In last week’s Designing Travel, I revealed how we plan and customise trips to our unique needs and wants. I broke down our planning styles: Complete DIY, Partial DIY or Expert Level. This week I am zooming in on the trip planning tools we use for DIY style travel planning. Here are the resources we’ve found to be the most reliable travel design assistants.
Disclosure: I may earn compensation from the purchase of any product or service linked on this website, at no extra cost to you. I only link to products I use and love, therefore feel comfortable recommending.
1. Kayak
There are various flight aggregators you can use to search flights and they’ve all become quite competitive. While we used to prefer the features available on Google Flights, Skyscanner and Kayak have really caught up in recent years. It is important to note that not all airlines, particularly smaller or budget carriers, are indexed by flight aggregators, so you still have to search airlines like Southwest and Jetstar direct on their individual websites. Check out this list of airlines not listed on aggregators for more information.
2. Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor is where we start our accommodation research. Again once we have narrowed down the options, we almost always make our final booking direct with the accommodation provider. We find searching via the map feature in Tripadvisor to be super handy for minimising our transport needs by booking accommodation close to attractions.
3. Lonely Planet
There are some destinations where you need to go old school and carry around a guidebook (or at least a digital one on your favourite device). Cuba and Myanmar are prime examples of places we’ve been in the last 18 months where a physical book/digital download is a must due to poor or non-existent internet and general lack of reliable tourist information. Most travellers agree Lonely Planet is still the best brand of guides out there.
If buying a quality guidebook seems like a big investment for a single trip, then consider borrowing from a friend or local library. I recently picked up a bunch of Lonely Planet guides at an estate sale for $1 each! They may be a few years old, but most of the information is still relevant.
4. Google Maps and Google MyMaps
Once we’ve established a to-do list for our trips, particularly road trips, I create a Google My Map with the attractions plotted. As we book accommodation or receive recommendations such as a good coffee shop, I add them to the map, colour coding the pins. I can also plot routes to travel between locations, to find out the time and distance we need to travel. You can see below our weekend in Niagara Falls including attractions on the U.S. and Canadian side of the Falls, our accommodation and local wineries. Click on the rectangular icon in the top right corner to open the full map with key in Google My Maps.
5. AwardWallet
AwardWallet is where we track loyalty program points with flight and accommodation providers all in one place. Having an auto-updating, central location for all our points means we’re more likely to make use of them and less likely to let them expire. AwardWallet offers a free membership with basic functionality that fits our needs. If you want to make use of the more advanced features it will cost you USD10 per year. The tool can be used online and/or as an app on your phone.
6. Multi-attraction passes
Multi-attraction passes can provide excellent savings on key sights and activities, and are excellent time savers. Passes such as CityPASS (North American example), enable you to pre-pay entry to a number of attractions for a discounted rate. In many circumstances, this also enables you to stride past long lines of tourists queuing at the ticket office. Who doesn’t want that?! However, it pays to do your research, compare passes, carefully considering your timeframe and style of travel. I wrote more about this in the post Saving Money with a Multi-Attraction Pass.
I hope this guide helps you design your next travel adventure. If there is a trip planning tool you love, let me know in the comments below.
Peace, love & inspiring travel!
Madam ZoZo
