FAQ - Frequently asked questions
In our FAQ, we answer your most important questions about Travelmyne and our search engine. Following this, you find a small glossary with the most important Travelmyne terms and their meanings. To read a step-by-step instruction for our travel destination, click here.
The most important questions:
Why are there no or just a few results for my search?
Why are the ratings and the information about the travel destinations not correct?
Can I search within a country or a world region?
Can I adjust or change my search?
Can I combine world regions and countries?
What are "preset types of holidays"?
What does "multiple selection" mean?
Go to the glossary
Why are there no or only a few results for my search?
1. There are so-called "exclusion criteria" which cause many travel destinations to be excluded. Such criteria are climate, arrival, target areas, hours of sunshine and rainy days. There aren't travel destinations for every choice or combination of criteria. If you choose tropical climate, for example, but you want to travel within Europe, the search engine won't find any results. Use the multiple selection for the exclusion criteria so that more travel destinations can be found. You can, for example, add "warm " and "temperate" to your climate choices.
2. If you move the sliders to the outermost positions to the right ("I don't want this at all") or left ("I definitely want this"), many travel destinations are excluded. Use the outermost positions less by moving the slider further to the centre. This way, more travel destinations can be found.
Why do my results not fit?
1. Leave the slider in the central position "I don't mind" for the categories which are not relevant for you. Choose more criteria which you want to have on your next trip than criteria that you don't want. If you put too many sliders to the left, the search engine favours those travel destinations which do not fit the criterion.
Example: If you don't care if you can go golfing in your travel destination, then leave the slider in the central position "I don't mind". Only move the slider to the left if you cannot tolerate golfing facilities in your travel destination. If you move the slider for the criterion "Golfing" to the left, the search engine favours those travel regions which do not have any golf courses. Important travel destinations such as the USA, France or Spain, which have golf courses, would get a lower rating. Countries such as Yemen, which do not have any golf courses, would be favoured.
Please note: We always rate the travel region, not specific trips, locations or hotels.
2. If you have chosen too few criteria (e.g. in the categories Nature, Culture and Activities) which fit your preferences, the travel results won't fit your wishes.
Tip: Choose more features you want to see or have on your holiday and move the slider to the right more often than you move it to the left.
Please note: Even well-known languages like English or French are only spoken in a number of places. Countries in which the language you choose is spoken are given preference in your search but it is not the case that only countries with this language are displayed.
3. The more criteria and sliders you set, the more precisely the results fit your preferences.
Why are the ratings and the information about the travel destinations not correct?
Our data is based on average values for the whole travel region. Therefore, it can happen that the climate, distance or hotel prices do not correspond to your experience. The data can vary considerably depending on where you are exactly, especially in larger travel destinations or in countries. China, for example, has 18 different climate zones and it much colder in the high mountains that in the plain or at the coast most of the time. The same is true of the hotel prices. Practically every travel destination has both reasonably priced hotels and expensive luxury hotels. We use a representative average value.
How can I start a new search?
Click "Reset settings" and start a new search. You see this box from "5. Top Criteria" on. Alternatively, you can refresh the page.
Can I search within a country or a world region?
You have the opportunity to look for the perfect travel destination within a country (e.g. Germany) or a world region (e.g. Caribbean). Under "4. Target Areas", you see a number of countries and world regions within which you can search.
Please note: If you want to search within the European country of Italy, you don't need to choose "Europe" too. If you do, your results will not only contain destinations within Italy but also all important destinations within Europe. If you only choose Europe, your results will contain the mist important European travel destination, the so-called top destinations ("Top dest."). Smaller regions within the country (e.g. Germany) are not displayed in this case. To see those, you need to tick the box for the country (e.g. Germany).
Can I adjust or change my search?
You can change or correct your search any time. Your setting are still saved when your results are displayed. Using the arrows saying "Forward" and "Back", you can go back to the categories you want to change. Or you simply click on the categories in the upper bar. You can navigate into all directions and make changes. When you are done adjusting the sliders, click "Start the search" and the results are calculated again.
Can I combine world regions and countries?
Under "4. Target Areas", you can combine world regions with countries. This way, you can include travel destinations within Europe, within Italy and within Asia in your search.
Please note: If you want to search within a European country like Greece, you don't need to choose "Europe" too. If you tick the boxes saying "Greece" and "Europe", your results will contain travel destinations within Greece as well as the most important destinations within Europe.
Where can I book a trip?
When you have found a fitting travel destination, you can book a trip with our partners. You find the boxes leading you to them in the list of your travel search results and next to the brief travel guides (on the right side).
How do I use the sliders?
You use the sliders to adjust the criteria to your preferences. Simply click them and move them to the right or to the left.
How are languages assessed?
Part of our travel search is the choice of a language. It is particularly useful for language stays, when you want to improve your language skills. Even well-known languages like English are only spoken in certain part of the world. To avoid excluding too many travel regions from your search when you choose languages, the language is only taken into account partially. Travel destinations in which the language is spoken are favoured. At the same time, the search results also contain travel destinations in which the language isn't spoken if these fit your travel destination search.
Example: You have put all your preferences in into the travel destination search and choose the language French. Countries like France will be at the top of your list of results. Further down, you also find countries in which French isn't spoken because these countries fit your search in other respects.
What are top countries?
Top countries are those within which you can search for travel destinations. We have examined the most important travel countries more closely and incorporated numerous travel regions into our search. In Germany, for example, you find the most important cities, all federal states and many geographical regions such as the Baltic Sea or the Black Forest. The list of out top countries in growing constantly.
Tip: Is your favourite country not one of your top countries yet? Write us an email with your suggestion for the next top country!
What are brief travel guides?
We tell you more about every travel destination which can be found using our search engine in an interesting and informative brief travel guide, which contains the most important information on geography, nature and natural sights, culture and cultural sights, things to experience and activities. In addition, these travel guides contain beautiful pictures, so you get an impression of your next travel destination.
What is a feature print?
No travel destination is like the other. That is why you see our novel and unique feature print next to the brief travel guides. Every travel destination has its own features and similarly, no two feature prints are alike. The feature print gives you an overview of what is possible in a travel region and what isn't. It shows you all travel features, possible types of holidays and tells you what the landscape in this region is like. You can also the cultural facilities and activities the region offers. The darker the colour, the more of a thing you find in the travel destination. If the region contains many worthwhile lakes, the little box saying "Lakes" has an intense green colour. If the region is arid, e.g. in a desert, the box saying "Lakes" is much brighter or even white.
The features of the travel regions differ from season to season. While Germany offers great conditions for going bathing in summer, the box saying "Bathing" will be white in winter. You can choose the season in the upper left-hand corner of the feature print.
The feature print also displays the distance of the travel destination from your location. In addition, you see information on the travel destination's temperature (°C), sunny hours per day (h) and rainy days per month (d). The dollar signs behind the house and the plane give you information on the travel destination's price level. The more yellow dollar signs are displayed, the more expensive are the hotel prices and plane fares in this region.
What are "preset types of holidays"?
Our travel destination search makes it possible for you to create your perfect trip based on your individual wishes. If you don't have the time to set all the sliders, you can choose a preset type of holiday. This way, you find fitting destination for "Party holidays", "Active holidays" or "City trips" with just one click. You can choose a preset type of holiday under "5. Top criteria".
Tip: Refine your preset type of holiday by making individual adjustments. The slider are already set but you can adjust or change them. If you want spa facilities on your city trip, for example, then go to "Activities" and move the slider for the criterion "Spas" to the right.
What does "multiple selection" mean?
You read "multiple selection" in some of our categories. This tells you that you can choose and combine several criteria here. In the category "Climate", for example, you can tick the boxes saying "warm", "hot" and "temperate" instead of just one of them to find more travel destinations.
What are outermost positions?
The outermost positions of a slider are those to the far right ("I definitely want this") and the far left ("I don't want this at all"). If the sliders are moved to those positions, travel destinations which do not fit the criterion are excluded.
Please note: If you use the outermost positions a lot, many travel destinations are excluded. It might even happen that there are no results left for your search.
How can I contact Travelmyne?
Do you have any questions or tips or do you simply want to say hello? Then send us a message using our contact form. You also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. There is more information about the Travelmyne project and our team here. In addition, we have created a Press area.
Glossary
While we were developing the Travelmyne project, we started using our own terminology. To make sure you know what we mean when we are talking about the feature print and brief travel guides, we have compiled this little glossary with explanations.
The most important terms:
Travel destination search engine
Travel destination search engine
Our search engine is programmed to find travel destinations. You tick the boxes for your preferences and interests for your next trip in the search mask and the search engine finds exactly the travel destinations which fit you best. You find the search engine here.
Slider
You can click the sliders to move them to the right or left. This way, you can adjust the search to your preferences.
Preset types of holidays
If you are in a hurry, you can use our "preset types of holidays". You find them under "5. Top Criteria". Choose a type from numerous types of holidays such as "Beach holidays", "Family holidays" or "Holidays for couples" and click "Start the quick search!". The slider are in the right positions now, matching the type of holiday you chose, so you don't have to set them manually. Nevertheless, you still have the opportunity to adjust to your preferences.
Quick search
Our complete travel destination search works in 10 steps. If you don't want to go through all the categories, you can use the quick search. In this case, you only work your way through the first 5 steps. If you are in a hurry, you can use our preset types of holidays. This way, all sliders are already set and you can directly click "Start the quick search!".
Detailed search
Travelmyne gives you the unique opportunity to choose your next travel destination according to your own wishes and preferences. Do you want to go diving, party all night and lie at the beach? Then move the sliders to the right positions in 10 steps and the search engine calculates which holiday destinations fit you best. In contrast to the quick search, the detailed search has 10 steps. Under "6. Nature", you can choose the natural features of your travel destination (e.g. beach, sea, mountains, volcanoes), under "7. Culture" you choose the cultural features (history, art, entertainment) and "8. Activities" is about your favourite leisure activities (e.g. water sports, winter sports, whale watching). Furthermore, you can determine other features of your travel destination such as safety infrastructure and education in step 9. The last step "10. Other" is for those travel experts who want to play it safe. Here you can choose the hours of sunshine, rainy days per months and the language of your travel destination.
Please note: Even when you are using the detailed search, you don't have to tick boxes fo all categories. If you know that you are planning a surf holiday and you will have no time for cultural sights or events, then you can skip the category"Culture". The categories you skip are not taken into account for your search. But remember: The more criteria you set and choose, the better the travel destination fits your preferences.
Top destinations
Under "4. Target Areas", you see the words "Top destinations" (Top dest.) in the box "Europe" and in the box below saying "I don't mind, Top World Destinations". Top destinations refers to the most important travel destinations. If you want to travel within Europe and tick the box saying "Europe", your results will only contain the most important travel destination in this world region. Similarly, there are the most important travel destinations on earth. You see the difference when you look for destinations within a country. Then you will find many other (smaller or less significant) travel destinations.
Example: You search within Europe. That means that all European countries as well as the most important cities and regions such as Berlin, Paris or Majorca are displayed. Smaller German regions like the Lüneburg Heath are not displayed. If you tick the box saying "Germany", however, all destinations within the country will be taken into account, including the Lüneburg Heath, the Allgäu, the Mecklenburg Lake District and many other which are not displayed under "Top destinations".
Brief travel guides
Of course, we don't just want to tell you the names of the travel destinations which fit your preferences best. We also want to tell you more about those destinations. For this purpose, we have created a small and informative travel guide with the most important information and great tips for every travel destination. This way, you can get an idea of the travel destination before you set on your journey.
Feature prints
A special feature Travelmyne feature is the novel feature print for every travel destination. It is an overview of what is possible in a region and what isn't.
Any more questions?
Do you have any more questions about how our search engine works or have you found an error? Then send us a message.