We at GoalBusters have been teased quite a bit for our obsessive use of TripIt.com. So when our friend, Chris Adams of Partners in Recognition asked us about what benefits we saw from this online service, we thought we'd put together our thoughts here.
There are several things we like about TripIt:
1. We can forward confirmations for hotel, air, car, restaurants, etc. from most travel websites and it creates a master itinerary for us. Since we don't have a travel agent, it is our "virtual agent" organizing all the details into one place.
2. When we travel, we can access the TripIt site from our BlackBerries and get all our travel information on one schedule. It also calculates directions, so we know where we're going.
3. On the phone, it live updates flight status through FlightStats.com, so we know in advance about delays or gate changes. We've even figured out where the best food is in the airport before.
4. More than one person can collaborate on the same itinerary. So if one of us schedules something, we can add it to the schedule, and we'll both see it the next time we log in, or get emailed that something was scheduled. We can also provide access to others who aren't on the trip, like our assistant, so she could schedule meetings as well.
5. In addition, it speaks to LinkedIn.com, which is where we've gotten most of our ribbing. Through the TripIt feed, connections can see when we're traveling near them. We've had some connections proactively contact us to schedule meetings when they know we're traveling.
So that's why we like TripIt.com.
