google tips for travelers

Tech Tuesday :: Google Traveler Tricks

[trip styler = any]

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Flipping through endless Encyclopedia Britannica volumes for elementary and jr. high projects, it still blows.my.mind Google can generate answers to 85% of travel queries in seconds.

What if I told you Google could work even faster? As long as you ask the right travel question, your answer will pop up in milliseconds, no additional clicks required. Here are some basic Google travel queries I use every day:

Weather Find the weather forecast, search “weather city” ex: “weather vancouver” *Note, if you just type "weather" Google will also show the weather forecast in your current location. To find airport weather conditions, search “[airport name/code] airport + conditions” ex: “ogg airport + conditions”

 

 

Local Time Find the local time, search “time place” ex: “time Paris”

 

 

Directions Find a map and a link to directions, search "business place" ex: "pizzeria farina vancouver"

 

 

Flights Find direct flights from your home airport, search "direct flights from vancouver"

 

 

Find direct flights from your home airport to your destination, search "direct flights from vancouver to maui"

 

 

Find flight status, search “flight name and/or number” ex: “ha 30″

 

 

Currency Convert currency, search “amount currency to another currency” ex: “100 cad to aud” *Note that sometimes this feature can be finicky. Make sure you have the exact short-form symbol for each country's currency. Bonus Conversions: Temperatures – “[temperature] [C/F] to [F/C]” ex: “12 c to f” Distances or Driving Speeds– “[value] [distance unit] in/to [distance unit]” ex: “140 miles in km” / ex: “90 mph to kph”

 

 

Translate Translate words and phrases, search "translate: [word or phrase] to language" ex: "translate: I like bananas to french" Bonus: Type the foreign word you don't know into Google image search to see what it is.

*I would like to give credit to the Vagabondish travel blog, credited with posting some of these Google travel shortcuts in 2008. I've been using them since then.

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[images via google]