Relocate A Campervan: See Australia For Just $1 A Day

If you haven’t heard of campervan relocations before, this is going to change your life.

It’s gaining more and more momentum lately, but relocating a campervan is when you pretty much offer to take a campervan or rental car from one place to another, to help out the hire companies. They might need them moved because they’re new, or because they have a booking in a different location, or because they need them returned to where they came from.

The campervan relocation website CoSeats, looks for people to relocate a campervan, motorhome or 4wd between two different points in Australia from as little as $1 a day.

Yep, $1 a day to take a road trip across Australia in all different directions. A relocation even includes everything you could need for the perfect quick getaway. Sometimes it’s even free!

Nope, we’re not joking, this is legit!

Over the recent Melbourne Cup Day long weekend we were looking for somewhere to go to get out of the city. We were fed up with our crappy wintery weather still hanging around at the end of October, needed a break from wedding planning, and wanted to go somewhere new and sunny.

I had heard about last minute campervan relocations from a friend that worked in my office and was instantly intrigued. A one way road trip would allow us to get much further away from Melbourne and up to a much warmer, more tropical climate. Sounded like exactly what we wanted for the long weekend!

There were heaps of different relocation options, with routes crossing all over Australia, and we finally settled on driving from Melbourne to Brisbane. The East Coast of Australia is one of our favourite drives and since we’ve done it before we thought we could skip lots of the places we had been before, and focus on new places that we hadn’t visited yet.

Check out all CoSeats Campervan Relocations.

How do campervan relocations work?

With CoSeats you are helping companies move campervans from one location to another. They have depots all over Australia including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Adelaide, Alice Springs, Perth, Hobart and even Broome. You can pretty much see any part of Australia you want, from Uluru to the Great Barrier Reef!

Relocation listings are usually posted on the website 2 to 3 weeks in advance, so this is not a good option for people who are trying to plan months in advance, but perfect for a last minute getaway.

On the website you can “join the waiting list”, which essentially means that you put in your pick up and drop off locations and CoSeats will send you an e-mail every time a new relocation between those destinations is listed on the website. This was extremely helpful, as options can go within minutes and new relocations can be listed at any time of day. Relocations are listed with a date range that you have to work within, so I had to wait for a few days until a campervan came up within our dates.

The website will also let you know how many days you have to make the relocation in. For example, for Melbourne to Brisbane we were given 4 days. Depending on how time sensitive the relocation is, you can also often add a day or two extra to your trip for a small fee.

We had a total of 5 days to play with over the long weekend and since our rental allowed an extra day add on, it only cost us $75AUD to take it back after 5 days. Way cheaper than if we had to book accommodation for the night!

Where do you even start exploring in Australia?

Important information about campercan relocations

Every relocation found on CoSeats is different, from the hire companies, dates available and time frame, to the travel destinations, relocation price, types of vehicle and even the terms and conditions.

Here’s a breakdown of the details you can expect when you relocate a campervan. We’ve used our relocation as an example to give you an idea.

Pick Up Location: Melbourne.
Also available Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Broome, Cairns, Darwin, Sydney and Perth.

Drop Off Location: Brisbane.
Also available Adelaide, Alice Springs, Broome, Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.

Price: $5 per day.
Other options can be $1 a day or even free in exchange for a blog post (not ours, we just wanted to share)! An initial fee of $75 is charged to hold the booking. If this is over the amount you are required to pay they will refund you the difference when you pick up the van.

Deposit / Bond: $1000.
Deposit is held on a credit card and then released upon return of the campervan, as long as there is no damage to the vehicle.

Time Frame: 3 nights, 4 days.
Additional days were available with our contract for $75 a day. Time frame is dependent on distance between locations.

Fuel Allowance: $50 with tax receipts.
We were not told at pick-up that we had $50 of fuel included with our rental, so unfortunately we didn’t keep our receipts. Always make sure that you check at pick up whether a fuel allowance is included, because it can be up to $250 on some relocations, but there may be terms and conditions.

Terms & Conditions: Driver must be 21 years or older and hold a full driver’s licence.
Local, European and overseas drivers licences (from specific countries) were accepted. You can check out the full terms and conditions of CoSeats HERE.

Type of Campervan: Action Pod 2SX.
Also available, all types of campervans and motorhomes from 2 to 8 berth, as well as relocation cars and even 4wds with a roof top tent.

Distance Allowed: 2233km + 250km for the extra paid day.
Distance allowance will vary between different companies.

Check out the full list of frequently asked questions on the CoSeats website HERE.

Explore all of our adventures around Australia.

We had quite a small campervan, similar in size to a tradie van, which was absolutely perfect because it was easy to drive and park. Normally when we take a road trip we’re in Thom’s car, because it’s bigger and more comfortable than mine. But it’s also a manual, so this was the first time I have really gotten a chance to drive on a road trip, which I absolutely loved!

The campervan was packed with everything we could need, including the items that you would never think of packing. The small kitchen in the back had a fridge, sink with a water pump, pots and pans, cutlery, plates and bowls, cleaning supplies and a storage place for food.

Inside the van there was also a fold out double bed which included a doona, sheets, pillows and towels, as well as benches to sit on, beanbags and an indoor and outdoor table.

Check out some of Australia’s most epic experiences and adventures.

The campervan that we were given was also brand new – only five kilometres on it! We were the first ones to ever drive it which we got a bit of a thrill from as well. Dropping the car off in Brisbane was so easy, the friendly staff at Britz got all the paperwork and checks done for us very quickly and even called us a taxi to get back to the airport.

For something that we didn’t know existed only a couple of months ago, campervan relocations are now something we couldn’t recommend more highly. It’s a great way to see our beautiful country and explore places you’ve never been before. Hitting the road with no itinerary and driving wherever your heart desires was a completely new concept for a planner like me, but we absolutely loved it!

UPDATE : Since we wrote this post we have also used Imoova to find campervan relocations. They also have lots of options for relocation cars you can hire, as well as additional location options such as Airlie Beach, Rockhampton, Hobart, Townsville, Coffs Harbour and the Gold Coast. They also have international options, with cheap campervan hire in New Zealand, USA and Canada.