Trip Planner
A guided wizard that helps you plan the perfect flight — whether you're looking for a destination or have one in mind.
What Is It?
The Trip Planner is a step-by-step wizard that takes into account your aircraft, personal minimums, crew, schedule, and weather to help you build the ideal trip. It supports two very different mission types, each with its own flow.
Access it from the ▾ dropdown next to the + New Trip button on your dashboard and choose Trip Planner.
Choose Your Mission Type
The first thing the wizard asks is: What kind of flight is this?
Flexible — “Find me somewhere to fly”
You want to go flying but don't have a destination yet. The wizard searches for airports that match your conditions, distance preferences, and runway requirements, then uses weather data to recommend the best options.
Best for: $100 hamburger runs, VFR practice, approach currency, night currency
Obligation — “I need to get there”
You have a specific destination and need to arrive by a certain time. The wizard analyzes your route and generates multiple departure scenarios, showing you the weather trade-offs for each.
Best for: Business trips, family events, meetings with deadlines
Flexible Path
When you choose “Flexible,” the wizard guides you through these steps:
1. Departure Airport
Where you'll be taking off from. Pre-filled with your home airport.
2. Conditions Sought
What are you looking for? Options include:
- • VFR flying — good weather, scenic routes
- • IMC practice — find airports in actual instrument conditions
- • Approach practice — airports with ILS, RNAV, or other approach types
- • Night currency — airports suitable for night operations
3. Time & Distance
How far do you want to go? Choose from quick hops, day trips, adventures, a specific distance in NM, or a total flight time limit. Also set your preferred flying times (morning, afternoon, weekends, etc.).
4. Weather Window
The wizard uses NBM forecasts to identify the best flying day within the next few days. It shows VFR probability and conditions for each day so you can pick your window. (Skipped for IMC/approach practice searches, since those need specific conditions.)
5. Airport Requirements
Filter results by runway length, paved surface, towered airports, ILS approaches, fuel availability, and more. Your aircraft's minimum runway length is pre-filled.
6. Crew & Passengers
Flying solo, with a CFI, safety pilot, family, friends, or clients? This affects how the wizard weighs risk factors.
Flexible Results
After analyzing, the wizard presents a list of matching airports ranked by weather conditions, distance, and your requirements. Each result includes the airport name, distance, weather forecast, and a summary of what makes it a good fit. Select one to review details and create a trip.
Obligation Path
When you choose “Obligation,” the wizard focuses on getting you to a specific destination safely and on time:
1. Route
Enter your departure and arrival airports. You can also add up to 4 alternate arrival airports in case weather at your primary destination is unfavorable.
2. Trip Importance
How critical is this trip? Options range from casual (easy to reschedule) to critical (must arrive on time). This affects how aggressively the wizard looks for departure options and how it weighs marginal weather.
3. Deadline
When do you need to arrive by? This is optional — if you have no hard deadline, the wizard just focuses on finding the best weather window. When a deadline is set, the wizard ensures all scenarios get you there on time.
4. Preferred Departure
When would you ideally like to leave? The wizard uses this as the starting point for its analysis.
5. Flexibility
How early could you leave if weather is better? This step only appears when you've set a deadline. It tells the wizard the full departure window to explore.
6. Crew & Passengers
Same as the flexible path — who's on board affects risk assessment.
Obligation Results: Three Scenarios
The wizard generates three departure scenarios for your route:
Your Preferred Departure
Weather analysis for leaving at the time you chose. Shows conditions and risk level.
Best Weather Window
The departure time with the best forecasted conditions along your route. May differ from your preferred time if a better window exists.
Earliest Option
The earliest you could safely depart. Useful when you have flexibility and want to beat incoming weather.
Each scenario includes a risk level, weather summary, and departure/arrival times adjusted for your aircraft's cruise speed. The wizard also provides an overall recommendation explaining which scenario it suggests and why.
Creating a Trip
Select the scenario you prefer, then review the trip details:
- •Route, departure time, aircraft, and flight rules
- •Crew and passenger configuration
- •Trip importance level
- •Optional trip watchers to share updates with
Click “Create Trip” and you'll be taken straight to your new trip on the dashboard, ready for weather monitoring.
Tips
- • The Flexible path is great for building currency — use “Night Currency” or “Approach Practice” to find the right airports
- • For Obligation trips, set your real deadline — the wizard accounts for flight time when calculating scenario viability
- • Adding crew and passengers helps the wizard assess risk more accurately, especially with non-pilot passengers
- • If you don't love any of the three scenarios, go back and adjust your flexibility or preferred time to generate new options
- • Your aircraft's minimum runway length and paved-only preference are automatically applied as filters
- • Once a trip is created from the wizard, it works exactly like any other PlaneWX trip — full briefings, GO Score, auto-refresh, and notifications