For the past couple of months, I've been gathering information for my August trip to the Pacific Northwest. There's a big, fat folder on my desk that holds information on airline confirmations; hotel reservations; rental car reservations; maps; area restaurants; places of interest, etc. Normally, I would stuff all this paper in a huge, carry-on tote bag or in my luggage. As the trip progresses, a few of these papers usually fall into that great unknown void, known as the "bottom of the bag", never to be seen again. There should be a better way to handle this.
I just found the answer: TripIt. All you need to do is forward all your travel confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com. You can send almost any kind of booking confirmation email, including travel agencies, cruise lines and restaurant reservations from OpenTable. From that point on, it's like magic. Everything is combined into a single master itinerary. They also include related information like weather; maps; driving instructions, city guides and more. You'll receive an email when your itinerary is ready.
You can access all your travel plans from your mobile device or sync it to your personal calendar.
It's great for business travel arrangers. They can coordinate travelers plans and stay up-to-date with change. It's easy to track multiple trvelers on a combined trip calendar.
Here's a sample itinerary.
And, best of all, it's FREE. Happy traveling!
