I recently installed TripIt on my iPhone, a free travel app that promises to give you access to all the trip planning information you might require when you’re in a strange city. So, how useful is it going to be?
Getting Started
To get started, all you need to do is forward your confirmation e-mails to [email protected]. This is really convenient – most of the time TripIt can extract all the vital information out of your e-mails and automatically build your itinerary without any intervention on your behalf.
Here’s the really cool part. You now have your entire itinerary, including flights, hotel reservations, and car rental bookings in one convenient place, and it’s all interactive. TripIt will helpfully insert links to maps of your destinations, provide up to the minute gate information for your flights, and even give travel tips based on the airplane allocated to your flight. When I looked at an upcoming trip, for instance, it told me the aircraft I’ll be flying on is a narrow one and to avoid any C seating as the curvature of the fuselage results in reduced shoulder and head room in those seats.
If you’ve linked with colleagues on TripIt, your iPhone will helpfully tell you when they are nearby. You can also upgrade to TripIt Pro, which includes functionality to track points such as frequent flyer miles or hotel rewards points.
Summary
If you travel frequently for business or pleasure, TripIt is a must-have application. From the ease of building your itinerary by forwarding confirmation e-mails to the handy features such as having all your confirmation numbers and contact information in one easy app, it will make your travel life much, much easier. The free version has everything you need to be truly useful when you’re on the go. If you’re a true road warrior, consider looking at the paid version, which is $49 a year, and includes point tracking and the ability to find alternate flights.
This review applies to the iPhone version. TripIt is also available for the iPad, Android, and Blackberry. If you don’t have one of these devices, there is a mobile site at http://m.tripit.com.