TripIt, the online travel organizer

September 19, 2007 | Online Travel

Founded by Hotwire co-founder Gregg Brockway, TripIt offers a new solution for the challenge of organizing your travel. The first online service that automatically organizes all of your travel information into a master travel itinerary - no matter where you booked.

Throw away that bulky manila folder � you know, the one with all the print-outs of your flight, hotel and rental car details, maps, directions, weather forecasts, and notes for your next trip. Now there’s TripIt the first online service that automatically organizes all of your travel information into a master travel itinerary � no matter where you booked. Using TripIt itineraries, travelers can easily see their trip details wherever they happen to be, and instantly share them with the people who need to know.

Founded by Hotwire co-founder Gregg Brockway, former Hotwire executive Scott Hintz, and veteran software engineer Andy Denmark, TripIt was unveiled as a finalist at the exclusive TechCrunch40 conference in San Francisco. The service offers a new solution for the challenge of organizing your travel. Do-it-yourself travelers � those who research and buy direct from multiple travel providers � can now free themselves from the frustrating and time-consuming task of keeping track of all of the scattered information that comes with planning your own trip. Now, all travelers have to do is pack, print their TripIt itinerary, and go.

“We came up with the idea for TripIt because we were frustrated do-it-yourself travelers ourselves and know firsthand that using the Internet to make travel plans and organize the details is time consuming and difficult,” said Gregg Brockway, TripIt co-founder and president. “TripIt can do a lot of the dirty work of travel organization. Our goal is for TripIt to be like a great personal assistant and take care of all the details so that travelers don’t have to.”

Here’s how TripIt works: A traveler simply forwards their travel confirmation emails � no matter where they booked - and the TripIt “Itinerator” instantly incorporates them into their master itinerary. Then, TripIt puts that information to work on the traveler’s behalf by automatically anticipating basic needs to make the trip easier, such as adding daily weather, local maps and directions, helpful destination information and more by using information pulled from a variety of other popular websites. Travelers can then print out all their bookings neatly in a single document to take on their trip.

Once the itinerary is created, TripIt leverages the power of social networks to further enrich the travel planning experience. With TripIt, it’s easy to share and collaborate on trips with friends, family and colleagues. TripIt users can also create networks of TripIt “Friends” who are able to see each other’s travel calendars, which is ideal for frequent travelers.

TripIt integrates with the applications people use most, so travelers can access their information when and where they need it � online, printed, via mobile, or in a calendar. Additionally, once trips are over, TripIt is a great way to store and share details about past trips, so travelers don’t need to sift through dozens of emails to replicate a vacation they loved, or give recommendations to friends.