RV Trip Wizard Reviews

[F76Marion]

With the demise of both Street Atlas and Streets and Trips, I have been searching. I had hope that RVTW might be it, but you can't take it on the road with you unless you plan every stop to have internet. That is a big issue. Do these people know that not everybody has satellite internet? Yes, we have a smart phone and a repeater and can tether the laptop, but we have been a long time between towers in the west. Get into the mountains, and the phone is toast.

The others you could carry and update at fuel stops. Because GasBuddy does such a good job, the navigator frequently calls for a stop before the scheduled because the next state is expensive. With a running system, we can include that stop and it shuffles all the rest so we know when to start looking again. Without that, it would cost us a lot more to travel.

When we find an unanticipated attraction or one we had planned doesn't work out, we have trouble replanning the travel and stops. We seldom use crampground except for the destination. So we used the overlays for overnight parking a lot.

We live in Michigan, so the ring tool is completely useless unless we are going north or south. I was ready to spring, but then I realized that it was 39$ a year. That might not be an issue for some of you, but its ROI is low when comparing it other resources.

I'll wait until the stand alone version is ready, then maybe.

Frank

[Janet H]

There are some new features in Trip Wizard including the ability to send a trip to google maps on your mobile device for turn by turn navigation but we are anticipating a major update with many more improvements.

If you use Trip Wizard or another planner and would be interested in being a volunteer beta tester for upcoming release, we would like your help. New features, need real world testing by real world RVers and so we would like your input prior to release of the new version!

You don't need to be a current account holder at RV Trip Wizard to participate in the beta test but you will be asked to submit comments and feedback based on your use experience. You will need an internet connection to participate as this is an interactive app rather than a software download. If you are a current user of RV Trip Wizard, the beta testing will not affect your current account or trips.

How to participate: Click here to fill out a questionnaire: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...ewform?c=0&w=1

Once we have selected the beta team, we will contact you with further instructions.

Here's a quick peek and the pending release.

[discus277]

Hi Janet H

I received the email invitation to be a beta tester and have filled out the form to request it.

I currently use a combination of MSFT Streets and Trips and Google Maps on my laptop. I also use a great iPhone app - Allstays Camp and RV

I have played with the Trip Wizard some and like some of the features but did not think it was quite up to the standards of those other planning tools

I would like to try it again ...when are the beta testers going to be notified?
Also you have mentioned several times that it is being reworked with several new features....what are they?

Thanks, Jim

[Janet H]

The beta test volunteers will be contacted later this week (giving some time for folks to sign up).

Regarding new features....a few have already been rolled out on the full version. You can export trips now to mobile devices that have google maps installed. Maps loads are faster, during trip planning, and there are few more tweaks.

This beta test however for is for a rewrite of the trip planner where the trip planner interface has been redesigned. All the existing functionality is being retained and new features added. We are at the point of needed feedback and input from users.

One of the big challenges the older trip planner has was that while it's a very robust tool, many of the functions were largely unused because they were buried under menus - folks just didn't know they were there. Sometimes even power users are surprised to find a hidden feature and we hope this rewrite will make a substantial improvement in this regard.

[DrDaveMA]

Janet, has any consideration been given to having the app work without connection to the server, many times while traveling we do not have a cell connection so the current version is not useable?

[budwilson]

Originally Posted by JFN

I have been using it for a couple years, The most annoying thing is the ring tool, as it calculates as the crow flies not driving miles. Other than that I find it useful.

Before I found RVTP I used the old Sams club trip planner which I liked. the new one is useless as far as i am concerned.

I agree on the old Sams RV trip planner. I had the site save and used it when they changed but now I can't access it either.

[USCGMech]

Is a list of GPS devices that the Trip planner can export to available?

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by DrDaveMA

Janet, has any consideration been given to having the app work without connection to the server, many times while traveling we do not have a cell connection so the current version is not useable?

Yes, this is being considered but not currently available. You can however, export a trip to a pdf of spread sheet.

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by USCGMech

Is a list of GPS devices that the Trip planner can export to available?

The Trip Planner should work with most gps units. Trip Wizard generates .csv files and these can be loaded to most gps units although you may (depending on the unit) need an additional (and free) bit of software from the gps maker.

Another option is to send your trip to your smart phone and if you have google maps installed, it can give you turn by turn navigation.

[Adam1219]

I have used this planner extensively over the past couple of months.

1. The VETS are way out of date. Most have the wrong addresses listed and 10% do not exist any longer. I looked up over 50 Vets it listed and found 75% of the information was inaccurate.

2. It's missing a lot of the Flying J and/or Pilot fuel stations.

3. My project is very large. Loading is very slow. Response is also very slow when sliding the map.

I'm not a huge fan but considering what is available this at least works. It's not the best but it's also not the worst. I have a 20 year background in I.T. and I understand the research time but I paid for this product and I expected better.

[NLOVNIT]

RVTW relies on members to keep the database current. It's a fairly new acquisition by Social Knowledge & wasn't kept up to date by the prior owner.

If a campground or stop is missing or is incorrect, please click on the Missing Campground tab, provide as much info as you can & the site team will get it added to the database as soon as they can.

Lori-

[Cacique]

A little expensive dont you think

[FreeLunch]

Originally Posted by Adam1219

I have used this planner extensively over the past couple of months.

1. The VETS are way out of date. Most have the wrong addresses listed and 10% do not exist any longer. I looked up over 50 Vets it listed and found 75% of the information was inaccurate.

2. It's missing a lot of the Flying J and/or Pilot fuel stations.

3. My project is very large. Loading is very slow. Response is also very slow when sliding the map.

I'm not a huge fan but considering what is available this at least works. It's not the best but it's also not the worst. I have a 20 year background in I.T. and I understand the research time but I paid for this product and I expected better.

Adam - The new version of RVTW will be released soon. I believe you'll be pleased with the new version.

1) It's much faster -- sometimes up to 100x faster when loading long trips. We've significantly improved the time to open very large trips.

2) I think you'll need to be more specific about which Flying J / Pilot fuel stations are missed. We got a list of those direct from the source about two months ago.

3) In the new version we've made it much easier to search for area attractions. We're pulling area attraction/POI data from the leader in internet data. Another way you can look for information is using the Pet Hospital POI. This data isn't as recent as the other data and something we'll work on refreshing.

Let me know what you think about the new version. We'll be making more announcements shortly.

[FreeLunch]

Originally Posted by Cacique

A little expensive dont you think

Cacique - please see the post just above this about the new version we're about to release. When we release it, try out the demo and see what you think. If you like it, you can sign up. Even if you sign up and figure out it's not right for you, we'll give you a full refund if you make the request within 30 days.

With that said, we've invested a significant amount of resources and time to get this version out the door. It's been over a year of effort to get it to this point. In the future, we're expecting to release smaller updates more frequently. This will mean that the product will get continually better in the time that you are subscribed to it!