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Google Trips is a killer travel app for the modern tourist

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Re: Google Trips is a killer travel app for the modern tourist

#71

Post by baby »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #40
baby wrote: post #34

I'm using it right now, and it looks like I can't share the details of my next trip with my trip mates. This is kind of a deal breaker. Anyone has the same issue? I love the idea though, picking a 48 hours list from someone. I wanted to do a website like that years ago, called 48hoursInaCity.com or something, where you could upvote a 48hours tour of the city and choose the one you wanted. Okay, second issue: I can't…

If you forward yourself the email with your plane tickets, trips should pick them up. But it is a huge pain if your flight, hotel, and car reservations go to different emails. The app doesn't consolidate anything, even between Gmail accounts, and switching accounts requires a restart of the app

Doesn't seem to work :/

Re: Google Trips is a killer travel app for the modern tourist

#72

Post by matwood »

kyletns wrote: post #62

While this app obviously has a few incredibly useful-looking features, am I the only one who feels travel is best done talking with locals ? Asking your hotel manager for recommendations - THAT'S how to travel well. See a slice of pizza that looks good? Go ASK the guy where he got it. Do we really believe we can Google/Yelp our way to a genuinely local experience? Or do we think that local experiences start with loca…

> am I the only one who feels travel is best done talking with locals?

I've always found locals to be hit and miss. From my own stand point, I would not recommend the touristy things to do in my town even though every tourist should probably do them. Same with restaurants. Locals in a given area also do not know my tastes.

What I do love is talking to locals about the history of the location. I had an AirBnB experience in Hvar, Croatia where the host lived in the bottom floor apartment. He grilled out one night with some friends he had in town from Germany, and invited us over. We had an amazing conversation about the history of Croatia with some people who were very patient with us since we could not effortlessly switch between German, Croatian and English.

Re: Google Trips is a killer travel app for the modern tourist

#73

Post by orthoganol »

cheriot wrote: post #59

You can't have a travel guide without an editorial voice. There's a huge gap in travel for tooling, and this is a really good addition, but that's not enough by itself. Lonely Planet et al haven't changed meaningfully since the internet was invented , but compare the amount of time people spend looking at a travel guide vs anything with advertising on it. The Priceline Group spent over 5B in 2015 marketing while all…

I think if this were true TripAdvisor would already have won. In my global travels TA has easily been the best resource for mountains of decent reviews and meaningful "top lists" from people like me. It's not even close, IMO. (Although country/ city specific subreddits can be pretty good too). I also don't actually book through TA and see no need to. I just hop on Kayak, whose interface, filters, map, best prices, ease of booking is something I doubt TA could match.

Re: Google Trips is a killer travel app for the modern tourist

#74

Post by avitzurel »

orthoganol wrote: post #73
cheriot wrote: post #59

You can't have a travel guide without an editorial voice. There's a huge gap in travel for tooling, and this is a really good addition, but that's not enough by itself. Lonely Planet et al haven't changed meaningfully since the internet was invented , but compare the amount of time people spend looking at a travel guide vs anything with advertising on it. The Priceline Group spent over 5B in 2015 marketing while all…

I think if this were true TripAdvisor would already have won. In my global travels TA has easily been the best resource for mountains of decent reviews and meaningful "top lists" from people like me. It's not even close, IMO. (Although country/ city specific subreddits can be pretty good too). I also don't actually book through TA and see no need to. I just hop on Kayak, whose interface, filters, map, best prices, ea…

This. This is why travel is an insanely hard business. I've been an engineer in the travel business for almost 6 years now and this is a behavior I see constantly (and I am not saying it's bad, don't get me wrong).

Often people think that if you create just the right product you will win both the usage and the booking funnels but it's almost impossible to change the behavior of people and the psychology behind the booking.

What you see is two completely separate funnels (with different users), one will use your product and one will come for 3 minutes, book and never come back again.

Re: Google Trips is a killer travel app for the modern tourist

#75

Post by skinnymuch »

jakebasile wrote: post #12
electriclove wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm very disappointed with being unable to use so many Google apps. Has anyone recently transitioned from a Google Apps account to a regular Google account? Yup, I'm considering it..

It's not an option for me. I have so much attached to my Apps account that it would be a net loss. Email is one thing, but domains, purchases, my YouTube account, Maps reviews, etc. are different stories. At this point I've just given up. Google has no desire to make Apps accounts usable with any of their new products so I just ignore them. Google Now doesn't really have a counterpart but Siri can handle some of the…

Can you really not use all those services with a Google Apps account? That seems insane to me! Those are so many services!!

I do have two Google Apps accounts. Luckily I only ever used them for email.

Re: Google Trips is a killer travel app for the modern tourist

#76

Post by skinnymuch »

tedmiston wrote: post #64
guard-of-terra wrote: post #29

Sounds totally like a promotional piece. Count "It's recommended that you check opening hours before visiting." That's how you do UX these days? Anyway, I'm pretty happy with skyscanner, maps.me, tripadvisor and booking (they have crappy UI tho, check alternatives in countries where they're viable).

That seems like an allusion to seasonal hours and whatnot to me. AFAIK none of the travel POI apps account for aspects like that today. Aside: I got frustrated that none of them offer tracking brunch hours, so I made a one-page site for my city that has just that ( http://www.qcbrunch.com ). I'd like to do the same for kitchen hours at bars.

I like seeing local enthusiast pages like this.

It would be nice to see a clear last updated date somewhere since most pages of this kind stop getting updated.

I was able to see from the Github link that it is indeed being updated like your page says, but I'm not sure if everyone would understand the Github interface. Might just feel overwhelmed immediately? I could be wrong though!

Thanks for reminding me that I'd like to do similar info for local areas around me.

Re: Google Trips is a killer travel app for the modern tourist

#77

Post by joshschreuder »

cheriot wrote: post #59

You can't have a travel guide without an editorial voice. There's a huge gap in travel for tooling, and this is a really good addition, but that's not enough by itself. Lonely Planet et al haven't changed meaningfully since the internet was invented , but compare the amount of time people spend looking at a travel guide vs anything with advertising on it. The Priceline Group spent over 5B in 2015 marketing while all…

I really like the superfuture guides (http://superfuture.com/supershop). They lean heavily towards shopping (and clothing in particular), but having read the ones for NY and Tokyo, they also have a whole heap of genuinely interesting places that something like a Lonely Planet doesn't have.

With that said, their app experience is kind of fragmented and not that strong IMO. But worth a look if you're travelling to one of the countries they cover.

Re: Google Trips is a killer travel app for the modern tourist

#78

Post by jakebasile »

skinnymuch wrote: post #75
jakebasile wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not an option for me. I have so much attached to my Apps account that it would be a net loss. Email is one thing, but domains, purchases, my YouTube account, Maps reviews, etc. are different stories. At this point I've just given up. Google has no desire to make Apps accounts usable with any of their new products so I just ignore them. Google Now doesn't really have a counterpart but Siri can handle some of the…

Can you really not use all those services with a Google Apps account? That seems insane to me! Those are so many services!! I do have two Google Apps accounts. Luckily I only ever used them for email.

This Trips app, Fi, family sharing, their "spaces" app are all locked out. You can use Google now but it won't use anything but search history to customize.

It's mind boggling.

Re: Google Trips is a killer travel app for the modern tourist

#80

Post by mattnumbe »

pfranz wrote: post #67
kyletns wrote: post #62

While this app obviously has a few incredibly useful-looking features, am I the only one who feels travel is best done talking with locals ? Asking your hotel manager for recommendations - THAT'S how to travel well. See a slice of pizza that looks good? Go ASK the guy where he got it. Do we really believe we can Google/Yelp our way to a genuinely local experience? Or do we think that local experiences start with loca…

Locals are commonly a poor source of good information. I definitely wouldn't use them as an exclusive source. I make it a habit when going to the other side of town when running an errand to ask the teller where's a good place to grab lunch. More often than not they'll point to something like a Subway or KFC across the street. Their priorities are generally something quick and cheap. It's just too easy to live some p…

I agree. I find that if I'm in a place where it's easy to pick out expats (Asia), you can get some really good information about the uniqueness of the place you're visiting.
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