Top 3 Data-Driven Tips for Holiday Travel
泫圖弝け care isnt the only industry experiencing whiplash-inducing change. Think about the significant change in the way we travel. We used to hear about a place or a particular hotel from a travel agent or friend, or gaspthe phone book. Today, the number of sites offering advice, recommendations and resources is astounding. In this post, were highlighting a few tried and true resources that leverage big data to make travel easier.
By Cindy Spangler | 2 minutes
WHAT IS DATA-DRIVEN DECISION MAKING?
When you use data to make a decision rather than relying on intuition or personal experience, youre making a data-driven decision. In clinical practice, we rely on evidence to choose a treatment plan. In improvement work, it can be more complicated. Oceans of data exist in healthcare, but what is the right data to improve value?
Data from multiple sources helps us to objectively analyze cause and effect relationships and consider potential unintended consequences. Our friends at Google have mastered this technique.
1. USE "GOOGLE MAPS"
Youve heard of it, and probably already use it, but do you know how it works? uses crowdsourcing of road congestion data from GPS enabled smartphones and reports it back in real time to its users. Thats data-driven (and slightly creepy).
2. FIND YOUR "WAZE"
Driving over the holidays and want to beat the rush? is a traffic app backed by Google analytics, that has analyzed holiday travel data from the past year to predict the worst times to drive. Check out their for holiday travel. 2016 data isnt up quite yet, but in 2015, Christmas day was the best day for travel (not a day earlier or later).
Like Google Maps, Waze also relies on crowdsourcing road congestion data from GPS enabled smartphones and reports it back in real time to its users. But Waze takes it a bit further by asking users to take a more active role by sharing road reports on accidents, police traps, or any other hazards along the way, helping to give other users in the area a heads-up about whats to come.
3. TRY "GOOGLE FLIGHTS"
Opted to fly rather than drive this season? Use features to keep you better informed than a travel agent. We loved the :
- Get alerts when prices are about to skyrocket.
- Don't know where to go? Search for a general region, and see a map of specific flight prices.
- Or go with "I'm feeling lucky" to let Google plan your dream trip.
- Google will tell you which flight is the best bang for your buck.
- It will also show you the lowest price for any given day on the calendar.
- Automatically see swaps that save you money.
- Once you find a potentional flight, let Google monitor the price for you.
No matter where you're going this holiday, use data-driven decision making to save money, time and of course, your sanity.
CONTRIBUTOR
Cindy Spangler
Quality Manager, Global Surgery, 泫圖弝け of Utah 泫圖弝け
