TripIt Blog

CES and Beyond: Resolve to Be a Better Traveler in 2013

2013-01-08T07:59:04-08:00

As holiday travel chaos fades into memory, it’s an ideal time to start 2013 travels on the right foot. This week, 150,000 people from all over the world will descend on Las Vegas for the Super Bowl of the technology industry, the Consumer Electronics Show.

Whether or not you’re CES-bound, here are some travel resolutions to make in the new year. If you’ve forwarded all your travel confirmations to plans@tripit.com, you’re already ahead of the game!

1. Have TripIt do all the work
TripIt can keep an eye out for travel-related email confirmations in your Gmail inbox and create an itinerary without you having to lift a finger. Look for the “auto-import” option next time you log in to TripIt.com.

2. Sync your trip plans with your calendar
TripIt can automatically publish itinerary details to your calendar, so you can keep track of upcoming trips, and easily schedule meetings or other activities. See calendar integration.

3. Keep your loved ones in the loop
Share plans with the click of a button. Or, with TripIt Pro, your “Inner Circle” can be automatically notified and have access to your trip plans ($49/year; http://tripit.com/pro).

4. Keep track of who’s in or out of the office
Join your company’s group travel calendar on TripIt.com, and see who’s traveling when and where. Simply go to https://www.tripit.com/uhp/groups to find your company group, or create one.

5. Get suggestions from your network
Easily publish trip dates and destinations on LinkedIn, Facebook, Yammer and Salesforce Chatter – to uncover meeting opportunities, tips and recommendations. You can decide where and how much to share under your account settings on TripIt.com.

6. Stay in the know, on-the-go
You probably know that TripIt Pro acts like a personal travel assistant, alerting you to flight changes. But did you know in addition to email and text alerts, you can now sign up for push notifications? It’s an ideal option for when you have wifi access, but no cell service, i.e. on a plane or traveling internationally.

7. Get money back after you book
Let the fluctuating airfare game be your gain. TripIt Pro monitors the cost of eligible flights, and if the price goes down, you’ll receive instructions on how to request a refund or credit for the difference. Cha-ching!

8. Maximize your reward points
Organize your frequent flier accounts, and 200+ reward-earning programs using TripIt Pro. By monitoring your points and status, you can create a miles-earning strategy for the year.

If you’re CES-bound, let us know on Twitter @TripIt. Where else are you headed in 2013?

Earn Elite Status: Organize Your Reward Points Before January 1

2012-12-30T09:12:13-08:00

If you’re in pursuit of points for all the miles and hotel nights you’ve logged this year, the clock is ticking. While points remain intact as long as you’re an active member of the program, the progress you’ve made this year towards the next elite status level resets in January for most travel reward programs.

TripIt Pro is an easy way to monitor reward program activity for more than 120 different airline, hotel, transportation, credit card – and now OpenTable dining – reward programs in one place. We’ve also made it easy to add, edit or delete reward programs right from your smartphone.

Some elite status-seekers take “mile runner” trips at the end of the year to squeeze in one last flight or hotel stay, in order to qualify for perks like free upgrades and advance boarding in the new year.

If mile running is not in the cards, here are a couple of other ways to get the most bang for your reward point buck:

Convert hotel points into miles and vice versa, for maximum award-earning potential (check the conversation rate to make sure it’s worth it).
Even if you don’t fly the same airline or stay in the same hotel every trip, some programs allow you to earn points towards a different program (by using the other program’s member number when you make the reservation).
Many program points expire after a certain amount of activity, but activity doesn’t have to mean flying. You might be able to keep the points for another 18 months just by using miles to buy a magazine subscription or making a donation to a charity.
Need a few more miles to make it to the next level? You may be able to purchase them – and end up better off in the long run.

What’s your point-earning strategy for 2013?

Where to Stay, What to Eat: TripIt Reveals the Top Hotels & Restaurants of 2012

2012-12-18T17:16:27-08:00

As you begin planning your trips in the New Year, we wanted to provide you with the top 12 hotels and restaurants of 2012 among seasoned travelers.

So where do savvy “keep calm and carry on” travelers like you stay and dine? Below is a snapshot of the top hotels and restaurants among TripIt users in 2012.

Interested in sharing your thoughts on our list and your other 2012 travel experiences? Join us for our very first Twitter chat on Wednesday, December 19 at 5:00 p.m. ET at #TripItChat.

Our co-hosts include:
Matt Long, Landlopers (@LandLopers)
Jennifer Miner, The Vacation Gals (@JenniferMiner)
JD Andrews, earthXplorer (@EarthXPlorer)
Gary Arndt, Everything Everywhere (@EveryWhereTrip)
Trish Friensen, Trip Styler (@TripStyler)

In addition to great conversation, you’ll also have a chance to win some great prizes. We hope to see you there!

TOP HOTELS OF 2012

#1 Hotel: Hilton New York

#2 Hotel: New York Marriott Marquis

#3 Hotel: The Venetian (Las Vegas, NV)

#4 Hotel: The Westin St. Francis (San Francisco)

#5 Hotel: Hilton San Francisco Union Square

#6 Hotel: Palmer House, a Hilton Hotel (Chicago)

#7 Hotel: Hilton Los Angeles Airport

#8 Hotel: Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers

#9 Hotel: Hyatt Regency Chicago

#10 Hotel: Santa Clara Marriott (S.F. Bay Area)

#11 Hotel: San Francisco Marriott Marquis

#12 Hotel: San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront

TOP RESTAURANTS OF 2012

#1 Restaurant: Founding Farmers (Washington, DC)

#2 Restaurant: Slanted Door (San Francisco, CA)

#3 Restaurant: abc kitchen (New York, NY)

#4 Restaurant: Foreign Cinema (San Francisco)

#5 Restaurant: Bottega Napa Valley

#6 Restaurant: Zaytinya (Washington, D.C.)

#7 Restaurant: Buddakan (New York City)

#8 Restaurant: Girl & the Goat (Chicago)

#9 Restaurant: The Publican (Chicago)

#10 Restaurant: Gramercy Tavern (New York City)

#11 Restaurant: Kokkari Estiatorio (San Francisco)

#12 Restaurant: Old Ebbitt Grill (Washington D.C.)

A New Way to Share Travel Plans on LinkedIn

2012-12-12T08:59:16-08:00

Have you ever found out that you were in the same city as an old colleague, after it’s too late to make plans? Well, we have some good news. You can now share your travel plans on LinkedIn in the main network updates feed, making it even easier to coordinate plans or get suggestions from business connections.

The old way is going away...

...but the new updates are even better!

Sharing trip plans on LinkedIn is an easy way to make the most of your time traveling for business. Whether it’s a meeting invitation or restaurant recommendation, TripIt and LinkedIn can uncover opportunities you may not have otherwise thought of.

Don't have your TripIt account linked to your LinkedIn profile yet? Don't worry, it's easy! To learn more about connecting your accounts, click here.

You can also publish your travel plans to Facebook, Twitter, Salesforce Chatter and Yammer or share your itineraries privately via email. We make it easy for you to decide where and when you share, in your profile settings. To learn more about sharing, click here.

Happy travels!

The Right to Share Personal Travel Data

2012-12-10T10:04:15-08:00

There are differing opinions in the travel industry about whether your reward program accounts should be accessible to third parties to whom you’ve given permission. Unfortunately, this is impacting point tracking for TripIt Pro users.

In line with TripIt’s mission to make life easier for travelers, our goal is to give you secure access to as many of your reward programs as possible, in one place.

What can you do? Declare your right to share your personal travel data with third parties, like TripIt. Make your voice heard by contacting your airline reward program; and by joining the conversation below, on Facebook, and Twitter using hashtag #freemypoints.

TripIt, on behalf of travelers everywhere, will continue to drive conversations with travel-industry partners towards a solution that works for everyone.

In the meantime, we’re focused on growth and new features:

We’ve expanded TripIt Pro’s point tracker to 120 reward programs, including air, hotel, transportation, parking, dining and credit card rewards.
TripIt Pro users can now add new programs to their account from their iPhone, iPad and iPod touch (coming soon to Android).

By the traveler, for the traveler,

The TripIt team