Cool tool…

I’m still waiting for my moped to come home from the shop (perhaps it’s not really there and is actually out carousing) but that isn’t keeping me from checking out some other fun stuff. [Update: not today I’m told, they are just starting now – ouch, earlier they’d said maybe last Saturday.]
The latest site I’ve discovered that promises to be a “cool tool” is TripIt.com. I saw this in a newer post on Joel On Software this morning and had to try it out. Joel thinks it’s “totally awesome” and, while I didn’t fall to me knees wonderstruck, I did think it was nifty. I don’t travel as much as I suspect Joel does, though I’m no slouch, and that probably explains the difference.
The thing it does well is take email confirmation letters from airlines, hotels, and the like and combine them into a unified itinerary. I did more or less the same thing cutting and pasting into Backpack, but I had to do the cutting and pasting (and can you believe I’m complaining about a few mouse clicks?!).
I’ve an upcoming trip to Alaska so I was in the perfect position to give it whirl. I forwarded my plane and hotel confirmations to “plans@tripit.com” and in a few seconds I was notified my itinerary was ready. And it was – complete with maps, directions, and few other goodies I didn’t manage to put into my Backpack account. It even has a iCal calendar that I did put into my Backpack calendar. Now if it would only do it automatically… 🙂
Actually there was one little hang-up, the first time I tried it my email client defaulted to forwarding my confirmation letter as an attachment. It was bounced back. Forwarding the confirmation inline worked fine though.
If you aren’t planning a trip I’d recommend you book one right away so you can give this website a test drive!
Aloha!