If you ask me, this is something that might get really big and boom, and it’s already on TechChrcunch 50 Finalists. GoPlanit.com is the site to help you plan and schedule your trip A-Z. You start by specifiying your destination, and then you will get the list of top hotels, restauratans, and activities. But this is all too typical. What’s unique is, you can start planning your trip there by creating an itenary than can be public to others, or private to your self. You will specify the arrive and departure dates, then through a slick AJAX interface start nailing down what you want to do each hour of every day. You get to pick from the list of available places, or create and add your own attraction, which will show as a Recognitio award on your page. An estimated cost of the trip will be added to the net total as well if a price is associated with, say a restaurant.
What makes this travel site potential to me is:
- It allows you to easily visualise and manage your trip, get some assistance from others who’ve been there while doing it.
- Your trip then will be a reference for others, if you allow it, thus enriching the whole site content.
- Ability to share your trip plan with the friends and family traveling with you.
I would not feel comfortable however sharing all my trip details with others ahead of time. Personally, I would keep it private, and then reedit it after my return and share it with others. In any way, the site content is still being built and gathered, so lots and lots of places will return empty results, so that’ something they should be working on, and they seem to be heading in the right direction.
A cool thing to have I guess once the site has rich enough content is some intelligence. Imagine a lazy trip planner like me saying I wanna spend 1 week in Barcelona, I like historic places, science and technology, sport, and voila! Planned trips to the Museum of City of Barcelona, some tours for science & technology museums, malls, and a ticket for the derby match as well :). How cool would that be?
If you do sign-up however, you may want to step into the privacy section of your settings, make sure you have everything as per your convenience. Otherwise, everything you do (even gift buying) is public.
Popularity: 14% [?]
A relative of mine introduced me to this site a while a go, and I have to say it’s a must to check before you pick your seats for your next flight. SeatGuru is the site offering seating information for all major worldwide airlines. How often would you pick a seat thinking it’s good only to find out it’s near the jet engine, the bathroom, or there would be a better chair with more leg room just two rows infront.
The content is generated by online community, however registration seems to be controlled by the site owners to ensure content quality.
To use the site, simply search for your desired airlines, pick airplane model, and browse through the seats to find the most suitable.
NOTE: You may be tempted to try and search for Kuwait Airlines. Save your breath, you’re not gonna find it. This may seem disappointing first, but on a second thought, who is traveling on Kuwait airlines anyways? Service is bad, airplanes are so old, they are so expensive, and they have so few destinations.
Popularity: 18% [?]
