To get the most out of a trip, savvy travelers are increasingly realizing that they need to do more than simply purchase cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages. Advance planning can make a big difference in a trips success.
Two new travel resources have come out from Spot World and Pinnr that merge travel guide content and itinerary making tools so that users can research a destination and create custom itineraries that can be transported via digital devices. Digital itineraries allow travelers to adjust, rate and delete items as a trip proceeds and lets users create trips based on specific tastes, such as culinary tours of San Francisco.
The SpotWorld app and Pinnr website are good for quickly creating general tour itineraries. The tools offered provide all the usual recommended monuments, museums and neighborhoods. However, tourists looking for locals only information will need to visit other sites.
Both SpotWorld and Pinnr encourage users to post their itineraries on Facebook, with the hope that their friends can suggest additional places to visit.
SpotWorld is a free iPhone app that can create itineraries for 32 cities based on its travel guide content and recommendations from social networks. It is simply to use and offers audio recordings useful for people already traveling.
The Pinnr website is a virtual travel planner than empower users to generate an hour by hour itinerary based on answers to a series of questions about the trip, including dates, length of stay, theme, intensity (easygoing, moderate or vigorous), and luxury level. Currently only 20 cities are available, four which are in North America. www.cheapfares.com