A tourist in his hometown...
To plan my trip to Maui & Thailand in May, I decided to use the power of Web 2.0. Our group of 14 have been exchanging countless emails to organize group events, share car rental deals, and publishing itineraries, so I thought - there must be a better way! This blog lists several web travel tools, so I decided to test drive the two most popular: TripHub and Yahoo! Travel Planner.
Pros:
- Initial signup is easy.
- Communication features like blog discussions.
- Evite style invitations & RSVP's.
- Ability to track your plans and the group's plans.
- Flight plans tracked.
- Very easy to upload custom photos.
- Countdown notifier to the start of the trip.
- Moveable objects (like Netvibes & Personal Google)
Cons:
- Can't browse trips without signing up.
- No travel database: hotels/attractions are not linked so you don't get any pictures, addresses or reviews. Airport codes are not looked up.
- Too many ads: top, right, middle AND bottom!
- Usability: The Calendar is not smart, the end date doesn't default past the start date. I also got a check-out date error, but it the date was fine so had to reload. Also the events on the main page are not in chronological order.
- Emails should be consolidated (i.e. once a day/ week) instead of firing one of everytime an event or itinerary is updated.
- The Trip Map on the main page is blank, eventhough I have addresses entered.
Summary:
With positive reviews and Frommer's editor's choice, TripHub looked to be the best group trip planning site. However, I gave up after entering half the events. The interface was frustrating, and the lack of a travel database goes against the sharing aspect. Created by Expedia & Microsoft alum, the site has many useful features, but needs a lot more to keep up in this emerging space.
Pros:
- An abundance of travel related info with community updated photos & reviews.
- Flickr integration for posting photos.
- Clean itinerary-like interface.
- Stronger map interface than TripHub
- Trip Journal.
- Larger community for advice & sample itineraries.
Cons:
- Lacking group functionality (i.e. invites).
- Flights and other transportation must be entered manually.
Summary:
If you're looking to plan a big group trip this may not be the way to go. However, Trip Planner's clean interface, large community and a growing base of advice & reviews make it easy to plan and re-visit your trips. And if you use Flickr extensively, its a no-brainer.
I'll update Trip Planner during the Maui & Thailand trips and we'll see how it goes. I've added a link at the top right of the homepage so you can follow my travels.
Pros:
- Initial signup is easy.
- Communication features like blog discussions.
- Evite style invitations & RSVP's.
- Ability to track your plans and the group's plans.
- Flight plans tracked.
- Very easy to upload custom photos.
- Countdown notifier to the start of the trip.
- Moveable objects (like Netvibes & Personal Google)
Cons:
- Can't browse trips without signing up.
- No travel database: hotels/attractions are not linked so you don't get any pictures, addresses or reviews. Airport codes are not looked up.
- Too many ads: top, right, middle AND bottom!
- Usability: The Calendar is not smart, the end date doesn't default past the start date. I also got a check-out date error, but it the date was fine so had to reload. Also the events on the main page are not in chronological order.
- Emails should be consolidated (i.e. once a day/ week) instead of firing one of everytime an event or itinerary is updated.
- The Trip Map on the main page is blank, eventhough I have addresses entered.
Summary:
With positive reviews and Frommer's editor's choice, TripHub looked to be the best group trip planning site. However, I gave up after entering half the events. The interface was frustrating, and the lack of a travel database goes against the sharing aspect. Created by Expedia & Microsoft alum, the site has many useful features, but needs a lot more to keep up in this emerging space.
Pros:
- An abundance of travel related info with community updated photos & reviews.
- Flickr integration for posting photos.
- Clean itinerary-like interface.
- Stronger map interface than TripHub
- Trip Journal.
- Larger community for advice & sample itineraries.
Cons:
- Lacking group functionality (i.e. invites).
- Flights and other transportation must be entered manually.
Summary:
If you're looking to plan a big group trip this may not be the way to go. However, Trip Planner's clean interface, large community and a growing base of advice & reviews make it easy to plan and re-visit your trips. And if you use Flickr extensively, its a no-brainer.
I'll update Trip Planner during the Maui & Thailand trips and we'll see how it goes. I've added a link at the top right of the homepage so you can follow my travels.
Comments:
Victor - thanks for the review. I thought I'd comment on a few of your observations.
1) Regarding browsing trips without signing in... you can browse a trip to which you were invited without registration and sign-in. But most trips on TripHub are private (between folks in exsiting social networks) so we do not arbitrarily expose them for public viewing. Trip organizers can choose to allow public viewing of their trips (would not require sign-in) at their discretion.
2) We have integrated hotel shopping using hotels.com inventory which includes pictures, descriptions and addresses. We also support manual input of any accomodation regardless of where purchased and that input allows for photos etc.
3) We are fixing the calendar control soon. I agree that is a real shortcoming.
4) The events on the main page are in the order most recently entered so that trip participants can get a snapshot of the most recent activity. They are chronological on the event schedule itself. Perhaps we could offer user choice on the main page...
5) We agree that batching notification e-mails makes sense. In the interim, people posting comments and events can uncheck the "notify all" box to reduce the flow of communications. Many of our customers like the frequency of notifications as it keeps them very involved in the "pulse" of the trip planning.
6) The Trip Map on the main page will show the trip locaion but does not currently show pins for specific events and accomodations. Those are on the map view.
Again, thanks for the thoughful review and insights. We have a small team but are working very hard to delight our customers.
John (VP Marketing TripHub Inc.)
1) Regarding browsing trips without signing in... you can browse a trip to which you were invited without registration and sign-in. But most trips on TripHub are private (between folks in exsiting social networks) so we do not arbitrarily expose them for public viewing. Trip organizers can choose to allow public viewing of their trips (would not require sign-in) at their discretion.
2) We have integrated hotel shopping using hotels.com inventory which includes pictures, descriptions and addresses. We also support manual input of any accomodation regardless of where purchased and that input allows for photos etc.
3) We are fixing the calendar control soon. I agree that is a real shortcoming.
4) The events on the main page are in the order most recently entered so that trip participants can get a snapshot of the most recent activity. They are chronological on the event schedule itself. Perhaps we could offer user choice on the main page...
5) We agree that batching notification e-mails makes sense. In the interim, people posting comments and events can uncheck the "notify all" box to reduce the flow of communications. Many of our customers like the frequency of notifications as it keeps them very involved in the "pulse" of the trip planning.
6) The Trip Map on the main page will show the trip locaion but does not currently show pins for specific events and accomodations. Those are on the map view.
Again, thanks for the thoughful review and insights. We have a small team but are working very hard to delight our customers.
John (VP Marketing TripHub Inc.)
All images (c) 2007 Victor Lai, taken on my Canon S3. Email me, or get me on MSN.
I moved back from Vancouver to Calgary Calgary to Vancouver, and this is my photoblog.
Old albums at my retired site:
Recent Photos on Flickr |
my Playlist updated: feb 5'09 |
· raphael saadiq · the way i see it · common · universal mind control · thievery corporation · richest man in babylon · adele · 19 · alicia keys · unplugged · musiq soulchild · onmyradio · metric · live it out · wicked · soundtrack |
Songs of the Moment |
· raphael saadiq · 100 yard dash · thievery corporation · until the morning · thievery corporation · the forgotten people · metric · poster of a girl · q-tip · we fight the love · dashboard confessional · el scorcho (cover) · bat for lashes · sad eyes · ziyo · burn it down |
Old albums at my retired site:
popular Albums |
May07 Maui & Oahu
*ImageStation albums offline*
Oct06 Greece: Santorini Oct06 Greece: Naxos Oct06 Greece: Athens Aug06 Van Gay Pride Parade Feb06 Kicking Horse Ski Trip 2 Jul05 Houseboating Shuswap May05 Vancouver Long Wknd Mar05 Cancun Spring Break 3 Mar05 Cancun Spring Break 2 Mar05 Cancun Spring Break 1 Mar05 Kicking Horse Ski Trip Dec04 Cali T&A to Whistler Oct04 Halloween Club Crawl Sep04 San Francisco w/ T & K Jul04 Stampede w/ the Girls Jul04 Stampede w/ the Boys Apr04 Seattle Overnight Jan04 Lake Tahoe< Dec03NYE Club Crawl Dec03 LB Whistler One / Two Dec03 Coquihalla Lakes |
Visits since 1/1/04
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