Congrats! You’ve survived yet another year. Singaporeans seem to be flying off left, right, and centre for their EOY trips, and you can’t help but succumb to the travel bug too. The only thing that stands between you and strutting through the departure gate is the whole ordeal of planning. Please, not more work … To take the stress out of vacation prep, here are some free travel itinerary planners.
From AI-powered activity recommendations to virtual whiteboards which let you and the squad brainstorm harmoniously, you’ll be well on your way to your dream holiday. AKA one where you’re not so frazzled by all the planning that you’re over it before you even board the plane.
Sift through the endless activity options, from bar crawls to nature hikes.
Tour providers are a dime a dozen, whether you go the travel agency or online platform route. Imagine if you had someone to curate the perfect tour, with activities pulled from different agencies and platforms without you having to meticulously research each one.
Not only does such a service exist, it’s completely free, and your tailor-made tour can be whipped up in 5 minutes. Triptile customises unique itineraries based on travel duration, cities visited, and preferences in things to do.
The platform currently has the most extensive offerings for countries in Europe, but you can also use it to plan trips to Japan and North America.
Image adapted from: Triptile
Simply go through a short questionnaire and pick your fave to-dos. When you select each of the destinations in your holiday, a handy breakdown of the region’s highlights will be presented at a glance. This includes notable hotels, landmarks, and activities that might be a good match.
From there, it’s as simple as mixing and matching the elements in your perfect vacation. You’ll get to proceed with the bookings conveniently through the Triptile portal, without having to hop from one website to the next to make countless transactions.
Find out more about Triptile.
It’s a bummer to plan a holiday activity wishlist only to see that the stops are way too far apart, and not feasible unless you want to waste your trip on extensive travel time. That’s why seeing them on an actual map helps prevent itineraries where you plan to visit places that are on opposite ends of the country, in the same day.
There are also hotel recommendations, so you can stay somewhere close to where most of your itinerary stops happen to be.
Image adapted from: Pak Klong Talad
Roam Around generates activity maps based on your destination. The activities are sorted by categories like food, shopping, culture, and nature. This means you’ll be able to get a good mix, or zone in on those that suit you the most.
Plus, they even serve up recommendations on tour providers based on the activities you’re after. With your budget and travel dates in mind, you’ll get to conveniently sift through the tours that appeal to you straight from the site.
Find out more about Roam Around.
Don’t get bogged down by the logistics of your trip, especially when there are multiple pax like your fam and buddies to account for. Wanderlog’s sleek interface allows you to keep tabs on your holiday at a glance, with important info like itinerary breakdowns for each day, budgeting and expenses, and activity recommendations pulled from various tour providers and even blogs.
Image adapted from: Wanderlog
It also allows you to add your travel companions as collaborators so they can keep a copy of the itinerary handy, and not trigger the planner of the group by asking the same questions over and over again. Plus, they can contribute to the plan by adding little notes and comments in the itinerary.
Fret not about having to manually enter the trip destinations into your map app to get directions each time. All the stops in your itinerary can be exported to Google Maps so that the routes are all there, ready to go.
Find out more about Wanderlog.
Some Singaporeans might already be familiar with Citymapper, an app to check bus and MRT routes on our Little Red Dot. Navigating public transport systems abroad can be a headache, but if you’re headed to the EU, you’ll be glad to know that Citymapper’s network encompasses all the bus routes, tram lines, and metro networks in Europe.
This allows you to suss out the most efficient route to where you want to go, and isn’t as rigid as just following default map apps.
Besides seeing fare or rental cost breakdowns, you can also pick routes that are extra chill or speedy.
Image adapted from: Citymapper
Because they cover 71 cities across 31 countries, you can easily plan multi-destination European getaways without jumping around different apps for each new country.
For those who aren’t sticking to standard modes of public transport, Citymapper even has guides for e-bike and scooter routes. This will be good for those who want to zip around in Europe without being a traffic menace.
Find out more about Citymapper.
Planning for a trip with the squad should be fun, not a stress fest and test of the friendships. Freeform is a virtual whiteboard which acts as a no-restrictions dumping ground for all your pre-trip inspo.
Use it as a travel mood board, where each user can contribute photos, videos, and web links to shortlist things to do, see, and eat. You can even embed PDF files for easy access, which is great for invoices and booking passes
Don’t worry about running out of space. Freeform has an infinite canvas which you can zoom in and out of.
Image adapted from: Apple Support via YouTube
Let your creativity flow as you type and doodle everything in your travel wishlist. There are Canva-style graphics to give it that aesthetic touch, and other users can apply sticky notes to share their thoughts.
All progress will be saved to the iCloud, so your travel companions with Apple devices can access it any time. The downside is that it’s currently only available for iOS users. So if there’s an Android user in the group, they’ll only be able to spectate, and contribute ideas by proxy.
Find out more about Freeform.
It’s common for travel platforms to recommend activities and places that are basic at best, tourist traps at worst. Besides listing the popular go-tos in each destination, Sygic Travel also includes hidden gems that are recommended by locals.
These are sourced from travel blogs as well as user-submitted reviews, so you can get a good balance in terms of crowd favourites and lesser-known haunts.
Image adapted from: Sygic
The portal also conveniently lists helpful resources such as the country’s official government website – handy especially for destinations for which you may need to settle some entry requirements, public transport maps and guides to purchasing travel passes, and notable tours available in the area.
Find out more about Sygic Travel.
The nature of most travel platforms is that they serve a pretty broad purpose. If you have a travel destination or itinerary type in mind, you can rely on them to make bookings, or come up with routes and activity suggestions. But when you’re itching to ask more specific questions, you may wish you had someone to listen to your musings and provide some thoughtful responses.
ChatGPT can very well be your virtual travel assistant, and boy does it have some solid stats to back its answers up. Besides serving up a Things To Do In Singapore (ChatGPT version) guide, the platform can also help you make decisions if you’re making particular comparisons, or lost on what to expect from unfamiliar cultures and climates.
Image adapted from: ChatGPT
There are no limits to how in-depth your query can be. This allows you to ask specific questions that travel platforms may not typically cover, but will be integral to the success of your trip.
This includes asking about weather, what to pack, things to be mindful of when it comes to cultural etiquette, and even the more unsavoury elements of your destination – for instance, travel scams.
Find out more about ChatGPT.
Now you’ve gotten a taste of free itinerary planners. You might be thinking what makes paid platforms so premium. The good news is, you’re able to test-drive these apps through their free trials.
For instance, Travaa allows users to customise their own itineraries based on a simple drag-and-drop interface. They’ve also got curated itineraries if you’d like to leave it to the pros. These are crafted by globetrotters in their user base, as well as actual tour guides.
Not only can you see your short-listed activities at a glance, it also packs all the necessary info of noteworthy places so you don’t have to research separately.
Image adapted from: Travaa
Their free trial allows you to whip up 1 trip itinerary to see how that benefits your travels. If you like what you see, they have plans priced from $9/year for casual travellers, and $19/year for frequent flyers embarking on up to 10 trips.
Find out more about Travaa.
Then we have TripIt, a handy holiday assistant which consolidates all your trip logistics and lets you settle bookings through a single portal. Besides being able to create and organise your itinerary, the app also syncs with your calendar, provides airport maps and guides, lists public transport options, and even has country-specific endemic guidelines for your reference.
TripIt Pro even works in the background, and is able to monitor the status of fare refunds that you’re eligible for, and send updates of your travel progress to contacts you’ve preset.
Image credit: Wired For Adventure
Although the free plan already packs an extensive suite of functions, TripIt Pro ($49/year) comes with added capabilities like real-time flight alerts, reminders for when to set off to the airport and which terminal and gate to head to, and baggage claim updates.
Find out more about TripIt.
You’ve sorted out your dream itinerary, now all that’s left is to catch your flight and start making ]memories. Don’t forget that you’ll need moolah for all the shopping, dining, and leisure activities you’ll be doing abroad though. For yet another nifty tool that makes your life easier both before the trip and during, make sure to check out HLF FASTPAY by Hong Leong Finance.
No more worrying about dwindling amounts of local cash, as you can top-up whenever you need to.
The e-wallet is compatible with more than 20 foreign currencies, put through favourable currency exchange rates that come straight from Reuters with minimal mark-ups. If that sounds too cheem, just know that you’ll get to enjoy strong exchange rates without having to monitor the ups and downs like a hawk, or wasting your pre-vacay time queuing at money changers.
Once you reach your travel destination, you’ll be able to seamlessly spend like a local and avoid any extra currency conversion charges. Hence, it makes a lot more financial sense to use HLF FASTPAY abroad than rack up conversion fees on your regular credit card.
Image adapted from: HLF FASTPAY
When you register for HLF FASTPAY, the e-wallet comes with a companion Visa debit card as well. That way, you can choose between paying via your phone or just tapping your card. The platform is integrated with Apple Pay and Google Pay, so you can rest assured that the transactions will be snappy and secure.
Besides making purchases overseas with ease, you can also use it to pay for online shopping and day-to-day expenses, and transfer money to your travel kakis via the app’s PayNow plug-in. If you have leftover foreign currency at the end of your trip, fret not about it being “trapped” in the card and getting wasted. You can PayNow it back to yourself and spend it in SGD again!
If you’re worried about overspending abroad, use HLF FASTPAY to track your expenses in real-time. You’ll be able to set payment controls to prevent bursting your budget unknowingly, and even limit the merchants or payment amounts that the platform can be used on. Lost your card? Use the app to lock it and nip scam transactions in the bud.
Technology has come a long way, and we now get to travel with more ease and convenience than ever before. To supercharge your next trip, make sure to take advantage of these itinerary planners, and use HLF FASTPAY to settle all your overseas spending.
This post was brought to you by Hong Leong Finance.
HLF FASTPAY App is owned solely and managed by Nium Pte. Ltd
Cover image adapted from: @cottonbro & @karoldach via Pexels
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