
Ask HN: What is your trip planning workflow? - vsax
	I&#x27;m curious about how people go about planning a trip starting from the thought that they need to go on a vacation.<p>I&#x27;ll start: I am a Product Manager working in NYC<p>I usually have a list of places I want to check out, like Iceland, New Zealand. I also periodically look on Travelzoo for any vacation packages.<p>After I know where to go - I book my flights on Kayak and<p>Then I go and research the web&#x2F;google&#x2F;TripAdvisor etc to find out what to do when I get there. Like what cities, what points of interest, what restaurants etc.<p>I copy and paste the information in a spreadsheet or a document including addresses and any other information.<p>Then comes the painstaking part.<p>I then decide what to do on Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 etc by looking at proximity of these places in Google Maps and duration of these activities and then create a tentative daily schedule.<p>I then book my hotels on hotels.com or booking.com. Not too much into Airbnb unless I am going with a group of people.<p>Then I put this document on a Google Drive or print it out so I can consume this info while I am on my trip.<p>Wondering if other people put in the same effort and what their workflow is.
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lsiunsuex
We start seriously discussing vacation about 2 or 3 months before we think we
want to go. We leave this Friday, so we started in February.

We start with the hotel - as Las Vegas can vary greatly day to day based on
what conferences are happening / DJs playing, holidays occurring - we pick 2
or 3 hotels we want to possibly stay at and I start building an excel sheet of
which consecutive 6-7 days is the cheapest and where. Once that's decided,
book the hotel and flight. Our flight to LV is always via SouthWest. Anywhere
else, just choose which airline is the cheapest for the time we want to leave
and return. Same for the car rental - once we know which days we're going,
choose the cheapest not shady looking rental company that has the car we want.

After that, it's just a matter of brain storming what we want to do when we
get there and start buying tickets or booking reservations once it gets a bit
closer. This year, we've booked shows or night clubs for almost every day of
the trip already. Had to get an itinerary app so can remember when and where,
lol...

Otherwise, we've only ever been to all inclusive resorts in the Caribbean and
those are pretty much just decide when, book and go. We just do the package
deals; flight, hotel and transportation to the resort.

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bonesinger
I did it in reverse. I used points for my flights and hotels and booked those
first. I had a rough itinerary planned. Going to Tokyo -> Osaka -> Hakone ->
Tokyo. Once I booked all the rooms first, then I planned activities. Hakone
was the hardest to book since it was a hot springs hotel and I got lucky with
an opening.

I figured out what I wanted to do and then matched that up with the days. I
ended up removing stuff since jet lag and delays can always ruin the best
plans. My days are more guidelines now. I know if I want to go do something, I
can and have a list of things, but if I don't feel well or just feel like
exploring, I can do that too.

Edit: I made a google doc, then turned it into a spreadsheet. I also have a
TripIT account and used that for any travel notifications. I also added all
the locations to google maps and plan to download them in case of bad cell
service. I also looked into Maps.me.

~~~
warsharks
have you done that trip yet? if not i envy you. make sure to head to the
outskirts of tokyo and check out kamakura and the awesome kawasaki warehouse
before you leave

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warsharks
places i usually already have in mind, i usually get my flights on skyscanner
but after that things get complicated, im known as the organised one of the
group so i usually set everything out.

i start off researching the city as fully as i can, check out all the usual
places like trip advisor but often hitting up the reddit for whichever city
you are visiting can offer some really interesting possibilities, its also
great for finding out about music events that may otherwise be hard to find
out about.

after that i split the trip up, i never stay at a single hotel the whole trip,
ill pick a few in different areas of the city where there are different things
to do, it makes you explore the city a bit more. i dont do airbnb or hostels
but im not above guest houses or low end hotels.

i dont stop there though, once hotels are booked ill still keep checking hotel
sites at least a few times a week to see if any deals for better places come
up, if they do i cancel the old and rebook. it pays not to have too rigid a
schedule though as things dont always go quite as you plan them to

i dont write any of this down though, i generally just memorise it all (ive
usually spent so long researching it that its burned into my brain!) as long
as i have google maps for navigation im set (i never travel without a data
connection these days)

of course this method only really works if youre visiting big cities, and if
im honest its a while since ive done any that werent in japan (but if youve
been there you probably understand why that is, and if you havent then its
time to start planning a trip!) next month it all begins again for me as ill
be booking my flights to head back to the land of the rising sun in november

