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Well-planned travel lets you maximize opportunities and minimize expenses. Whether you’re taking the family to Disney for a vacation, or whether you’re planning an executive retreat at your company, planning is an essential element in making your trip a successful one.
Accordingly, there are a number of tools you can put to use to make the planning process smooth and easy. Many of these tools are available simply by entering a web address into your browser.
Here are some of the best travel planning tools around:
1. Travel booking websites.
There are a number of these sites online, from Priceline to Orbitz and more. One of the best up-and-coming travel websites is Kayak.com, although most of the sites will provide you with similar results.
Travel booking websites give you access to pricing information for a variety of hotel, airline, and rental car vendors. They let you see what your trip is going to cost in a side-by-side comparison.
One thing to pay particular attention to when using travel booking websites, however, is that they’re a great place to start looking for prices; they’re not always the best place to buy. When you actually get ready to make travel reservations, check out alternate sites as well as the companies themselves to see if you can get a better deal.
2. Consumer review websites.
Price isn’t the only aspect to choosing your travel details, of course. If you want to have a good experience – whether it’s with the hotel, the airline, or even with a business or entertainment venue in your destination city – you need to know what others are saying about them.
30 years ago, that meant digging through the last year or two of consumer reports and hoping that your particular travel choice would be reviewed. Today, however, it’s as simple as going to TripAdvisor, IgoUgo, or another travel review website.
3. Destination travel-planning guides.
No matter where you’re headed, chances are pretty good someone’s written a book or a website about things to do and see in that destination. From Fodor’s travel guides to information published by the local visitor’s bureau, there are a wealth of these kinds of resources out there.
You need to choose your travel-planning guides carefully, however. If the guide you’re using is out of date even by a year you may find that some of your planned activities are no longer available. Try to stick with planning guides that have been published in the last 12 months, and make sure the website you’re using is regularly being updated.
4. Itinerary tools.
The more organized your trip schedule is, the more you’ll get to see and do. Now, some people may prefer a looser schedule, and that’s all right, too. You still need at least a loose framework if you want to do and see the things you’re most interested in.
TripIt.com is one of the more popular itinerary-generating tools online. There are others like NileGuide.com that generate itineraries based on the destination of your travel and your interests. Keep in mind that many of these tools don’t necessarily have every vacation destination.
In some cases, especially if you prefer a more casual approach to scheduling, something as simple as your Google Calendar may suffice.
5. Map and navigation tools.
If you’re planning on driving to your destination, maps and navigation tools should be an essential part of your trip planning. For example, a trip from Seattle to Las Vegas will take about 19 hours of drive time. Along the way, there’s not a whole lot to see with the exception of Boise, Idaho.
However, if you reroute your trip and take an extra hour or so, you’ll travel through Portland, Oregon, hit the halfway point at Klamath Falls, Oregon, and pass through Reno, Nevada. Any of these points along the way offer additional interesting things to do and see, and can make your trip more interesting and enjoyable.
You can use online map tools like Google Maps or Mapquest, or you can turn to your travel agency for a map and trip route packet.
Travel should be a positive experience for everyone involved. While it’s not necessary to stress over every little detail ahead of time, by spending a little bit of time with these 5 kinds of travel planning tools, you can make sure to keep within your budget and maximize your travel enjoyment, too.
About the Author
Dave Johnson is Social Media Coordinator at Palms Hotel & Spa, one of the leading Las Vegas hotels that offers a multitude of amenities such as clubs, a casino, and a spa
I love planning for a big trip.
all the excitement of making up a fun itinerary is so much easier with the internet