How to Plan a Trip Using Waze on Android and iPhone

Waze is among the most popular navigation apps on smartphones. Here's how you can use it to plan your trip before you leave.

Anything can go wrong when planning a trip, especially when you’re running late for an appointment. That’s why it helps to prepare for your trip in advance.

Waze helps you do that by scheduling your trip, reminding you when it’s time to leave, and making it easy to start your trip once in the car. This article will show you how to plan a trip on Waze and why you should.

Waze Allows You to Plan a Trip in Advance

Waze allows you to prepare for your trip in advance by scheduling it in the app. The app reminds you shortly before it’s time to leave, based on its estimations of how long it will take you to get to your destination.

When you’re ready to leave, Waze will start your trip at the tap of a button. That means you don’t have to input your destination at the last minute. Waze even helps you find gas stations along your route.

The "Plan a drive" feature is especially helpful when you’re going to have a busy day. You can schedule your trip ahead of a meeting or interview to limit the stress and anxiety that come with preparing for trips of that nature.

This is one of several ways that Waze makes life easier. For example, you can stream music on Waze while driving, so you can use one app instead of two, which allows you to focus on the road and limit distractions. Not sure which popular music streaming service to get? Our guide will help you decide whether Apple Music or Spotify is best for you.

Download: Waze for Android | iPhone (Free)

How to Plan a Trip on Waze

Planning a trip on Waze is easy. Follow the steps below to get started.

1. Open the Waze app on your phone.
2. Tap My Waze at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap Plan a drive, and the same option again at the bottom of the screen.
4. Select your destination from your History, or search for the address in the Search bar at the top.
5. Enter your trip details, including the address you’re leaving from and the time you'd like to arrive at your destination, then tap Save.
6. Toggle Tell me when to leave on if you want Waze to prompt you to leave, based on its estimations.

Repeat the same process for each trip you want to plan on Waze.

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How to Manage Your Planned Trip on Waze

Waze will show you your trip details on the Plan a drive page, including the time and address of your planned trip. Follow steps one through three above to view this page.

Tap the three-dot menu button to the right of your trip details to access more features. From here, you can tap Send location to share the location of your trip with people in your contacts.

You can Edit arrival time in the event that your appointment is changed and tap Info for an overview of your trip—including the name of the place you’re going to, its address, and how far it is from you.

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One of the best features to take advantage of when planning your trip on Waze is checking for parking options when you tap Find parking. Each parking lot shows information like its location and walking distance to your destination.

Go down the list and tap the parking lot that’s most convenient for you. You can Mark your parking spot by tapping the three-dot button on the right and selecting that option.

Going back to your planned trip, tap Routes to preview the route options available for your trip. The information shown is based on live data, so it’s best to choose your preferred route when you’re ready to leave. You can preview routes in the form of a list, which is the default view. Alternatively, you can switch to Map view at the top of the screen.

When you’re ready to leave, tap My Waze in the app, followed by Plan a drive, then tap your trip or Go on the screen. Waze will automatically open the navigator and start your trip.

Plan Your Trip on Waze for Peace of Mind

Planning your trip on Waze eliminates any stress and anxiety associated with traveling, especially for important appointments. When you’re running late, you can open the app, select your trip and Waze will start navigating, rather than inputting your trip details at the last minute.

Thanks to Waze's traffic and location data it’s a convenient feature that lightens your load when planning a trip.