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Weighing up a self-drive holiday up the Queensland coast against the cost of owning your own van? Two live offers from motorhome operator StarRV are worth putting through the numbers before you decide, and both come with clear start and end dates rather than vague marketing spin.
The first is a 50 per cent saving on a one-way hire of a Polaris 2-berth motorhome from Brisbane to Cairns, according to StarRV. The discount applies to travel between 24 July 2026 and 30 September 2026, and must be booked by 7 August 2026, covering hire periods of one to five days.
There is no published dollar figure attached to this saving. StarRV confirms the actual price depends on your chosen dates, the pick-up state and vehicle availability at the time, so our advice is to run a live quote for your own travel window rather than assume a headline number.
Separately, StarRV is running a sitewide Velocity Partnership offer of 10,000 bonus Velocity Points on any pick-up and drop-off combination, for travel between 13 July 2026 and 31 October 2026. It applies across the fleet, not just the Brisbane-Cairns run, and gives frequent flyer members a reason to book direct rather than through a third party. StarRV notes this offer, like the one-way deal, is subject to blackout dates, vehicle availability and can change at any time.
The vehicle behind both offers is the Polaris 2-berth, a Fiat Ducato model that sits within a small premium fleet also including a 4-berth and 6-berth Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, all fully self-contained with shower, toilet, kitchen and awning and all under six months old, according to Hit The Road Rentals. Every Polaris hire includes unlimited kilometres, 24-hour roadside assistance, linen, towels and a full kitchen kit as standard.
One traveller who hired the larger 6-berth Polaris for a two-month lap of Australia told Londoner In Sydney the setup worked well for long stretches on the road and remote working, describing it as a straightforward alternative to owning a van outright given the risk of a breakdown far from help.
That is really the appeal here for over-60 travellers weighing this against a cruise or an escorted coach tour. There is no engine to service, no annual registration to chase up, and the linen, towels and kitchen kit that a private van owner would need to sort themselves come standard. Turn up, collect the keys, drive.
The Brisbane-Cairns route itself is StarRV’s classic coastal run, tracing the Queensland coast during the cooler, drier months when the far north is at its most comfortable for driving and camping, which lines up neatly with the July-to-September window on offer.
A few things to check before getting too excited. Neither offer includes optional extras such as insurance excess reduction, which Hit The Road Rentals says is priced separately and varies by season. Whether the Velocity Points bonus can be stacked with the 50 per cent one-way saving is not stated by StarRV, so confirm that directly with the operator at the time of booking rather than assuming both apply. We would also flag a 10 per cent promo code circulating via Londoner In Sydney, unaffiliated with StarRV and carrying no stated expiry or terms. Treat it as unverified until you can confirm it works at checkout.
Our take: if a Brisbane-to-Cairns run in the second half of 2026 is already on your list, both offers are worth locking in the dates for. If you were hoping for a bargain to travel next month, these two are not it. Either way, the road north still looks better through a windscreen than a brochure.
Confirm before you book: fares, dates, availability and stackability of offers can change, so verify current terms directly with StarRV before paying a deposit.
