holiday-travel-app/INTERACTIVE_SEARCH_GUIDE.md

Interactive Terminal Search Scripts

Two PowerShell scripts for searching travel deals via interactive prompts.

🚀 Quick Start

1. Start the Server

npm run dev

2. Run a Search Script

Option A: Full Interactive Search (with detailed feature preferences)

.\search-interactive.ps1

Option B: Quick Search (simplified prompts)

.\search-quick.ps1

---

📋 What You'll Be Asked

Basic Travel Info

1. Where are you leaving from?

   • Enter IATA airport code (e.g., YOW, YYZ, YUL, YVR)

2. Where do you want to go?

   • Enter destinations separated by commas (e.g., CUN,PUJ,MBJ)

3. When do you want to travel?

   • Earliest departure date: 2025-12-15
   • Latest return date: 2026-01-15

4. How long do you want to stay?

   • Minimum nights: 5
   • Maximum nights: 9

5. What's your budget?

   • Enter amount in CAD or leave blank for no limit

6. Flight preferences

   • Non-stop flights only? (y/n)

Destination Features (Rate 0-10)

The script will ask you to rate the importance of:

• 🏖️ Beach - Direct beach access
• 🏊 Pool - Swimming pool facilities
• ⛳ Golf - Golf courses nearby
• 💆 Spa - Spa and wellness facilities
• 🍽️ Food - Dining options and local cuisine
• 🎉 Nightlife - Bars, clubs, entertainment
• 🛍️ Shopping - Shopping centers and markets
• 🏛️ Culture - Museums, historical sites
• 🚵 Outdoor - Hiking, water sports, activities
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family - Family-friendly amenities

Rating Guide:

• 0 = Not important at all
• 5 = Nice to have
• 10 = Must have

Search Sources

Choose which sources to include:

• Deal sites (YOWDeals, YYZDeals, etc.)
• Skyscanner
• Google Flights
• Air Canada

---

🎯 Example Session

========================================
   Holiday Travel Deal Finder
========================================

Where are you leaving from?
(Enter IATA airport code, e.g., YOW, YYZ, YUL, YVR)
Origin: YOW

Where do you want to go?
(Enter one or more IATA codes, separated by commas)
Examples: CUN,PUJ,MBJ (Caribbean) or LHR,CDG,FCO (Europe)
Destinations: CUN,PUJ,MBJ

When do you want to travel?
Earliest departure date (YYYY-MM-DD):
Start date: 2025-12-15
Latest return date (YYYY-MM-DD):
End date: 2026-01-15

How long do you want to stay?
Minimum nights: 7
Maximum nights: 9

What's your budget?
(Leave blank for no budget limit)
Budget (CAD): 1000

Flight preferences:
Non-stop flights only? (y/n): n

========================================
   Destination Features
========================================

Rate the importance of these features (0-10):
0 = Not important, 10 = Must have

Beach access:
Rating (0-10): 10

Swimming pool:
Rating (0-10): 8

Golf course nearby:
Rating (0-10): 2

Spa & wellness:
Rating (0-10): 7

Food & dining options:
Rating (0-10): 9

Nightlife & entertainment:
Rating (0-10): 6

Shopping:
Rating (0-10): 3

Cultural attractions:
Rating (0-10): 4

Outdoor activities (hiking, water sports):
Rating (0-10): 8

Family-friendly:
Rating (0-10): 7

========================================
   Search Sources
========================================

Which sources do you want to search?
Deal sites (YOWDeals, etc)? (y/n): y
Skyscanner? (y/n): y
Google Flights? (y/n): y
Air Canada? (y/n): y

========================================
   Search Summary
========================================

From: YOW
To: CUN, PUJ, MBJ
Dates: 2025-12-15 to 2026-01-15
Stay: 7-9 nights
Budget: $1000 CAD
Non-stop only: False
Sources: Deals, Skyscanner, GoogleFlights, AirCanada

Top priorities:
  beach: ██████████ 10/10
  food: █████████ 9/10
  pool: ████████ 8/10

========================================

Search now? (y/n): y

Searching for deals...
(This may take 10-30 seconds)

✓ Found 47 results!

========================================
   Top Deals
========================================

[1] Ottawa → Cancun (7 nights)
    Price: $685 CAD
    Duration: 7 nights
    Dates: 2025-12-20 → 2025-12-27
    Source: Skyscanner Link
    Link: https://www.skyscanner.ca/...
    Score: 10542

[2] YOW → PUJ (8 nights)
    Price: $712 CAD
    Duration: 8 nights
    Dates: 2025-12-22 → 2025-12-30
    Source: yowdeals.com
    Link: https://www.yowdeals.com/...
    Score: 10235

...

Export all results to CSV? (y/n): y
✓ Exported to travel_deals_2025-10-29_143052.csv

Open top deal in browser? (y/n): y
✓ Opening in browser...

Happy travels! ✈️🏖️

---

🎨 How Feature Weighting Works

The app matches your preferences with destination profiles:

Example: Cancun (CUN)

• Beach: 10/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Pool: 9/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Golf: 6/10 ⭐⭐⭐
• Spa: 8/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Food: 8/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Nightlife: 9/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Shopping: 7/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Culture: 5/10 ⭐⭐⭐
• Outdoor: 8/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Family: 9/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you rate Beach: 10 and Food: 9, destinations like Cancun will score higher because they excel in those areas.

Supported Destinations

Caribbean: CUN, PUJ, MBJ, NAS Europe: LHR, CDG, FCO, BCN, AMS
USA: LAX, LAS, MIA, MCO, HNL

Other destinations use average ratings

---

💡 Tips

1. Be specific with priorities - Rate 3-5 features as 8+ for best matching
2. Set realistic budgets - Add 10-15% buffer for better results
3. Multiple destinations - Enter 3-5 options to see more deals
4. Flexible dates - Wider date ranges (30-60 days) find more options
5. Save results - Export to CSV for comparison and analysis

---

🔧 Troubleshooting

"Unable to connect to the remote server"

• Make sure the dev server is running: npm run dev
• Check that it's on port 4000: look for "Local: http://localhost:4000"

"No deals found"

• Try removing or increasing the budget
• Expand your date range
• Add more destination options
• Set non-stop to n instead of y

Script won't run

• Enable script execution: Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
• Or run with: powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\search-interactive.ps1

---

📊 Understanding Results

Results are sorted by a composite score that considers:

• Price (lower is better)
• Flight type (non-stop gets bonus)
• Trip length (closer to 7 nights is ideal)
• Source reliability (curated deal sites get bonus)
• Feature match (how well destination matches your priorities)

Higher scores = better matches for your criteria!

---

Happy searching! 🌴✈️