.
The RVs are available at 42 airports across the United States, from Miami, Florida, to Anchorage, Alaska. And the numbers continue to grow every week, according to Schivley.
The idea for FLY2RV came about after Schivley and his daughter thought it would be a grand adventure to fly into the Phoenix area and rent an RV to explore the Grand Canyon and the red rocks of Sedona.
An online search to find a rental RV proved disappointing, with Schivley finally finding a private owner who would rent him his RV.
Once he and his daughter landed at the airport, they had to take a $75 Uber ride to the storage unit where the RV was parked. Returning the RV was even more of a hassle as the owner asked if they would drive it to his house. When they got to his street, it was blocked by a large truck. Schivley finally turned the keys over to the owner and this time had to pay $91 for an Uber back to the airport.
In between those two hassle-filled events, he and his daughter had a great time.
As he returned to his home in Florida, he realized that the trip would have been “perfect if we had a better experience picking up and dropping off the RV,” he says. “That’s when the FLY2RV concept took flight.”
He discovered that a national database of RV rental dealers didn’t exist. He started cold calling dealers and signed his first, American Dream Vacations in Albuquerque, soon after.
Over the next 10 months Schivley continued making cold calls to RV dealers around the nation, as well as FBOs to coordinate pickup and drop off locations.
Meanwhile, his IT team, Tiffany Lynn and Vale Giltner, built a website and custom platform that allows pilots to search RVs using a specific airport rather than a geographical area.
How It Works
To make a reservation, go to FLY2RV.com and select your destination airport from the drop-down menu, then enter your dates of travel, the number of people, and click search. You’ll see a variety of RVs ranging in price. Once you select the RV you want and the number of days, you click “book.”
The RV dealer will contact you to make arrangements to meet you at the airport when you land.
“A walk-through of the RV is completed at the airport, then you can hop on and off you go to your next adventure,” he says. “At the end of your vacation, simply return the RV to the airport, check out with the local airport RV rental dealer, and fly to your next destination.”
FLY2RV is offering special promotions tied to big events around the country, such as EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, where you can fly into Green Bay/Austin Straubel International Airport (KGRB), pick up an RV, and drive down to Oshkosh, about an hour away, for the big show, which runs from July 25-July 31, 2022. Other promotions include Burning Man in Nevada in late August and the Albuquerque Balloon Festival in October 2022, he notes.
Schivley adds that he wants to hear from general aviation pilots about specific airports they’d like to see included on the website, as well as promotions around specific events or any other ideas to enhance the experience. He can be reached at [email protected].
This is perfect! What an awesome upgrade to personal flying! You can really take the draining daunt of lines, waiting, and rental energy out of a trip. Just straight adventure. Can’t wait to try this.
Just THE thing needed for OSH and LAL