GOOD SAM TRIP PLANNER

[woodworker414]

Good HOT evening.
Are Rand McNally and the GS Trip Planner still available?
If so, which model Rand McNally gps?
Is anyone using this setup?
What are your pros and cons?
I like the idea of being able to create a trip, fine tune the route you want to take, pick cg's, attraction, etc.
And then exporting to the gps, and make printed copy.
Does the gps have free lifetime updates?
Can the trip planner export the trip to another brand of gps, such as the Garmin?
I am sure after I post this, I will think of other things that I should have asked. LOL
Thank you for you replies.

[Wanderlost]

For some reason, the GS trip planner has flatly refused to load, no matter which browser I use. Finally gave up and subscribed to RV Trip Wizard, which does 1 and 2 of LeeOdell suggestions. One can also input the monies spent each day, fuel used, etc. As one moves along a projected route, campgrounds pop up, which are linked to reparkreviews.com. I quite like that program, even though not all the campgrounds we've found and used were there (or in the GPS).

I don't know if I can export to our RM/GS GPS. Haven't tried. But I can and do download to an Excel spreadsheet, which helps keep us on budget and on track. And when the RM/GS GPS goes crazy, as it's down several times on this months long trip, we still have the address handy to the next location.

[Toolguy5]

LeeOdell wrote:
I used the planner recently for a 3000+ mile trip we plan to take to the Canadian Rockies this fall. While it has some features that other planners do not have I do have some suggestions that would make it much more useful. (I hope Good Sam Club and Rand McNally are listening):

1. Provide an option for setting a daily limit in miles and or hours, that will help in figuring out where to stop for the night when traveling to a specific destination. So far, I have used Google maps for this and have to guess where to end a day's trip and then go looking for campgrounds.
2. Provide the ability to show circles around a selected point indicating some number of miles, such as 50, 100, 250 and 500, even 'as the crow flies' would be helpful.
3. Allow export of the route to a standard GPS file rather than only allow connection to Rand McN. devices. I know you want to sell more of your devices but I've already got a few hundred invested in another brand. When it comes time to replace it I doubt I'll even look at Rand McNally because of this.

That would be very nice. Now you just have to guess and click.

[LeeOdell]

I used the planner recently for a 3000+ mile trip we plan to take to the Canadian Rockies this fall. While it has some features that other planners do not have I do have some suggestions that would make it much more useful. (I hope Good Sam Club and Rand McNally are listening):

1. Provide an option for setting a daily limit in miles and or hours, that will help in figuring out where to stop for the night when traveling to a specific destination. So far, I have used Google maps for this and have to guess where to end a day's trip and then go looking for campgrounds.
2. Provide the ability to show circles around a selected point indicating some number of miles, such as 50, 100, 250 and 500, even 'as the crow flies' would be helpful.
3. Allow export of the route to a standard GPS file rather than only allow connection to Rand McN. devices. I know you want to sell more of your devices but I've already got a few hundred invested in another brand. When it comes time to replace it I doubt I'll even look at Rand McNally because of this.

[Toolguy5]

Alan_Hepburn wrote:

Toolguy5 wrote:
On long trips I figure out how many miles I want to go and see what campgrounds are around there. So far it has worked great for us.

The last time I looked at the Trip Planner it did not do this - I had to physically measure out the distance myself, unlike Microsoft Streets&Trips, where I tell it when I want to stop driving, and it assigns a stop point which then lets me search for campgrounds within a specified distance from that stop point. Does the Trip Planner now assign stop points along the long routes, or is it still manual?

The way I do it is have it show where campgrounds are at. Then guess and click on them to see distance. I have to add to trip then if I don't like it remove.

[Alan_Hepburn]

Toolguy5 wrote:
On long trips I figure out how many miles I want to go and see what campgrounds are around there. So far it has worked great for us.

The last time I looked at the Trip Planner it did not do this - I had to physically measure out the distance myself, unlike Microsoft Streets&Trips, where I tell it when I want to stop driving, and it assigns a stop point which then lets me search for campgrounds within a specified distance from that stop point. Does the Trip Planner now assign stop points along the long routes, or is it still manual?

[woodworker414]

Thank you Toolguy5

[Toolguy5]

No we have not. We usually know what we want to see in an area we are in.

We do use Points of interest some. Especially if we are on the road and need to find something before we actually get to our destination. Or even if we are out sightseeing and we have time or we change plans and do not have address.

Happy trails.

[woodworker414]

Toolguy5 I did think of another question. Have you used the attractions feature? What do you think of it?

[Toolguy5]

Glad to be of assistance.

[woodworker414]

Toolguy5, thanks for the reply.
You answered the questions I had.

[Toolguy5]

I have the RVND 7 it comes with lifetime maps. It will suggest 2 routes, using the parameters you have plugged into the settings. If you want to pick your own routes you can use the GoodSam trip planner and move your routes around with your mouse. It will create a waypoint. Then you can upload the route to the GPS.

Using the Good Sam trip planner when planning trips. This gives me ideas of the routes. On long trips I figure out how many miles I want to go and see what campgrounds are around there. So far it has worked great for us.