RV Trip Wizard?

[AJMike]

Came across a link for something called RVTripWizard this morning. I don't know how long it has been around, but it apparently is a membership (I assume that means fee) based web app for planning trips.

As a general rule I use Google Maps or Sygic to plan my trips, at least for the driving part, and RVParky or Campendium for the overnight parts and those are free, so I don't know if there is anything worth signing up for with RVTripWizard.

Has anyone used this? And is it worth the fee (7 day trial membership implies that there is a fee beyond that to me)? If so, what?

[creativepart]

It’s been around for years. It is owned by Social Knowledge, the same people that own winnieowners and irv2. If you go to irv2 you’ll see a forum dedicated to RV Trip Wizard.

Yes it’s a site you pay to access.

It’s quite popular and used by lots of folks. It’s also tied into other Social Knowledge websites like Www.campgroundreviews.com

[Goodspike]

There's also the AAA system, but I'm not sure how much of it you can use without being a member.

https://ttp.aaa.com/TripTik/?dhiKey=11#

[Morich]

Very much like any product you might buy. There are some who like to find other folks reviews and find them worthwhile but others would rather search out the info and decide on their own. There are some features which I might find value in using like the settings for distance and deciding where to stop for gas, but when I get down to thinking of how we really travel, I know there would truly be little value in planning gas stops in advance.
Too many other factors that dictate where I stop for gas, like food, potty or simple boredom breaks.
Much of the value will depend on how you travel and I find that is pretty much open to change on each trip. Do I travel simply to get there or am I traveling because I don't want to be here any longer?
I see some value in the program but not enough to move me to sign up and pay.

[AJMike]

Thank you all for the replies.

I watched one of the intro videos and don't really see anything that would add to what I already have from Google Maps, Sygic, GasBuddy, RVParky and Campendium so I don't see any reason to join and pay for information I already have access to, especially considering that it is web based and therefore you need access to be able to make any changes.

Some of what I saw online indicated that it can be used to download trips to a Rand McNally GPS device. Interestingly I have one of those and used to use it all the time when on the road, but nowI use Google Maps and Sygic on my smartphone and that gets sent to the info system on my Fuse, and that seems less trouble than mounting the RM GPS and using it. Loved that GPS but it no longer seems worth the trouble.

And, as @Morich mentioned above, our trips often take sudden and unexpected side trips ("Oh, that looks interesting!") so rigid planning does not do us much good.

[creativepart]

My motorhome came equipped with the Xite system (10.2" main monitor and 7" monitor in front of my wife's chair) which has Rand McNally GPS plus radio, satellite radio, bluetooth, etc. Trips developed on other websites can be imported into the GPS on the RV and I find that super helpful.

I have to admit that I haven't used RVTW yet and that's mostly because I have always used the Rand McNally trip planning website called TripMaker. It's nowhere near as complete as RVTW but like Mike said... sort of, it's what you get used to using that is comfortable.

I plan ALL my RV trips. Even simple ones to destinations I visit frequently. I book all my reservations in advance, plan out the route and transfer the details to my Xite system.

We plan gas stops on Gas Buddy and Google Earth to scope out access. But I don't enter those in the GPS. The gas stop planning is mostly done each morning before driving off. Since we travel no more than 350 miles a day and a tank full will get me 430 miles it's our goal to fill up as close as possible to the end of the day's travel, so we start the next day with a full tank. Being 38' long plus another 20+ for the toad and tow gear you never treat a gas stop as a thing of whimsy. It's planned and scoped out on a SAT image before we leave our campsite.

We have always used the Social Knowledge campground reviews website www.campgroundreviews.com. We've come to know how to pick out the good ones from the not so good and I submit reviews for new places we visit.

We're planning a 3000 mile trip right now. We'll leave July 8th and travel 1500 miles to Akron, OH to visit family. Also, my mother died in April and we were not permitted to have a funeral, so Ohio is now allowing visitors so I can visit my mother's grave for the first time.

I used Google Maps to come up with my route, and picked cities the requisite 250 to 300 miles along the way. Then i used RV Park Reviews to select the actual campgrounds and cities. Now today, I'll start making reservations and entering everything into the RAND TripMaker website for transfer to the RV's GPS.

I suppose that RVTW would do a lot of those chores for me - but I'm 70 years old and just must follow my usual system or my head would hurt (jk).