Community Forums

HighDesert · 07-11-2021, 03:40 PM

We are considering upgrading to a better trip planner (RV Trip Wizard), but have only seen some online reviews, youtube's etc for comments. Is this still considered the best of the bunch for long trip planning and does it really provide all the needed information for motorhome travel? One of the things I would like to know is does this program give you adequate data for fuel stops and if the station is adequate for MH's? So far, I have only seen Flying J / Pilot provide this data.

wrsleeth · 07-11-2021, 07:04 PM

I have been using this program for three years and have looked at some others, I am staying here because it has a good platform and I find most of my travel plans with it. I feel safe because it knows my RV and my Toad, I don't get into trouble.

Skilletface · 07-12-2021, 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HighDesert

We are considering upgrading to a better trip planner (RV Trip Wizard), but have only seen some online reviews, youtube's etc for comments. Is this still considered the best of the bunch for long trip planning and does it really provide all the needed information for motorhome travel? One of the things I would like to know is does this program give you adequate data for fuel stops and if the station is adequate for MH's? So far, I have only seen Flying J / Pilot provide this data.

I am still in the learning curve with RV Trip Wizard and how it integrates with RV Life, I think some folks are still having issues as well. For my money IMHO it is a top shelf planner and guidance platform. You set up your RV profile, height, length and type, you can also choose an option for passenger vehicle routing.
There is a driving radius feature which can be predetermined by the user, I use that to determine my fuel stops. Select what company (Pilot,TA,Wal-Mart or local) from a menu and search POI. Bring up the Gas Buddy app. and shop for best price. There is an off line feature for when a cell signal or GPS gets spotty. Once you figure how Trip Wizard and RV Life work you’ll like it.

pbucha · 07-12-2021, 05:00 AM

There is nothing else out there that does everything that RV Trip Wizard does. As for additional fuel locations, in addition to the big truck chains, just choose "Misc Gas Stations" from the POI menu to see the all those smaller locations.

HighDesert · 07-12-2021, 11:22 PM

Thanks for all the positive replies. Looks like I’ll be getting RBI’s softwares for our upcoming 9 state trip.

EcoTraveler · 12-06-2021, 07:20 AM

I had the same question, so I test drove the Trip Wizard app. I test planned a trip out of our neighborhood over to our one of our favorite spots and Trip Wizard took us through a private neighborhood that was not even open to through traffic and there is no way a 30ft RV with a toad can fit through. We tested another route and came across a similar issue. Am I wrong? I really do want an app that can help me plan trips. Any thoughts?

**pasdad1** · 12-06-2021, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EcoTraveler

I had the same question, so I test drove the Trip Wizard app. I test planned a trip out of our neighborhood over to our one of our favorite spots and Trip Wizard took us through a private neighborhood that was not even open to through traffic and there is no way a 30ft RV with a toad can fit through. We tested another route and came across a similar issue. Am I wrong? I really do want an app that can help me plan trips. Any thoughts?

The trip wizard GPS app on a phone is separate from the trip wizard website for trip planning. We use the trip wizard for “planning”, and then just plug-in the address for next stop into our Garmin RV GPS. It’s the planning of where you want to go that takes the most time and effort, and where RV Trip Wizard shines…… turn by turn directions is best handled by Garmin.

EcoTraveler · 12-06-2021, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pasdad1

The trip wizard GPS app on a phone is separate from the trip wizard website for trip planning. We use the trip wizard for “planning”, and then just plug-in the address for next stop into our Garmin RV GPS. It’s the planning of where you want to go that takes the most time and effort, and where RV Trip Wizard shines…… turn by turn directions is best handled by Garmin.

The Website boasts the ability to "customize RV safe routes to the height and weight" of my RV and that is what i wanted to test out. I should probably run another test to see if it can recommend "RV safe" road/highway routes in terms grade, road curves, and height limits - as opposed to discounting it altogether based on its performance on neighborhood routes.

RVStitchy · 12-06-2021, 04:36 PM

Been using it for 1.5 years and will continue. It is not perfect so do not trust it as your only source of information. I have learned when going to an unfamiliar destination to do 2 things:

1. Double check your final destination with google maps on satellite. Verify the final destination shows RVs. On one occasion the State Park was in the wrong location and we had to back track 10 miles to go from a State Park Boat Ramp to the actual camp site.

2. If you are going through tough and questionable terrain (i.e. Mountains) find out from your destination the best routes to get in and out. On one occasion we were going to an RV Resort in North Carolina and the resort had clear directions to get in that conflicted with RV trip wizard.

In both situation I sent an email to RV Trip Wizard and they responded immediately with a positive "we will fix this" attitude.

On gas, I like the icon that you get that shows a gas stop required when you hit your preset reserve. In our case it is 1/4 tank. Based on our size we only use truck stops. I am ok not getting the cheapest gas in order to guarantee we are in and out without a problem.

Lastly, it takes some time to get use to the travel times. I have found that using a fixed average speed of 55 mph works well for long highway drives. But when going through mountain roads it is best to use the Wizard speeds. Hard to explain in a brief post but takes a little experimenting to get a good read on drive time.

**pasdad1** · 12-06-2021, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EcoTraveler

The Website boasts the ability to "customize RV safe routes to the height and weight" of my RV and that is what i wanted to test out. I should probably run another test to see if it can recommend "RV safe" road/highway routes in terms grade, road curves, and height limits - as opposed to discounting it altogether based on its performance on neighborhood routes.

Have you setup your RV parameters (height, weight,etc) into the website?

Bylandorsea · 12-06-2021, 05:58 PM

Can you download the app to your phone and IPad then plan on a PC all for one price?

pbucha · 12-07-2021, 03:19 AM

The home page lays it out fairly clearly: https://rvlife.com/
Plan on a computer or table with RV Trip Wizard first, navigate the trip you have planned (and vetted) with the app.

timjet · 12-09-2021, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pasdad1

The trip wizard GPS app on a phone is separate from the trip wizard website for trip planning. We use the trip wizard for “planning”, and then just plug-in the address for next stop into our Garmin RV GPS. It’s the planning of where you want to go that takes the most time and effort, and where RV Trip Wizard shines…… turn by turn directions is best handled by Garmin.

I do this as well.

Bylandorsea · 12-10-2021, 07:59 AM

After all the recommendations on irv2, I purchased RV Trip Wizard / RV LIFE Pro. It is a great tool and will make our trip planning much easier it was well worth the $$. Thanks to all taking time to help make our shared hobby better. Great tip!!!