I typically don’t work with startups that make my personal life easier, but this Metro Detroit based startup solves a big problem for me. The problem is finding cool, hip, and exciting places to visit based on my preferences when traveling out of town. Sure…I can spend hours Googling for places, reading reviews, and requesting recommendations on Facebook, but I don’t have the time. So, I use On Arrival as a secret weapon to shorten the amount of time it takes to plan out my trip agenda. I actually think On Arrival will unlock my desire to travel by handling the hardest part of the trip, which is planning out what to do when you land.
The first thing On Arrival does is capture your preferences by asking you a handful of questions. In my case, I entered my wife’s preferences, which are slightly different from mine. But, since I was planning a date night in Miami for her it was important that they understood her preferences versus mine (side note: flying your lady into another city for a date night is a relationship changer). In 2 or 3 days On Arrival will send you a customized travel guide based on your preferences and your destination. It’s only $20.
Protip: Book your flight and hotel first because On Arrival will use this information as inputs into making your recommendations.
The travel guide provides you with recommendations based on your preferences. In our case, we were looking for a chill place in Miami to grab some drinks after dinner because my wife had already selected Prime 112 Steakhouse for dinner. The recommended location was super dope and chill per my preferences. Also, the travel guide recommended a breakfast place, but they were closed due to Easter Sunday. So, we only attempted 2 of the 20 places recommended because we were only there for 1 night. But, it was worth it! We plan to check out some of the other places when we head back to Miami for another date night because the travel guides doesn’t seem to expire 🙂
The On Arrival travel guides aren’t just a set of Google searches or Yelp recommendations repackaged in their branding. But, they have a sophisticated algorithm that does the initial recommendations, but then it’s sent to a travel specialist to do the final tweaks and a quality check to ensure the recommendations are in line with your preferences. The algorithm is based on years of travel experience that the husband and wife founder team has captured and figured out how to automate.
In conclusion, I didn’t have time to look at a bunch of TikTok videos, read a 1000 reviews on Yelp or TripAdvisor to plan a date night. I needed a trusted source for coming up with recommendations based on my preferences. On Arrival solved this for me. Check them out and let me know what you think by leaving comments below.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT have any financial interest in On Arrival. They are a TechTown client so from time-to-time I get to provide some suggestions since I work at TechTown as an Entrepreneur in Residence. But, their assigned Entrepreneur in Residence is Dave Webber (super kick-ass tech founder and coach – aka grumpy bear). Schedule time with me or Dave if you want to brainstorm a new tech business idea or just talk thru growing your existing business – it’s free thanks to Techtown.
