Don´t worry, just tripit

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Going on vacation is a breeze with www.tripit.com

Laviinia Dhanagunan

For hassle-free holidays, LAVIINIA DHANAGUNAN advises registering with tripit.com, a free site run by Google.

IMAGINE this. You´re on the way to the airport, with your bags sitting snugly in the trunk of the taxi. As you step up to the check-in counter, Christmas carols go round and round in your head. You just can´t wait for your flight to take off so that you can lean back in your seat as the plane soars through the skies.

Then, the twist -- two unexpected and severely off-putting stopovers delay your arrival at your destination as scheduled.

This instant mood-curler can be avoided with one simple course of action -- registering at tripit.com, a free site run by Google.

All you need for a stress-free vacation is an account with the website (it´s linked to Gmail, so you needn´t worry about opening an account if you already have a gmail account). Being caught in instances like that mentioned earlier can be avoided as the website has fairly up-to-date information and keeps you informed of everything, from the weather to changes in airline schedules.

The website, in keeping with Google´s clean and easy to find approach, is fairly easy to navigate. It´s relatively clean and uncluttered. Everything is laid out as it is and you don´t have to go hunting from page to page trying to find the tab or option you need. The website is free, which means that anyone from a child to someone in their golden years can have access to it.

Your homepage details all your travels for the year. The first thing that catches your eye, right underneath your profile picture, is the table listing your upcoming trips.

And apart from seeing your past holidays and future trips, you can even add a new trip to your profile. Creating a trip is a simple, three-step process -- first, you name the trip, let´s say school holiday.

Then you add details like the duration of the trip and where you´re going. There´s also an option to share details of your holiday with those in your network or you can keep the information private.

With this application, you can check and see who else in your network may be travelling at around the same time frame. This helps you organise meetings to catch up with old friends. Your network comprises your email contacts that can be uploaded from either Hotmail, Yahoo, Linked in, AOL or Google.

You can also monitor the mode of transport for any changes. The trial period is a month but you can extend this service for an annual fee of RM234 (US$69). With this, you get real-time flight status alerts via SMS with TripIt Pro.

For a more visual feel of your travels, tripit has a global map on the right hand side of the homepage which points out past and future trips using blue and red markers.

All you need for a hassle-free trip is to send all your email to plans@tripit.com. Since you´re registered with them, your name and reservations will automatically register in their system and translate into your personal itinerary and when you make additional bookings, such as accommodation or car hire, your itinerary will update itself.

Source : Travel Times, New Straits Times – 22 December 2009

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