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Planning a trip

Keep a whole trip in one note: the budget in every currency you’ll spend, each person’s share, arrival times in local time and the drive at the other end. Change a price or a date and every line that depends on it follows.

A budget in several currencies

The hotels are priced in euros and Swiss francs and the flights in pounds. Add the amounts as they are and convert the total once, at the end of the line.

calcAnswers depend on today’s date or live data
# Rome, Florence and Zurich for two
flights = £320
rome = €160 * 4 gives €640.00
florence = €140 * 3 gives €420.00
zurich = CHF 230 * 3 gives CHF 690.00
spending money = €70 * 10 gives €700.00
total = flights + rome + florence + zurich + spending money in GBP gives £2,453.90
total / 2 gives £1,226.95

Each amount keeps its own currency until you ask for another with in GBP, which uses the latest daily exchange rates. The total moves a little from day to day, so you can watch what the trip costs as rates change. See Converting between currencies.

Flights and a villa, per person

Once you’ve paid, you know the rate your card used. Put it after at so everyone’s share matches the statement and stays put.

calc
# Mallorca: six friends, seven nights
people = 6
flights = people items at £140 each gives £840.00
villa = €3,000 in GBP at 0.85 gives £2,550.00
car hire = €600 in GBP at 0.85 gives £510.00
total = flights + villa + car hire gives £3,900.00
split total among people gives £650.00

items at … each prices several of the same thing, and split … among divides the total. Because the exchange rate is written into the line, these answers never change. See Using your own rate and Splitting a bill.

Arrival times and calls home

Write the departure in the city you leave from, add the flight time, and ask for the answer in the city where you land.

calc
# London to Boston
departs = October 12 2026 at 10:40am London
flight time = 7 hours 20 min
lands = departs + flight time
lands in Boston gives October 12, 2026 at 1:00 PM
# The Friday team call is at 9am UK time
October 16 2026 at 9am UK time in Boston gives October 16, 2026 at 4:00 AM

Big cities work by name, so Boston, Munich or Mumbai convert straight away, and you can say UK time or New York time the way you would out loud. With the date in the line, summer time is taken care of, even in the weeks when the UK and the US change their clocks on different days. A 4am call is your cue to ask for a later slot before you fly. See Converting a time between zones.

The drive at the other end

Taking the car from Calais to the Alps? Work out the time on the road, when you’ll arrive, and what fuel and tolls come to.

calc
# Calais to Chamonix, two drivers
distance = 900 km
average speed = 90 km/h
driving = distance / average speed gives 10 hours
on the road = driving + 3 * 30 min gives 11 hours 30 min
7am + on the road gives 6:30 PM
fuel = 6 L/100km * distance gives 54 L
diesel = €1.80/L
fuel cost = fuel * diesel gives €97.20
tolls = €85
split (fuel cost + tolls) among 2 gives €91.10

Units cancel as you go: kilometres divided by km/h leaves hours, L/100km times kilometres leaves litres, and a price per litre turns litres into euros. If you think in miles, distance in miles to 0 dp gives 559 mi. See Speed, distance and time and Fuel economy.

Counting down to departure

Keep a countdown at the top of the note. These answers count from today, so the ones below are from 16 September 2026.

calcAnswers depend on today’s date or live data
leave = October 12 2026
days until leave gives 26 days
whole weeks until leave gives 3 weeks
workdays until leave gives 18 workdays
# Book the dog sitter a fortnight ahead
leave - 1 fortnight gives September 28
# Many countries want six months left on your passport
leave + 6 months gives April 12, 2027

days until drops by one each morning, whole weeks until counts the full weeks left, and workdays until shows how many working days you have to finish things off before you go. Taking off a fortnight gives a reminder date, and adding months keeps the day of the month. See Counting down.

Make it your own

  • Still picking dates? 6 weeks from today or 2 weeks from next monday gives a date to search flights with, and first friday of next month finds a long weekend.
  • Check a menu price while you’re away: CHF 18.50 in GBP shows that lunch in pounds.
  • Share small costs as you go: 3 coffees @ €2.80 is €8.40, and a taxi fare of €64 split 4 ways is €16.00 each.
  • Add a connection to a longer journey with lands + 2 hours 30 min, then convert each arrival to local time.
  • Before you ring home, ask for time in London to be sure you won’t wake anyone, or today in Sydney to see whether it’s already tomorrow there.
  • Paste a time from a booking confirmation, such as 2026-10-12T17:45:00Z in Boston, to read it in local time.
  • Pack enough medicine for the whole trip: 2 tablets 3 times a day * 14 days gives 84. See Rates with per and /.