In this article, I’m going to be talking about the best Airstream alternatives.

And of course, Airstream travel trailers are iconic in the RVing world. You see lots of them on the road and in campgrounds.

Table of Contents

• Reasons Why Airstream RVs Are Such An Icon
• A Word About Airstream's Build Quality
• Why Some People Want Airstream Alternatives
• Criteria For Choosing The Airstream Alternatives
• Brand #1 That I Can Recommend
• Brand #2 That You Could Choose Instead Of Airstream
• Airstream Alternatives – Brand #3 On My List
• Conclusion

Reasons Why Airstream RVs Are Such An Icon

And Airstream says that roughly 70% or more of the RVs they have ever built are still on the road today. What a longevity record that is!

And it’s especially impressive when you consider that Airstream has been in business for almost 90 years now.

And during that 90 years they’ve been owned by Thor, another RV manufacturer, for about half of that time. About 45 years.

Now you may hear some people disparage Airstream because of being owned by Thor.

But the reality is that Airstream has grown to one of the top positions in the RV industry.

And they have built their great reputation mainly during the years that Thor has owned them.

Also, at this this point there are lots of fans and lots of support groups for Airstream.

In fact, the Airstream online community is a very viable and active group of owners.

So if you buy an Airstream, you can just plug right into that community if you choose. And I’m sure you would benefit by doing that.

So there’s lots of great reasons to buy an Airstream. In fact, I made a video about the pros and the cons of buying an Airstream a while back.

And if you’re thinking about buying an Airstream, it would be a good idea to look at that video. So just click here to see it.

A Word About Airstream’s Build Quality

But I can say this about Airstream. They are built very well! In fact, it takes roughly 350 hours to build an Airstream RV at the factory.

Now what does that really mean? Well first you need to understand that the average travel trailer only takes about 50 hours to build.

So seven times more effort goes into building an Airstream than most other RV travel trailers. And that’s very impressive!

But it also means that because of that extra time and the quality of the building materials they use, Airstreams are also very expensive.

For instance, just look at the RVs that they build. Like the Flying Cloud, the International, and the Globetrotter.

They all start around $100,000, and go up from there when we’re talking about new models.

And clearly that is in the high end of the travel trailer category for cost.

Why Some People Want Airstream Alternatives

But not everybody likes Airstream though. And there are various reasons for that.

Some don’t like the aluminum skin at all. They just don’t like the way it looks.

Or they may not like the floor plan, the furniture, and so on. Really in many cases it just comes down to a matter of taste.

So the question is this. Are there really viable Airstream alternatives to choose from?

And honestly, there’s not many in the higher end of the travel trailer market.

But I did find three brands that I feel are worthy of consideration.

Especially if you want to compare Airstream with another comparable brand.

Criteria For Choosing The Airstream Alternatives

Now here’s the criteria that I used in searching for these brands as Airstream alternatives.

First of all, they should build a product that’s somewhere between 20 and 30 feet in length. Because that’s where many Airstreams are.

And they should also be known for great build quality. In addition, they should be an upscale unit.

Or in other words, it shouldn’t really be made just for the weekend RVing crowd.

And the product they build should be able to be used on a fulltime RVing basis too. Just like Airstream.

So I have a list of three travel trailer brands that I feel meets that criteria.

Brand #1 That I Can Recommend

Let’s go through them in no particular order. First up, we’ll start with the Oliver Legacy Elite 2.

And you can take a look at their website while I’m going through the discussion about their features. Just click here to view that site.

OK, the first thing we want to mention is that Oliver went completely away from Airstream in one area.

And that is, they do not use aluminum at all for the outer shell of the RV. Instead they chose to use fiberglass.

And there are very many good reasons for that. In fact, they explain those reasons pretty well on their website.

So I would encourage you to go visit there and take a look at that if you want to know more about fiberglass RVs.

But I can also say that the Oliver products can indeed last you a lifetime. Just like Airstream travel trailers.

And there’s not many RV builders that can say that and back it up with facts.

But if you buy an Oliver, there’s a very good chance you may never have to buy another RV again. And that certainly helps justify the expense!

Now the Legacy Elite 2 comes in at 24 feet in length. And it has 7,000 lb. of gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR).

What that means is that it’s light enough to be able to be towed by many SUVs and pickup trucks that people already own.

And the cost of the Legacy Elite 2 is right around $100,000 at the time this article is being written.

Brand #2 That You Could Choose Instead Of Airstream

Moving on, number two on the list is Bigfoot, and their B25 series of travel trailers.

Once again, you can take a look at the Bigfoot website as I go through information about them. Just click here to do that.

They are a Canadian RV builder that you may never have heard of so far.

But they’re actually fairly well known here in the U.S. among some for overall high quality.

And even though there’s not a lot of them out there, they have a lot of fans. Also, very good reviews from their current owners.

Now they too got away from the aluminum skin that Airstream likes to use. And they build their RVs with a fiberglass shell too.

Once again, there’s a lot of very good reasons for that. But the B25 series is 26 feet in length.

And it’s 7500 lb. of gross vehicle weight rating. So once again, there are plenty of gas powered vehicles that can tow this trailer.

And that’s great, because it means you don’t have to have a diesel engine for towing.

In addition, it’s the most economical of the choices I’m giving you in this article at $80,000.

Airstream Alternatives – Brand #3 On My List

OK, number three on the list is very unique, and honestly it’s just not for everybody. I’ll say that for sure!

But it’s the Bowlus Rivet. And you can take a look at the Bowlus website by clicking here.

Now Bowlus is an ultra high-end travel trailer builder. And when I say ultra high-end, they start at $150,000 for the Rivet.

Interestingly, they didn’t get away from the aluminum skin that Airstream likes to use. They have adopted that approach as well.

So in many ways, they sort of look like an Airstream when you initialy look at them.

But the Rivet comes in at 25 feet of length. And it offers lots of luxury features and beautiful appointments inside. Very nice interiors!

But here is the really amazing thing about the Bowlus Rivet. It comes in at only 3,500 lb. gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR).

And it’s clearly a lot of great engineering that has put all the features into it that they have, and still has been able to maintain that low weight.

So that means it can be towed by even many smaller SUVs out there. As well as most pickup trucks.

Currently, there are only seven dealers for Bowlus in the entire United States at this point.

But but the good news is that they’re fairly well spread out across the US.

So if you want to go see one or talk to someone at the factory, it’s not hard to do that.

But keep in mind too that they have another model, called the Endless Highways. And it’s a little more expensive than the Rivet.

Conclusion

OK, clearly these builders of travel trailers that I’ve just shared with you are higher end products, just like Airstream.

But if you’re willing to pay for high quality, then most likely that’s exactly what you’re going to get.

And I will say too that if you look at brand new versions of their products, you’re probably not going to find a lot of defects out of the factory.

At least not like you do with many other high production RV travel trailer builders.

However, I still feel that an RV inspection would be warranted, even with these products.

That way you can be sure that your new RV is really in tip-top shape. And totally ready for RV camping and travel from the first day you own it.

But the good news is that all of these companies are well known for great customer service after the sale.

So if you do have problems, it shouldn’t be any major issue to get them fixed under warranty.

And finally, if you want to know how to buy any new or used RV the right way, and avoid RV buying regret, then download my guidebooks below.

And if you have my RV buying guidebooks I will be personally available to help you through the buying process.

Well then, I can say confidently that if you’re in the market for Airstream alternatives, any of these three brands should be able to fit the bill.

Have safe and happy RV travels!