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Old 12-31-2018, 06:35 PM   #1
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Trip Planning software

On our trip from Alaska to Indiana and back last fall I used some of the free trip planning software such as Good Sam Road Trip Planner and Rand McNally Trip Maker with ok results.


When checking email today I got an offer from RV Trip Wizard that looks promising. Not free though, looks like they want $39.00 a year.


How about some feedback on trip planners in general and this RV Trip Wizard in specific?
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Old 01-09-2019, 07:56 AM   #2
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I have been using RV Trip Wizard for over 6 months. I think it is worth the money. Sometimes in remote areas they don't have all the available RV Camping areas, but you can add them with reviews.
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Old 01-09-2019, 08:40 AM   #3
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I've also found RV Trip Wizard helpful. I've broken down long trips into different trips to make them easier to use. It works better (faster) to leave the campgrounds turned off until you know where you want to stay. I don't use the fuel function as I can't seem to get it to work all the time. It might be a user error though. They have been actively adding new features so it's nice to see them invested in making this tool better.
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Old 01-09-2019, 08:55 AM   #4
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I use the Goodsam/Rand McNally trip planner because of the ability to export the trip to my Winnebago OEM Xite GPS system.

It's not perfect, most are not. But the ease of exporting means a lot to me.
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Old 01-10-2019, 01:54 AM   #5
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Another vote for RV Trip Wizard. It has been integrated with the excellent website RV Park Reviews. We just finished 9000 miles with 30-40 stops and it worked great. Well worth the money, as it allowed us to find Passport and other cheap parks all along our route, saving hundreds of dollars.
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Old 01-10-2019, 09:21 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by danhannah View Post
Another vote for RV Trip Wizard. It has been integrated with the excellent website RV Park Reviews. We just finished 9000 miles with 30-40 stops and it worked great. Well worth the money, as it allowed us to find Passport and other cheap parks all along our route, saving hundreds of dollars.
And another vote for RV Trip Wizard. Been using it for several years averaging 8K mikes a year and 30-40 stops.
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Old 01-10-2019, 10:02 AM   #7
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Trip planning software? why bother? - Google Maps to plan the route and AllStays to find place to stay (with links to reviews), refuel, visit, shop, and so on. Use both on your tablet and you are good to go. Allstays will cost you $9.95 for the app but web access is free.
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Old 01-10-2019, 11:43 AM   #8
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I use a Garmin NuVi (now a couple years young but free updates): the River Point /Rand Macnally dash unit in our Sprinter View; Good Sam trip planning (exportable to the RP/RMN unit; AND, WAZE app on an android tablet and or phone.



All of them work well and have and pass on information a bit differently. And, I use them together to get a 'complete' picture of the trip, course, and destination. All give 'real time' advice on conditions. RP/RMN also does weather on the fly. Garmin is easier to use for locating something on route althoug RP/RMN does a credible job with the latest program and map updates. Garmin and RP/RMN do traffic congestion and detours.



WAZE being a 'user' or crowd sourced driven GPS has a bit better update of road conditions and situations. It's routing is damn good and usually slightly more up to date due to it's crowd sourced updtates.



There's actually good correlation between all of these devices.





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Old 01-11-2019, 01:58 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by luvlabs View Post
Trip planning software? why bother? - Google Maps to plan the route and AllStays to find place to stay (with links to reviews), refuel, visit, shop, and so on. Use both on your tablet and you are good to go. Allstays will cost you $9.95 for the app but web access is free.
You make a good point. Google maps sucks at finding parks, as for some reason it includes mobile home communities, and also misses a lot of overnight parks, County Parks, etc. Unusually poor performance from Google. So you need to be running Allstays on a seperate screen.

RV Trip Wizard combines Google Maps and an excellent Allstays-type app
(RV Park reviews) on one screen, integrated together - no more going back and forth between apps.

A couple of other benefits - you can set rings on the Google map for how far you want to travel per day, you can track your costs, and your routes are saved permanently as a kind of diary of the trip.

To each his own, but I really like it!
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Old 01-11-2019, 02:25 PM   #10
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Roadtripper app (iOS or Android), or www.roadtripper.com is an interesting tool to find attractions. It's free and it basically recommends things to see and do within 15 miles of your planned route, destination, or travel loop. This helps to decide whether or not it's worth the time to meander off your path to see something, simply by making you aware of the attraction so you can research it on the internet and look at reviews.

I recently drove from PA to CA and it definitely influenced where I stopped to see things, like a cavern and air force museum.
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Old 01-12-2019, 06:56 AM   #11
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A couple of other benefits - you can set rings on the Google map for how far you want to travel per day, you can track your costs, and your routes are saved permanently as a kind of diary of the trip.

To each his own, but I really like it!
I think the rings are a significant benefit of RVTW. A major part of my trip planning. I like the cost tracking and unless it's a completely new route saved routes are an easy way to start the next trip.
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Old 01-13-2019, 07:24 AM   #12
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I have been using Alstays along with google maps and an inexpensive Magellean GPS. We prefer to travel back roads, rather than intestates, and find that cell phone service and access to the internet for google maps to often be spotty, especially in the mountains. There is no way to move a route from Google Maps to the GPS. (I know with some model this is possible).
I would like to find a program (or app) which would allow me to display and follow a pre-selected route without being connected to the internet. That way when the GPS sends us off to no-man's land, we can figure that out before we in a situation where turning around is difficult if not impossible. The other alternative is to get a GPS that will import data from Google Maps or an app like RVTW.
If someone has a GPS that easily accepts routes from GM and/or RVTW, could you please give a recommendation?
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Old 01-13-2019, 05:28 PM   #13
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We got the Rand McNally/GoodSam GPS and used the Good Sam Trip Planner when we had a 40' diesel pusher and overhead clearances, dead ends, etc. were something we really wanted to avoid. And the combination GPS and software worked well for awhile. Lately software has been less dependable than I would like: had a few months during our trip out west last year where the thing was constantly freezing up and tech support was no help. Took them quite a while to get it worked out and that is when I started lookin for alternatives.

Now that we have a Class C, we don't need the huge screen and our 10'6" height means we are no longer concerned about clearance warnings; dead ends are not as freaky as they used to be...we are only 30' now with an improved turning ratio. There are a lot of new software options -- like the RVTW mentioned previously -- so when the GPS goes, I will likely find another resource and ditch both the GPS and the Good Sam Trip Planner software.
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Old 01-14-2019, 06:16 AM   #14
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I like Trip Wizard

I am sold on RVTW for planning our trips.
I have used it for over a year and its worth the money.
Its easy and comprehensive.
I have not used others to compare.
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Old 01-14-2019, 07:00 AM   #15
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We use RVTW for trip planning only. We plug our destination info from RVTW into our Garmin 770 GPS and follow its directions. Sometimes we change our mind and drive further or less and use Allstays on the fly to find a nearby campground. We can then add that to our trip plan to keep an accurate record of our trip. I have our distance rings set to 150, 200 and 250 miles and usually try to stay between 200 and 250 miles. The rings are set "as the crow fly's" but when you click on a destination it will give you the correct mileage from your last point of reference. We haven't found one app that does everything. We use RVTW, Google maps, Allstays, and Pilot just to name a few.
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Old 01-14-2019, 12:45 PM   #16
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I miss Trailer Life Directory Campground Navigator.

By far, the best trip planning software was TLD Campground Navigator. It was stand alone software, no internet required. Its interface easy and database well done. I am still using the last version of this gem from 2011 and so wish they would bring it back. The move to all things web killed it, I suspect.
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Old 01-16-2019, 06:12 AM   #17
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By far, the best trip planning software was TLD Campground Navigator. It was stand alone software, no internet required. Its interface easy and database well done. I am still using the last version of this gem from 2011 and so wish they would bring it back. The move to all things web killed it, I suspect.
I used to use that as well and miss it since they stopped issuing updates. Now I end up using Google Maps and RVParky.
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Old 01-16-2019, 10:39 AM   #18
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I'll toss another one out there: Furkot.com. A little bit of a learning curve but a powerful, and free, alternative to sub$cription-based planners.
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Old 04-22-2019, 09:08 AM   #19
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Agree! Use Waze everyday, and accurate almost to the minute. Real Time, so detours accidents, etc. Free to boot!
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Old 04-22-2019, 09:24 AM   #20
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I've had Waze send me on routes that no RV should have been on. I prefer the Garmin RV770 to set my routes now. I do miss the real time features of Waze though and when that's important (mostly highways), I run them both at the same time.
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