Mapquest VS GPS trip planner

[rideswithchrist]

What do you use to plan your route?
I have a paper atlas because I roll like that, but also want to plug in a plan that gives us an estimated drive time and arrival time.
Our TOMTOM is outdated (2007) and has been discontinued so we are going to get another...can you plan a trip on it with multiple stops?

I like the way tech works, just not the annoying process to set it up.

*Our trip plans changed because instead of just heading to Houston and then straight on I10 to Florida, we will be heading up LA to Ringgold to stay overnight with Bill Conly's family-( long story, my hubby emailed him to let him know he loved his music and could not get a copy of his CD, Mr. Conly sent My hubby a signed copy and passed away a few months later. He has kept in touch with Bill's family and talked my girls and I into going to see Mrs. Conly and sing her a song or two that Bill wrote.)

 

[PaHunter]

I use mapquest, and good sam trip planner (you have to be a member to use the later). Now we are looking at a new GPS, but of course we need one that sets a route for big rigs. I always add time to the trip planner, for bathroom stops, doggie breaks, etc.

 

[rideswithchrist]

Hmm. We did AAA last time and got some printable maps- I had forgotten that we planned on renewing before heading that way.
I'll update when we get a new GPS and get to mess with it some.

 

[Teamubr]

I have used Google Maps for a long time. My cell phone is my GPS. I have a windshield mount and run Google Maps. It is frighteningly accurate and updates with current traffic info and suggests reroutes in real time based on other peoples travel times. If you set your trip up at home while on wifi, it will download the maps on wifi and uses very little data while on the road, even for a 1000 trip.

j

 

[Disneypeach]

I have a garmin rv gps which can be set to your rv’s requirements, height, length, etc to avoid issues with bridges etc. I don’t remember the model number; I’ve used it for several years. I load the route before I leave home... I like it but like all tech it can make mistakes or take me a longer route than I know I can handle. But it is good about alerting me to traffic issues, accidents or even just changes in the speed limit.

My nieces named it Phyllis...and no, I don’t know why...

 

[FtW Mike]

When we decide on a place to go I do a quick Google Map search. It has been for years now my go to. I get idea of construction and current conditions as well as ideal conditions travel time and distance. I consider it a good starting point. Next up is Good Sam exclusive trip planning function. This requires a paid membership as PaHunter indicated but it works very well for us. This also has a number of sub functions that find useful. We can look up Campgrounds on our route, location of rest stops, Pilot/Flyin J fuel stops and more , but theses are the ones we mostly use. Once in the coach we rely on the GPS. We have had a Magellan for several years for work reasons and prefer them but our new coach has a Garmin and like Disney Peach it has function that allows us to indicate what sort of vehicle we are in and the size of same ie Height,Length. and Width so we do look at that as well.

 

[parrothead64]

Waze

 

[tiggerdad]

I use The Force.

When that fails, I typically use Google Map in advance to plan out my trip mainly for fuel stops and overnight locations then use my in truck navigation to preset these locations. To be honest, I usually will just note the particular exit numbers and just wing it from there on several occasions.

Funny you mention the old TOMTOM. I too had a 2007 and it was funny. Whenever I went to WDW that sucker was accurate right down to the spot in the parking lot you wanted to be in. Then, in places like Gulf Shores, AL it would be off by several hundred yards. Current navigation in truck is pretty good for me. I updated the maps in it last year and will plan to do so again about every 2-3 years.

 

[JETS70]

My new Chevy has Android Auto built into the radio / backup display. It works directly off my phone. I push a button and tell it what to search for and it will display the results using Google Maps. I can have it search for gas stations, restaurants or other locations I might need to find. It works really well as it gives real time traffic updates. If there is an accident or construction delays, it will notify me and ask if I want to take an alternate route. As with any other GPS, it doesn't take into consideration what you are towing when determining your route. We also when possible will use Google Maps on the laptop at home and get arial views of gas stations to determine which are RV friendly. Teresa always makes note in her phone of the exits that are RV friendly for us and we try and plan around that information also.

Steve

 

[rideswithchrist]

Great tips!

I can't say I always trust Google maps, it has gotten me lost twice- once it directed everyone to a person's HOUSE instead of the Convention Center....they even had a sign outside because it happened regularly. Of course, our Tomtom also tried to lead us down one-way streets the wrong way, so I guess there is nothing to say tech is fail proof.

I thought of just using our phones but I don't want to eat up our data when I can just use a GPS plus a Google search ahead of time. (Do GPS apps use data???)
Part of me wants to just get in the car with the atlas and head out like we did 15 years ago hahaha.

Funny you mention the old TOMTOM. I too had a 2007 and it was funny. Whenever I went to WDW that sucker was accurate right down to the spot in the parking lot you wanted to be in. Then, in places like Gulf Shores, AL it would be off by several hundred yards. Current navigation in truck is pretty good for me. I updated the maps in it last year and will plan to do so again about every 2-3 years.

Yup- we all got a kick out of ours showing us in the middle of a field somewhere because the calibration was way off. We were going to just update our maps, but we got an email from TomTom saying that our model would no longer be able to get map updates...and they offered us a measly 10% off an upgraded model.

 

[rideswithchrist]

As with any other GPS, it doesn't take into consideration what you are towing when determining your route. We also when possible will use Google Maps on the laptop at home and get arial views of gas stations to determine which are RV friendly. Teresa always makes note in her phone of the exits that are RV friendly for us and we try and plan around that information also.

Steve

This is brilliant!

 

[Teamubr]

(Do GPS apps use data???)

Phone GPS (Google Maps, Waze, Apple (I'm hopelessly lost) Map) does use a little data, but just to download the maps files. This can be done at home in advance while on wifi. The actual GPS locationing does not use data. If you have traffic turned on, it will also use a bit of data. None of this is much. I used my phone traveling all over the country and the data usage was not noticeable. If you have very little data (less than 1 gig), you would probably notice it, but even a 1000 mile trip to the Fort would still leave you plenty of the 1 gig.

j

 

[himandher818]

We also when possible will use Google Maps on the laptop at home and get arial views of gas stations to determine which are RV friendly

I did the same when planning my trip, and since I prefer Pilot/Flying J for the Good Sam fuel discount I also used their web site trip planning at it showed me all the stations along my route.

I used the satellite view and street view to see which ones looked easiest to get in and out of. If the street view showed a rig bigger than mine (which is most of them) getting gas, then I figured I do it too.

 

[PaHunter]

I did the same when planning my trip, and since I prefer Pilot/Flying J for the Good Sam fuel discount I also used their web site trip planning at it showed me all the stations along my route.

I used the satellite view and street view to see which ones looked easiest to get in and out of. If the street view showed a rig bigger than mine (which is most of them) getting gas, then I figured I do it too.

We have done the same in the past. Now of course we need the truck lanes, and wow does fuel add up fast.

 

[rideswithchrist]

Sounds like I'll just plan and download the route to my phone and also look ahead at likely gas stops and not bother getting a GPS.

 

[4077]

After the last few years of your needing to postpone for various reasons, I am excited to join you on your trip on here! Hope it is awesome!! Safe travels and will be anxiously awaiting the updates as they come

 

[4077]

Double post.....

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Google maps took me accurately from Florida to Maine then to Philly then to Tennessee and back to Florida without a single hiccup.

 

[rideswithchrist]

After the last few years of your needing to postpone for various reasons, I am excited to join you on your trip on here! Hope it is awesome!! Safe travels and will be anxiously awaiting the updates as they come

Thank you so much! My 10 year old asked "are you 100% sure we are going, or only 75% sure?" We will make it happen for sure- it has been a LONG 2 years with those cancellations.

Google maps took me accurately from Florida to Maine then to Philly then to Tennessee and back to Florida without a single hiccup.

Great to know! I figure even if a few roads are off, we aught to get there eventually ha.