Hello, all!
It's been a minute since I last dusted off these keys, but a fairly basic concept came to me recently, a baby step back into blogging: a brain dump.
Yes, how eloquently this is all beginning. Well, let's start with the source. #RugbyWeekend2018 just came to town, and with it, my teammates. We were catching up, reminiscing, and then dipped our toes into one of my favorite pastimes: sharing our favorite apps/websites.
I do not say that sarcastically.
We all hold our own mosaics of knowledge, whether that's podcasts, books, articles, memories or wit. And when people start to exchange that knowledge base, their latest experiences, their favorite tools, the newest tricks- well, we all learn and hopefully end up the better for it.
Now, this is not meant to be the most innovative technology, or the cutting edge, or even necessarily anything that new. It's just a few tools that we talked about, and agreed they make life easier.
So, without further rambling and distraction: my favorite travel sites/apps.
Flights:
It's been a minute since I last dusted off these keys, but a fairly basic concept came to me recently, a baby step back into blogging: a brain dump.
Yes, how eloquently this is all beginning. Well, let's start with the source. #RugbyWeekend2018 just came to town, and with it, my teammates. We were catching up, reminiscing, and then dipped our toes into one of my favorite pastimes: sharing our favorite apps/websites.
I do not say that sarcastically.
We all hold our own mosaics of knowledge, whether that's podcasts, books, articles, memories or wit. And when people start to exchange that knowledge base, their latest experiences, their favorite tools, the newest tricks- well, we all learn and hopefully end up the better for it.
Now, this is not meant to be the most innovative technology, or the cutting edge, or even necessarily anything that new. It's just a few tools that we talked about, and agreed they make life easier.
So, without further rambling and distraction: my favorite travel sites/apps.
Flights:
- Kayak Explore We all know kayak by now (I hope. Right?!?). But one of Kayak's best features isn't it's daily use case. Kayak explore allows you to set your home airport, your budget, if you want nonstop or will allow connections, when you want to travel, what sort of weather you want- etc. The filters continue to evolve. It then shows you on a map where you can fly with that criteria.
What could be better: the flight prices seem to be caches of previous searches rather than a real time pull. For cities that get a lot of searches (NYC to London), this means you'll see realistic prices and dates, but for less traveled routes (Chicago to Johannesburg) you may not see accurate prices, or any prices
It's been around since 2010, but I think it's still not celebrated enough for how helpful of a tool this is. Quick how-to guide can be found here!
2. Hopper is another great option, but for a different purpose. If you've been dreaming of going to Athens, or Iceland, or Zanzibar: use hopper to predict flight costs a year in advance, give you notices of price fluctuations, and generally provide a seamless experience.
It's perfect for: People who have a specific destination in mind, and will plan ahead to get the best deal. (also, for those who use mobile)
What could be better: Optimizing for preferred times, not just preferred dates (yes, that is picky)
Experiences/Itinerary Building
3. Visit a City has incredible pre-built itineraries and allows you to customize yours, adds in travel time between spots, shows popularity of the itinerary, recommended duration at stops, etc. The mobile app is very friendly to use, and the website is robust for those who prefer to plan ahead.
It's perfect for: People who want to go on auto-pilot, and yet still experience all that the city has to offer.
What could be better: The User Interface/design. Especially on desktop it could use some cleanup.
4. Airbnb Experiences use the same concept of hosts opening up their homes- but extends it into the community to share unique skills, crafts, music, food- overall, experiences. It's a dynamic combination that opens up a less touristy-feeling world, for small group outings and a chance to seem perhaps slightly less cliche.
It's perfect for: People who want to go off the beaten path, even in their own city. Great for date nights.
What could be better: more filters/better searching. There's a lot to offer but I found myself scrolling a lot to find things that I was really interested in. It is updated pretty frequently though so we'll see how long this is true for.
There's definitely a lot more that I use/like, but these come top of mind!
Some honorable mentions:
It's been around since 2010, but I think it's still not celebrated enough for how helpful of a tool this is. Quick how-to guide can be found here!
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| Photo Courtesy of Kayak.com/explore |
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| Photo Courtesy of Hopper.com |
It's perfect for: People who have a specific destination in mind, and will plan ahead to get the best deal. (also, for those who use mobile)
What could be better: Optimizing for preferred times, not just preferred dates (yes, that is picky)
Experiences/Itinerary Building
3. Visit a City has incredible pre-built itineraries and allows you to customize yours, adds in travel time between spots, shows popularity of the itinerary, recommended duration at stops, etc. The mobile app is very friendly to use, and the website is robust for those who prefer to plan ahead.
It's perfect for: People who want to go on auto-pilot, and yet still experience all that the city has to offer.
What could be better: The User Interface/design. Especially on desktop it could use some cleanup.
 |
| Photo Courtesy of visitacity.com |
It's perfect for: People who want to go off the beaten path, even in their own city. Great for date nights.
What could be better: more filters/better searching. There's a lot to offer but I found myself scrolling a lot to find things that I was really interested in. It is updated pretty frequently though so we'll see how long this is true for.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Airbnb.com |
There's definitely a lot more that I use/like, but these come top of mind!
Some honorable mentions:
- Rome2Rio: As its name implies, this site helps you find different routes between any two destinations. Shows flights, trains, buses, combinations of these to help you coordinate your journey
- Travefy: Itinerary builder, optimized on desktop and builds a beautifully formatted printout/PDF, allows you to chat with others as you co-plan events, post ideas, commit to the itinerary, etc. Mobile is read only.
- Google Destinations Google does have suggested itineraries, day plans, maps, etc but it seems to be an afterthought of search optimization rather than having a landing page/helpful experience. It should be a first step when planning trips though as it pulls in basically everything you would want to know about a place into a single guide (see Chicago)
- WikiHood: One to just have on your phone, it's wikipedia for your current location. Finds points of interest, history, tips, etc based on geotags
- WikiTravel- as its wiki-format, you'll get realistic feedback. I like the "how to get in" feature which discusses cabs/public transit/shuttles and safety for the airports, and "how to get out" for day trips nearby
Please share yours as well!
Personally, my go-to website is www.justaskClare.com . SUUUUPER handy. Awesome voice recognition technology. I just ask my sister Clare to recommend something and she does! AMAZING. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteJustAskClare.com runs on Google
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