Motorhomes are more in demand than ever – but you don’t have to buy a motorhome right away. Stiftung Warentest tested 12 booking portals for mobile homes. But only one thing is convincing.
Holidays in a mobile home are very trendy. In the Corona year 2020 alone, the number of new motorhome registrations increased by more than 40 percent compared to the previous year, according to the Federal Motor Transport Authority. But by no means every holidaymaker buys a camper right away. The vehicles can also be rented from common portals.
Stiftung Warentest (Issue 1/2022) has now examined twelve providers of such mobile home booking portals. The results come just in time for rentals next summer.
A special focus of the test was on the vehicle search: How detailed are the campers described? Which and how many filter options can be set for the search? After all, active vacationers who want to be self-sufficient often need different equipment than seniors who move from campsite to campsite.
The result also included how convenient the booking and cancellation process is designed and how clearly the websites of the individual providers are structured. Deficiencies in the data protection declarations led to deductions at all portals.
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Stiftung Warentest: Only a portal is “good”
Camperdays was the test winner. The booking portal was the only one to receive the overall grade “good” (2.2) in the test. CU Camper followed in second place (grade 2.6). Both online portals were able to convince the testers with the search and filter options. Camperdays scored particularly well in terms of booking and cancellation and also offered the largest selection of countries in Europe. Campanda and Tui Camper shared third place, both with the grade “satisfactory” (2.8).
Cheap alternatives
Those who are less interested in commercially rented mobile homes and more interested in individually designed campers will find what they are looking for at providers such as Yescapa and Paulcamper. Stiftung Warentest also examined these portals and evaluated them separately. Yescapa (grade 2.8) was slightly ahead of Paulcamper (grade 3.0).
With these portals, the prices are agreed individually with the landlord, and depending on the season, bargains are sometimes possible. However, the vehicles are usually older and therefore possibly more vulnerable than those of commercial providers.
Stiftung Warentest recommends comparing offers from several portals with each other. According to the testers, this can be worthwhile because the providers calculate differently. One and the same camper can also cost different amounts at different portals at the same travel time. In a test run by Stiftung Warentest, for example, the price of a camper for the same week of vacation varied between 800 and 930 euros.
You can read the detailed test for a fee at Stiftung Warentest.