Tips on Using The InsideTrackClub Trip Planner:

On The Trip Request Form…..

Selecting Origin and Destination Points (Steps 1&2): Select the Origin State/Province from the pop-up list and then type the name of the Origin City/Town/Place. Repeat this process for the Destination State/Province and Destination City/Town/Place.

Note: For Washington, DC: select District of Columbia from the pop-up list and then type "Washington" in the city box.

For New York City, enter the name of the borough in the city box (i.e., Manhattan, Upper Manhattan, Bronx, etc.).

Misspellings: If you misspell the name or a City/Town/Place, Freetrip will attempt to provide you with close matches in the Advisory Page. Select the one you want and click on Continue. If you do not find the city you are looking for, go back to the main page and type in a nearby city (send us an e-mail so we can add the missing city into our next update.

Select Category: If your origin or destination is a National Park, Airport, Military Base or Amtrak Station, choose one of these. DO NOT Select one of these options if you are not looking for a destination which is a National Park, Airport, Military Base or Amtrak Station.

Route Preferences (Step 3): Unless you choose at least one Route Preference option, the route produced with be "all direct." If you do select route preferences, your route will likely be longer in driving time than if you did not select any. The options are listed in the box - click on the arrow to see them and select the one you want. You may choose up to 3 different options prior to Submitting your request to Freetrip. You can even select SPECIFIC roads to favor or avoid...See the special tips for Step 3. You can also avoid steep grades, or a specific steep grade by using the MDA option. Your option can also apply to only one state or province , if you wish. For example, you can favor parkways in Kentucky only, or avoid I-95 in North Carolina.

Enroute Facilities (Step 4): You may select up to three enroute facilities to be included with your itinerary, including hotels, gas stations, national parks, etc. The locations of these facilities will be displayed, integrated with the directions, along the Freetrip itinerary. Click on the little red car, the hyperlink, or the More Info button (you can choose up to 10). Book a reservation at any of the hotels right now, while you are planning your drive.

In addition, if a facility has a red car displayed by it, click the red car and you will get an additional itinerary that includes directions to that hotel. In other words, your route will be reconfigured, including the facility as part of your specific route. The resulting route may be somewhat different than the original route, because by stopping at the facility, there may be another “best” route.

Road Advisory Display Options (Step 5): FreeTrip itineraries include a broad range of road advisory information. Information about weather, steep grades, emergency contact numbers, current local fuel prices, hourly checkpoints (to monitor trip progress), road condition links, rest area locations and atlas gridmap crossreferences can all be displayed. If you choose NOT to have any or all of these items displayed, just select them not to be displayed.

….And On The InsideTrackClub Itinerary….

Itinerary Heading Information: The information at the top of your Itinerary in the heading will be a summary of your route request: your origin, destination route preferences and enroute facilies selections. It also includes the total trip distance and driving time. Freetrip tallies up your trip data as you proceed through each route leg.

More Information: Check up to 10 boxes if you want more information about these facilities. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and Click on the More Information bar. Print the page and take it with you.

Filter: The filter allows you to create a new itinerary with only those facilities that you have checked, included. Sometimes the itinerary that gets initially produced contains a great many of enroute facilities and this is the way it can be “condensed” to include only the facilities that you are interested in. It could save you a lot of paper when you print out the itinerary to take with you on the trip.

Continue Your Trip (MULTIPLE STOPS): At the bottom of your Itinerary you may elect to continue your trip. First, print your screen by clicking on the Print button on your browser. If you select this option, on the next trip request page, put your next destination in its proper place. Note that your first destination is now the origin, and all the route selections are automatically prepared….feel free to change them on this next leg of the trip, if you wish.You can Continue Your Trip for up to 99,999 miles!

Changing Route Preferences for multiple stops: As stated above, you can change route and facility preferences prior to submitting your request for each leg of your trip.