Using the Trip Planner on Mobile: The Handy Toolkit

Our quest is to pack pretty much every requirement for planning a European rail trip into Conductor Sam.
Plus it's a full circle service - beyond adding journeys to a bespoke itinerary, you can buy tickets, purchase rail passes, book accommodation and ask pretty much any rail travel question.

It's taken us more than 6 months to get this far, because there's a lot of info around travel by European trains, to fit on to a device held in the palm of a hand.
Because it's new, we're very much open to any Feedback sent our way 

We have had to burst out of the core aspects of the planner - that'll be the locations and journeys, to deliver multiple features.

The idea is that can store more info for later use that's beyond a list of stops and train times.
Though as you likely won't have encountered anything quite like Conductor Sam before, whizzing through this into, will help you make the most of putting together a fantastic trip.

Btw - Sam uses AI in its Ask Sam chat service, but we don't use it to write the Info Guides.
 

These are the tools and shortcuts that you can always access on the Conductor Sam trip planner, no matter how you will be using it - All of which are explained in more depth as you go deeper into this guide.

1 - This is where you can access your checklist, it's a summary of the steps that can be taken to ensure your plan is all you need it to be.

2 - The 'Trip Menu' is the mothership of how you'll be putting your plan together - you can open it any point to access the tools and shortcuts.

3 - The default is that you out together your trip in List mode.

• Journey
• Location
• Journey
• Location
• Journey    It's your trip, so your List can be as long as you need it to be.  

4 - However, even though the Conductor Sam trip planner is in its infancy we have already come up with a second method of putting together a plan - cos' using interactive maps as a basis for Trip Planning = fun!

5 -  What makes the Conductor Sam trip planner rather special is that we've built a streamlined version of our 'Ask Sam' service into it.
The idea being that you can ask for info and answers - which you then save them to your plan as Notes.

6 - Why are all these very handy features down here? Well this 'Footer Menu' is especially useful after you have added some journeys and locations to your plan.

The weight of very handy features behind the Trip Menu door, include:

1 - A place where you can change the start and finish dates of your plan - particularly handy if you get carried away with the number of locations you ultimately add.

2 - Conductor Sam wants your plan to be as perfect as possible and needless to say, so do you.
Also your plan won't be entirely be fixed, so Sam can sometimes be clever enough to realise that things (well mainly the train timetables) have been altered, since you added a journey or a location.
So if a red warning sign appears here, Sam will show you how to fix it.

3 -  Access to all of the trip Notes you've added, so they can be checked over, re-assigned or removed.
What's a trip Note? Discover more in the 'Asking Question within the planner' notes below.

4 - You can adjust your ideal of how you want to take the journeys with this shortcut to the Preferences - see below

5 - Create a link to the plan - so that more than one person can contribute to the planning.

6 - When you are done with the plan, you can turn it into a downloadable PDF, that can be stored for easy access on your travels, even when you are offline.    

7 - This, along with similar numbers you'll see across the planner, shows how many credits are required to complete a task. 

Adjusting the Preferences to Tailor A Plan

When you set up the plan, you can opt to select a Travel Style, which can be a match for how you prefer to travel.

• First or Second Class
• Seat reservations: Prefer or Avoid
• Willing to take night trains
• Prefer to only take Direct trains
• Speed more important than scenic journeys - and vice versa.
• Maximum length of journey

When you're putting together the plan, Sam will find the journeys between your locations, but a Travel Style will in effect filter them (see below).
So you'll be more likely to easily find the journey options will suit you.

1 - There are three options to select from; Budget Explorer, Comfort Cruiser and Adventure Seeker -  and you'll find summaries to (2) help you make a selection.

3 -  You don't have to make a Travel Style selection on this page.
Not doing so can be a good idea if you'd rather make a selection from all of the journey options along a route, regardless of travel times and the number of connections.

4 - When you're choosing from the journey options, you'll see how the Travel Styles impact on the choices you'll have - so you'll be able to adjust them, or remove them.

5 - (Ha - taking screenshots on my phone can be tricky)

When choosing a journey, you can access an Adjust Preferences tool - (1) which for ease has been split into four parts.

(2) and (3) - If when you're in the plan, you'll want to add / remove travellers, you can do so.

1 - Use this tool to adjust how Sam will prioritise the journey options / choice that it will  present to you, when you 'Add Travel' to a plan.

2 - Budget Traveller or Adventure Seeker = Sam will show you 2nd class journey options as a default; Comfort Cruiser = 1st class as a default 
So you can change this here.

3 - Some European express train services, particularly in Austria, Italy and Spain, offer more than two classes of travel, so ticking this box can will also make those options visible.

4 - European express trains can have different reservation policies, - mandatory, optional and unavailable, so you can set a preference here...

1 - ... For example, if you'll want tp prioritise taking trains that have mandatory reservations - you can tick this box

2 - If you have selected Adventure Seeker, the default is for this night trains box to be pre-ticked.
So if you haven't chosen Adventure Seeker and will be happy to consider a night train for some of your journeys, you will need to proactively tick this box.

3 - A mix of journey options can be available between locations including Direct trains and journeys with connections.

So if Direct trains will be your preference you can choose to filter out the journeys with connections - Though if Direct trains are unavailable, you will then see '0 journeys match your preferences'.

1 - If you adjust these sliders Sam should then highlight the corresponding journey options - if they can applied to a particular route.

2 - A scenic journey won't always be an option.
Though because high speed lines tend to be a lot less scenic than the older 'classic' routes, making a preference can effect be a choice between faster vs more beautiful.

1 - This is the access to adjusting...
2 - preferred departure / arrival times; if you want to get to somewhere glorious as soon as possible, or would rather set off after breakfast etc.
3 - Set limits for how long and tricky you'll prefer the journeys to be. 

The added journeys and locations tool kit

1 - This is a shortcut to Asking Sam questions about the journey (see below).

2 - Click this to re-plan the the journey.

3 - Click this to remove it from the plan.

4 - Click here to check the journey details and / or add notes.
If you want to come back, so that you can check the connection details on a multi-train journey, then this is a shortcut.

5 - If later, you want to remove a location from a plan, you can do so.

6 - You can opt to add a note etc that's connected to each location.

7 - When you add a location Sam will use a 2 night stay as a default so you can adjust that here.

Asking Questions within the planner

Prior to using the Trip Planner it can be a good idea to use Ask Sam to get an idea of where you can go and how.  

Though you'll likely have questions about your trip that will crop up as you build your it - but it would be awkward to have to dive out of the planner to ask them.

Hence what makes the Conductor Sam trip planner rather special is that we've built a streamlined version of 'Ask Sam' into it.  

Btw - Sam uses AI in its Ask Sam chat service, but we don't use it to write the Info Guides.

When you're in the planner there's multiple paths to accessing the Ask Sam tool.

It's there when you're adding journeys, though;

1 -  the main access is by clicking this always visible Ask Sam button.

2 - You can also use the  Ask Sam icon on the journeys you have added to the plan, if you want to check something about the route, after you have selected it.  

Sam can do more than answer questions, it can make suggestions and carry on a 'conversation'.

1 - Save the answer / conversation as Note which will then become part of your plan.

2 - The Ask Sam window will pop up and cover the planning tools on a mobile screen, so close it after you have saved the note / finished the 'chat' with Sam.

The footer menu

Why is it down here?
Well most of these features / tools become particularly useful after you have some added some journeys / locations to the plan.

1 - If you click on the options marked with the 2, 3, 4 or 5 this takes you back to the core planner.

2  - Click this and you can access a cost comparison between using tickets or rail passes for your adventure.  

3 - This is both a checklist of what tickets / reservations, you have and haven't booked; And for the time being, it provides access to the accommodation booking service on Conductor Sam (see below)  

4 -  When you are done with the plan, you can click here to turn it into a downloadable PDF, that can be stored for easy access on your travels, even when you are offline.  

5  - See how many trains you will be taking, the number of nights you will be away etc.

On the checklist you'll find...

1 - Reminders and info to do with booking the rail tickets / passes.

2 - a Book accommodation button that will you to the service on which you can choose hotel or apartment stays..