TripIt Blog » Linda Bao

Friendly reminder: Thank your admin!

Linda Bao — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:41:04 +0000

Who is the most important person in your working life? The person who has your back, protects you from meetings, organizes your travel schedule, plans team events, keeps the supplies stocked and more? Yes, your administrator or office manager!
In honor of Administrative Professionals' Day (today!), TripIt would like to help acknowledge the important person who keeps your work life running smoothly for you.
Here at TripIt, we're celebrating our office manager, Aman. She’s a rock, always wears a smile and makes life significantly better for our office.

Here are just three of the many reasons we’re grateful for Aman:
1. Managing some of our execs' travel calendars (with TripIt for Teams, of course!) to make sure they turn up where they are supposed to be and on time
2. Coordinating new-employee trainings and welcoming visitors and prospective teammates.
3. Planning social events and happy hours, and keeping our kitchen and lunch meetings fully stocked so we can stay focused on making TripIt even better.
Try TripIt for Teams: Free for 30 Days Make your administrator’s life easier with better travel-planning tools. With TripIt for Teams, your admin can automagically organize individual itineraries for travelers, provide shared calendars for the entire team, and get visibility into everyone's plans with a central travel dashboard. Try TripIt for Teams at: http://bit.ly/tripitforteams

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Your Miles Can Make a Child’s Wish Come True

Linda Bao — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 23:32:06 +0000

Do you have more miles than you can use or points that are about to expire? If you fly with United Airlines, Delta or US Airways, you’re in luck because you can put your miles to use toward a great cause.
This month, Make-A-Wish is celebrating 30 years of making wishes come true for children with life-threatening medical conditions. Over 70% of the wishes requested involve wanting to travel far and away to magical lands. Living up to its name, Make-A-Wish indeed makes these dreams a reality by partnering with airlines to turn donated miles into airline tickets.
Here in San Francisco, our local chapter is partnering with television station KRON4 to hold a one-day telethon, “Million Mile Monday” on April 29 from 6am to 7pm to help raise five million miles.
You, too, can be a part of the wish granting by donating your miles to send over 10,000 kids on their travels this year! You don’t have to wait until April 29, you can be someone’s genie and donate your miles (or dollars) here.

As an added incentive, World Wrestling superstar John Cena will personally match every frequent flier mile donated up to 4.5 million, and United Airlines will match the donations of its MileagePlus members, up to 3 million miles, through April 30.
Thanks for your help in making the wishes of many deserving children come true!

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Stress No More: TripIt’s Tips for Staying Healthy While Traveling

Linda Bao — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:19:14 +0000

Does your vow to eat healthier and to exercise more in 2013 seem like a distant memory? The strenuous demands of frequent travel make it easy for those goals and resolutions to fall by the wayside. But with summer vacations (beaches and golf and adventures, oh my!) just around the corner, now is the time to renew your commitment to healthy living and keep it going strong, even when you’re on the road. According to a recent TripIt survey, frequent travelers said that concerns about eating healthy and exercising cause them the most stress while traveling – more than the scanners, lines and overall gauntlet of airport security! When asked how stressful certain travel-related activities are, 67% of respondents said exercising was either somewhat or very stressful and 66% said eating healthy was stressful. So if you’ve ever fretted over missing a workout or packing on calories thanks to meals on the road, you’re certainly not alone. To help you stay healthy and happy while on the road this spring and summer, here are a few of our top tips:

Carry healthy, portable snacks, like whole almonds or a banana to curb cravings
When ordering from a menu, substitute an appetizer or small plate for the entrée
Opt to walk or take the stairs, instead of the people mover or escalator
Aim to increase your steps with an activity tracker or app, and take the scenic route
Ask the hotel concierge for a map of local running routes or trails
Take advantage of hotels that loan guests workout gear, yoga mats or shoes
Use the hotel room to do crunches, push-ups, and chair dips any hour of the day

How do you stay healthy on the road? Do you have any other tips to add to our list?

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CES and Beyond: Resolve to Be a Better Traveler in 2013

Linda Bao — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 08:10:38 +0000

As holiday travel chaos fades into memory, it’s an ideal time to start 2013 travels on the right foot. This week, 150,000 people from all over the world will descend on Las Vegas for the Super Bowl of the technology industry, the Consumer Electronics Show.
Whether or not you’re CES-bound, here are some travel resolutions to make in the new year. If you’ve forwarded all your travel confirmations to plans@tripit.com, you’re already ahead of the game!
1. Have TripIt do all the work TripIt can keep an eye out for travel-related email confirmations in your Gmail inbox and create an itinerary without you having to lift a finger. Look for the “auto-import” option next time you log in to TripIt.com.
2. Sync your trip plans with your calendar TripIt can automatically publish itinerary details to your calendar, so you can keep track of upcoming trips, and easily schedule meetings or other activities. See calendar integration.
3. Keep your loved ones in the loop Share plans with the click of a button. Or, with TripIt Pro, your “Inner Circle” can be automatically notified and have access to your trip plans ($49/year; http://tripit.com/pro).
4. Keep track of who’s in or out of the office Join your company’s group travel calendar on TripIt.com, and see who’s traveling when and where. Simply go to https://www.tripit.com/uhp/groups to find your company group, or create one.
5. Get suggestions from your network Easily publish trip dates and destinations on LinkedIn, Facebook, Yammer and Salesforce Chatter – to uncover meeting opportunities, tips and recommendations. You can decide where and how much to share under your account settings on TripIt.com.
6. Stay in the know, on-the-go You probably know that TripIt Pro acts like a personal travel assistant, alerting you to flight changes. But did you know in addition to email and text alerts, you can now sign up for push notifications? It’s an ideal option for when you have wifi access, but no cell service, i.e. on a plane or traveling internationally.
7. Get money back after you book Let the fluctuating airfare game be your gain. TripIt Pro monitors the cost of eligible flights, and if the price goes down, you’ll receive instructions on how to request a refund or credit for the difference. Cha-ching!
8. Maximize your reward points Organize your frequent flier accounts, and 200+ reward-earning programs using TripIt Pro. By monitoring your points and status, you can create a miles-earning strategy for the year.
If you’re CES-bound, let us know on Twitter @TripIt. Where else are you headed in 2013?

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Earn Elite Status: Organize Your Reward Points Before January 1

Linda Bao — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 09:00:47 +0000

If you’re in pursuit of points for all the miles and hotel nights you’ve logged this year, the clock is ticking. While points remain intact as long as you’re an active member of the program, the progress you’ve made this year towards the next elite status level resets in January for most travel reward programs.
TripIt Pro is an easy way to monitor reward program activity for more than 120 different airline, hotel, transportation, credit card – and now OpenTable dining – reward programs in one place. We’ve also made it easy to add, edit or delete reward programs right from your smartphone.
Some elite status-seekers take “mile runner” trips at the end of the year to squeeze in one last flight or hotel stay, in order to qualify for perks like free upgrades and advance boarding in the new year.
If mile running is not in the cards, here are a couple of other ways to get the most bang for your reward point buck:

Convert hotel points into miles and vice versa, for maximum award-earning potential (check the conversation rate to make sure it’s worth it).
Even if you don’t fly the same airline or stay in the same hotel every trip, some programs allow you to earn points towards a different program (by using the other program’s member number when you make the reservation).
Many program points expire after a certain amount of activity, but activity doesn’t have to mean flying. You might be able to keep the points for another 18 months just by using miles to buy a magazine subscription or making a donation to a charity.
Need a few more miles to make it to the next level? You may be able to purchase them – and end up better off in the long run.

What’s your point-earning strategy for 2013?

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Where to Stay, What to Eat: TripIt Reveals the Top Hotels & Restaurants of 2012

Linda Bao — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 09:00:47 +0000

As you begin planning your trips in the New Year, we wanted to provide you with the top 12 hotels and restaurants of 2012 among seasoned travelers.
So where do savvy “keep calm and carry on” travelers like you stay and dine? Below is a snapshot of the top hotels and restaurants among TripIt users in 2012.
Interested in sharing your thoughts on our list and your other 2012 travel experiences? Join us for our very first Twitter chat on Wednesday, December 19 at 5:00 p.m. ET at #TripItChat.
Our co-hosts include: Matt Long, Landlopers (@LandLopers) Jennifer Miner, The Vacation Gals (@JenniferMiner) JD Andrews, earthXplorer (@EarthXPlorer) Gary Arndt, Everything Everywhere (@EveryWhereTrip) Trish Friensen, Trip Styler (@TripStyler)
In addition to great conversation, you’ll also have a chance to win some great prizes. We hope to see you there!

TOP HOTELS OF 2012

#1 Hotel: Hilton New York

#2 Hotel: New York Marriott Marquis

#3 Hotel: The Venetian (Las Vegas, NV)

#4 Hotel: The Westin St. Francis (San Francisco)

#5 Hotel: Hilton San Francisco Union Square

#6 Hotel: Palmer House, a Hilton Hotel (Chicago)

#7 Hotel: Hilton Los Angeles Airport

#8 Hotel: Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers

#9 Hotel: Hyatt Regency Chicago

#10 Hotel: Santa Clara Marriott (S.F. Bay Area)

#11 Hotel: San Francisco Marriott Marquis

#12 Hotel: San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront

TOP RESTAURANTS OF 2012

#1 Restaurant: Founding Farmers (Washington, DC)

#2 Restaurant: Slanted Door (San Francisco, CA)

#3 Restaurant: abc kitchen (New York, NY)

#4 Restaurant: Foreign Cinema (San Francisco)

#5 Restaurant: Bottega Napa Valley

#6 Restaurant: Zaytinya (Washington, D.C.)

#7 Restaurant: Buddakan (New York City)

#8 Restaurant: Girl & the Goat (Chicago)

#9 Restaurant: The Publican (Chicago)

#10 Restaurant: Gramercy Tavern (New York City)

#11 Restaurant: Kokkari Estiatorio (San Francisco)

#12 Restaurant: Old Ebbitt Grill (Washington D.C.)

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A New Way to Share Travel Plans on LinkedIn

Linda Bao — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:00:15 +0000

Have you ever found out that you were in the same city as an old colleague, after it’s too late to make plans? Well, we have some good news. You can now share your travel plans on LinkedIn in the main network updates feed, making it even easier to coordinate plans or get suggestions from business connections.

The old way is going away...

...but the new updates are even better!

Sharing trip plans on LinkedIn is an easy way to make the most of your time traveling for business. Whether it’s a meeting invitation or restaurant recommendation, TripIt and LinkedIn can uncover opportunities you may not have otherwise thought of.

Don't have your TripIt account linked to your LinkedIn profile yet? Don't worry, it's easy! To learn more about connecting your accounts, click here. You can also publish your travel plans to Facebook, Twitter, Salesforce Chatter and Yammer or share your itineraries privately via email. We make it easy for you to decide where and when you share, in your profile settings. To learn more about sharing, click here. Happy travels!

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The Right to Share Personal Travel Data

Linda Bao — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:00:52 +0000

There are differing opinions in the travel industry about whether your reward program accounts should be accessible to third parties to whom you’ve given permission. Unfortunately, this is impacting point tracking for TripIt Pro users.
In line with TripIt’s mission to make life easier for travelers, our goal is to give you secure access to as many of your reward programs as possible, in one place.
What can you do? Declare your right to share your personal travel data with third parties, like TripIt. Make your voice heard by contacting your airline reward program; and by joining the conversation below, on Facebook, and Twitter using hashtag #freemypoints.

TripIt, on behalf of travelers everywhere, will continue to drive conversations with travel-industry partners towards a solution that works for everyone.
In the meantime, we’re focused on growth and new features:

We’ve expanded TripIt Pro’s point tracker to 120 reward programs, including air, hotel, transportation, parking, dining and credit card rewards.
TripIt Pro users can now add new programs to their account from their iPhone, iPad and iPod touch (coming soon to Android).

By the traveler, for the traveler, The TripIt team

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This holiday season, when you give, we give.

Linda Bao — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:17:41 +0000

The holidays are always an inspiring time to reflect and to give back. In the spirit of making an impact, TripIt is partnering with Passports with Purpose, a travel-inspired initiative that creates long lasting goodwill for people who live in the places travelers visit.
Each year, this philanthropic effort chooses a cause to focus on. This year, the goal is to raise $100,000 for five wells in Haiti with Water.org, a nonprofit organization focused on ensuring that all people have access to safe water and sanitation.
Each year, a group of sponsors helps jump-start the project with their donations. This year, we are honored to be a part of that group alongside Expedia, TBEX, HomeAway, among others.
In addition to our sponsorship donation, we also plan to give Passports with Purpose an additional $5 for every gift of TripIt Pro purchased at tripit.com/gift through December 15.
If you’d like to donate directly to this great cause, you can do so here through December 11.
Cheers and happy holidays everyone!

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Small Business Saturday: 4 Steps to Get Your Business Involved

Linda Bao — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:06:15 +0000

Watch out Black Friday, there’s another holiday shopping event looking to make a big impact on small businesses and their local economies. Small Business Saturday takes place on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, November 24^th, and calls on consumers across the country to support small businesses as they embark on the busiest shopping days of the year. Originally created by American Express in 2010, it rallied more than 100 million people to “Shop Small” in their communities just last year. We don’t have to convince you that enhanced exposure during the holidays is great for the bottom line. However, since it’s a busy time of year, here are four steps to follow to make the most of Small Business Saturday.
1) Get a Game Plan Together - Download the Small Business Saturday Toolkit, which includes signs and tutorials on small business marketing activities like creating a Facebook presence and uploading a YouTube video. Next, decide which activities will work best for your business. Many small businesses create special promotions, deals or discounts on Small Business Saturday. Is there a way your business can provide an extra incentive to shop with you on November 24^th?
2) Get in Front of Your Audience - Think about where your customers are already engaging. If you have a storefront, printable window signage (available in the Toolkit) might be the best place to get their attention. If not, focus on driving them to your website. If you send out a monthly newsletter, make sure you feature Small Business Saturday in your next issue.
3) Get Social - American Express has created all kinds of digital methods to become informed and get involved, whether you’re already socially engaged or starting from scratch. Be sure to ‘Like’ the official Small Business Saturday Facebook page and sign up for the ShopSmall e-newsletter to receive continual resources and ideas for how to participate. If you don’t already have a Facebook page or Twitter handle, now is a good time to create one and begin to grow your online community. The Small Business Administration has a great guide to getting started.
4) Get Organized - An influx of business is a good thing, but can be overwhelming if you aren’t prepared. Make sure you have the proper tools and processes in place to make the day go smoothly. Ensure you have ample staff for November 24^th, and a way to track everyone who shops with you that day, especially first-time customers. Consider a formal CRM system, or simply ask customers to provide their email addresses (voluntarily) so you can keep in touch.
Small Business Saturday Bonus: Keep employee travel plans organized during the busy holiday season by giving TripIt for Business a try. In celebration of Small Business Saturday, you can use Promo Code: “SBSat” to receive a two month free trial of TripIt for Business! Note: Offer valid for first time TripIt for Business users only.

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