Tripit Pro… is it worth it?

TripIt Pro, is it worth it? Short answer: YES!

First, to clarify, I am not affiliated in anyway with TripIt. I do not get anything for this post. This is genuinely what I have experienced. No sponsorship, no advertisement, no coersion, nothing. For full clarity, I used to work with one of the founders 20+ years ago, he left the company I was working at to found Tripit. But, honestly, this is the first time I’ve even looked at this application and, until writing this article, I had completely forgotten that he was one of the founders.

TripIt Free version

I am a new TripIt user, I started with the free version a month or so ago when I was trying to get my trips organized. I was in the middle of planning both a 10 day Hawaii vacation on two islands and a 24 day vacation in Europe spanning 6 cities. If you are like me, you would have spreadsheets and google documents and tons of emails. I was getting confused myself as I added new tours, changed reservations and just overall trying to keep it all straight.

So, I downloaded TripIt and signed up for the free version. I was instantly able to visualize my trip, document all of our confirmations, and share it with my family (who of course didn’t read a lick of it). Anyways, once I got into it I started adding PDFs of my tickets and confirmations, which in my opinion is one of the best features, and I was so happy. Until, I reached the limit of free uploads. Whelp, I was already pretty far into it so I paid the $49 and upgraded to TripIt Pro.

Yes to TripIt Pro!

And boy am I glad I did… The ability to upload all of my tickets and confirmations is priceless. I am able to use the website to add and edit my trip details easily, attach copies of the tickets and any instructions or other details, and organize my trip using my larger screen and keyboard. Then the app for my iPhone is available and I can add/edit there as well. But, that’s not the best part. I can be in airplane mode, and as long as I refreshed the app prior to disconnecting from the network, I will have my entire trip, including PDFs, locally on my phone. That means that I won’t lose any of my reservations or tickets (unless I lose my phone or it dies).

I have already taken my Hawaii trip and I’m 9 days away, as of writing this article, to boarding a plane to Paris for our long awaited Italy 30 year wedding anniversary trip. I am feeling confident now that I have all my ducks in a row and I am ready to go. Here’s a quick example of how I’m organizing my trip since we are going to 2 countries, 6 cities, 3 airline flights, 1 car rental, 6 hotel reservations, many restaurant reservations, dozens of tour/activities registrations, and more.

Organizing my long Europe trip

I have created seven trips. The first trip is the one that just has the overall itinerary with the airline tickets, hotel dates and car rental. Then each leg of this trip has it’s own ‘trip’.

I found that with such a complicated trip, it is much easier to organize it this way. Within each trip, I have the hotel details, any notes that I need to know (Like reminders to ask for late checkout), restaurant reservations, restaurant ideas, tickets and tours, and whatever else is pertinent. This is a sample of part of our Rome trip:

I have some things that are time based, some that are not. Some of our trip is very tightly scheduled, some is loose ideas of what we want to do and see. TripIt makes it easy to organize all of these thoughts and jumbled data into one place.

New website design

So, one thing you will see here is a pretty representation of the trip. The older website isn’t as pretty, but still fully functional.

To toggle between the two views is easy, just click the toggle and it swaps seemlessly.

Pros of the new website: It is easier to navigate, prettier, more organized, and it is mobile friendly

Pros of the old website (which is why I switch back and forth): Not all the features are on the new website. In particular, the ability to add people to your inner circle so they can have your trip plans.

Hopefully TripIt continues to update their website so they can move fully to the new design as it really is superior.

So, if you have a trip you are planning, I highly recommend starting with the free version of TripIt to see if you like it. Then decide if you need the pro version. Either way, it’s definitely a great tool.