eTripCafe - The Art of Travel / Trip Builder: Overview   No Trip Selected
 
The step-by-step Trip Builder Overview will guide you and help you get started planning and creating your next travel adventure.
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eTripCafe - The Art of Travel
 Trip Builder Overview: Planning, research and building your trip Trip Builder Example   Planning & Research Example
Building a trip requires time, organization, research and planning.  Don't be overwhelmed, the fun part is discovering fun and interesting places to go and things to do.  So let's get started and you will see just how easy it can be to build the trip of your dreams.  Simply follow the Basic Steps below: Add a new trip, Add some locations, Add activities to the locations then Set the number of nights at each location.  For now, don't worry about setting an actual departure date as you are simply building the shell for your trip.  Of course, there are many other functions available such as the setting Booking Priorities, creating Location and Activity Groups and using the Travel Planner to name a few.  The sooner you start, the better.  Work on your trip in your spare time, adding locations and activities.  Adjust the nights at each location based on your activities.  When you are ready, set your departure date and begin making your actual booking.  You can always adjust your trip information at any time, although once you begin booking activities, changes will naturally become more restrictive.
 Trip Builder Overview
Trip Master When a trip is selected, the Trip Master links become active, allowing you to build and view your trip.
Trip Builder You are here!  An overview of all the Trip Master functions.  Follow the steps below to easily build your entire trip.  Keep in mind that all trip details can be changed or adjusted at anytime.
     
 Trip Builder Main - The Basic Steps - Get started: Steps 1-5
Trip Builder Overview
My Trips Step 1: Create new trips or select an existing trip to edit and view.
Locations Step 2: Add and update all your trip locations.
Activities Step 3: Add and update all your trip activities such as accommodations, transportation, attractions and more.
Nights/Dates Step 4: Set the trip departure date and the number of nights you plan to stay at each location.
Control Step 5: Enter trip-level details including notes, checklists and control private, public and mobile viewing options.
     
 Trip Builder +
Travel Planner The Travel Planner is a valuable part of your trip planning, allowing you to track actual and estimated arrival and departure times at each location.  Using the Mobile Trip Profile, you will be able to see the time at a location, remaining time in both text and graphs.
Booking Priorities Manage the Booking Priority for all your trip activities. Set text/color-coded indicators to remind you of the activities that should be booked first, helping to ensure availability before booking other less import activities.
Location Groups Location Groups allow you to group related locations together. You may also set a group as a Day Trip to indicate you are leaving your base location for the day and returning later the same day.  You can select a highlight color and enter a title for each group. Once created, assign the groups to the locations where they apply.
Activity Groups Creating Activity Groups at each location allows you to group related activities together. Color coding provides an easy way to recognize related activities. Using the Mobile Trip Profile, you will be able to set to display/hide specific activity groups for each location.
Sharing Share public and mobile trip profiles with friends and family by adding your trip to their Trip Tracker.
     
 Summaries
Trip Summary Several different display options are available to customize the information you want to view on your Trip Summary page which is private to you as the trip owner when logged into your account.
Trip Cost Report The report shows the cost of your entire trip by location.  A specific activity can be selected to view the locations where the activity has been assigned.  The report will also display the total cost of each activity as well as a breakdown of the 'Average Cost per Usage-Day' and the 'Average Cost per Trip-Day'.
Activity Duration Report The report shows the total duration of each activity by location.  A specific activity can be selected to view the locations where the activity has been assigned.  The report will also display the total duration of each activity as well as a breakdown of the 'Average Duration per Usage-Day' and the 'Average Duration per Trip-Day'.
Public View The Public View allows others to view your trip if you decide to share it with them.  You can activate/deactivate the public viewing option at any time on the Trip Control page.
Print Preview Prior to your departure, Print Your Trip and bring it with you as a back-up copy of all your trip information.
     
 Photos & Videos
All Activity Photos View all your trip photos and display settings in one location.
Photo Timeline View the Activity Photo Timeline of photos you have uploaded to your activities during your trip, using the mobile photo upload page.
Slideshow Watch a slideshow presentation of all your trip photos.
All Activity Videos View all your trip videos and display settings in one location.
     
 Premium Services
Mobile Photo Upload Using the Mobile Trip Profile, upload Photos to your trip activities.
Mobile Blogging Using the Mobile Trip Profile, enter Blog comments at the Trip, Location and Activity levels.