TripOptions iPhone Application

We are excited to announce the v1.2 release of our TripOptions application.

Features include:

• View the best flight options between 2 airports with a graphical display
• Tap a flight to get details such as flight number, departure/arrival times, airport codes, flight duration, and number of stops
• Optionally input your existing flight number to compare other flights relative to your scheduled time
• View flight options on other airlines
• View both direct flights (green items) and connecting flights (tan items) to your destination
• The connecting flights to your final destination that are viable based on the selected originating flight are highlighted
• View flight schedule options for up to a year in the future

TripChill Chills Out on Android

Thanks to Peter Suciu for mentioning TripChill's new Android support on his blog.  Peter is an accomplished New York based freelance writer whose work has appeared in many publications including Newsweek, PC Magazine, Laptop, PC Upgrade, Wired, FHM, SPIN, VIBE, The New York Daily News and Computer Games.

Travel & Leisure recognizes TripChill

Thanks to Rich Beattie, Executive Editor of Travel & Leisure, for mentioning TripChill as a staff pick.
http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/tls-top-travel-websites-of-2009/1

Configuring the Lead Time for Your TripChill Departure Status Notifications

You can now configure the lead time for your first departure notification on a travel day.  In the past these notifications have always been sent out 2 hours prior to your starting flight for the day.  You can now change this setting to get notified 3 or 4 hours prior to your first flight.

To change this setting, click on the My Account tab from your TripChill dashboard on the main website.  Go to the Preferences option and then change the value (see the picture below).  Be sure to click the Save button to save your changes.

The TripChill Mobile Travel Assistant Releases Android Support and Offline Itinerary Viewing

We have recently updated the TripChill Mobile Travel Assistant service to offer a feature-rich web browser experience for all Android smartphones, including but not limited to the new HTC Hero.  This unique web interface gives travelers using Android phones the ability to completely manage their TripChill itineraries while on the road.  Travelers simply navigate to www.tripchill.com from their phone, and they are automatically redirected to the Android specific web interface to create an account and to view and edit their travel itinerary information.

We have also released offline itinerary viewing for both Android and iPhone travelers.  This new feature lets the traveler view their itinerary information when the phone is out of range or disconnected (Airplane mode) from their cell service provider, thus keeping the traveler’s vital itinerary information at their fingertips at all times.

Using the TripChill iCal feed on an iPhone - get real-time travel changes automatically updated to your device calendar

The iPhone OS 3.0 makes it very easy to subscribe to external calendar feeds, such as the TripChill feed for viewing your travel information on your device calendar.  Our feed includes all of your itinerary information such as flight, hotel, car, rail, limo, etc.  You can configure your calendar information to get updated in real-time when a change occurs with your travel itinerary, such as a flight delay.

First go into TripChill Account Settings and click on the Sharing tab, and then click on the iCal button to copy your personal iCal URL.

Paste this URL into an email and send it to yourself so that it loads into your iPhone email inbox.  Click on the URL from your iPhone and choose to Subscribe to the feed:

The calendar feed will get registered by your phone after a few seconds:

You'll then have multiple calendars active within your calendar application.  You can choose to view your standard PC calendars or your TripChill calendar or both:

Our friends at Goby launched their website to the public this week. Goby is a new search engine that lets you find fun ways to spend your free time. So check it out!

TripChill Email Import Support for New Travel Item Types

Our users asked for it - the TripChill Mobile Travel Assistant can now import email reservations for rail, limo, restaurant, and more! We are continuing to expand our support as we receive emails from our user community, so please send in all of the types of email reservations that you have. TripChill will automatically organize your information and provide you with complete access to your travel details from your mobile device browser.

TripChill Expands Itinerary Management With Support for New Travel Types

The TripChill Mobile Travel Assistant now supports many new travel item types in addition to the existing support for air, car and hotel. These new types include rail, cruise, shuttles, meetings, restaurant reservations, bus transportation, and more. TripChill users can even add their own travel types.

This enhancement to the popular mobile travel service allows for the addition of custom fields to include important itinerary information such as reservation numbers, ticket prices, contact information, and any other details that road warriors want accessible from their mobile device while traveling.

According to President Alex Shore, "In addition to TripChill's real-time flight tracking and automated itinerary monitoring services, the mobile travel service now allows travelers and their office administrators to track many new travel types to itineraries from the TripChill website or the iPhone web interface. Travelers can now organize, view and share their complete travel schedule, including trip details that happen before a flight departure and during the stay at a destination. For example, travelers can include information about their limo reservation and ground shuttle before their originating flight, and they can add meeting, restaurant, and entertainment details that take place during their trip."

TripChill in the News

We are presenting at Mobile Monday Boston on Monday, April 27, 2009. Massachusetts Governor Patrick Deval will be there.

We are excited to have been recognized by PC World Magazine. Here is the article.

New TripChill video for updating itinerary with a replacement flight

The following video shows how a TripChill traveler using an iPhone can easily tell TripChill about a replacement flight to continue with real-time monitoring of their itinerary. This video shows the user experience for BlackBerry travelers. And this video shows the user experience for travelers using text messaging.

FlightOptions v1.1 now available

Version 1.1 of our flight alternates application called FlightOptions is now available in the iTunes store

Flight Options when you need them most

Here is another example of why travelers should arm themselves with a travel tool like TripChill, or the FlightOptions iPhone application - Tripso Post.

Alex on the KSL Travel Show

I was on the KSL Travel Show today, which is a show that airs every Sunday with Doug Wren on KSL News Radio out of Salt Lake City. It starts off with him busting on me for having to go to a friend’s house to call in, because my ‘high tech’ voip phone has been choppy lately.

Click here to download the MP3 recording. The interview starts 20 minutes, 57 seconds into the recording.

TripChill's FlightOptions iPhone Application

The FlightOptions iPhone application by TripChill is now available in the Apple App Store.


1 out of 4 flights get delayed or cancelled – don’t be a victim! Arm yourself with flight scheduling options using TripChill’s FlightOptions application. Getting out of a meeting early? Use this application to quickly see what your options are to flying home earlier and then call your travel or airline agent to reschedule.

FlightOptions offers a unique and powerful graphical view of flights for any day that you specify.

Features include:

* View the best flight options between 2 airports with a graphical display
* Tap a flight to get details such as flight number, departure/arrival times, airport codes, flight duration, and number of stops
* Optionally input your existing flight number to compare other flights relative to your scheduled time
* View flight options on other airlines
* View both direct flights (green items) and connecting flights (tan items) to your destination.
* The connecting flights to your final destination that are viable based on the selected originating flight are highlighted.
* View flight schedule options for up to a year in the future.

Recent press on TripChill from CNN and LifeHacker

CNN Money/Fortune Small Business

LifeHacker

The TripChill iPhone experience is here!

We have received many inquiries about the availability of the iPhone application in the Apple App Store. We are still waiting for the application to be approved, but since we have had so many travelers asking about the application, we decided to start selling the TripChill iPhone interface directly from our website. For the introductory rate of $5.99, you can now purchase the iPhone Interface here. After making this purchase you will not need to buy the application from the App Store, since they both do the same thing of unlocking our iPhone specific website.

Details

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TripChill is the only true mobile travel assistant for the iPhone. It intelligently monitors your travel itineraries and provides smart notifications when issues arise. TripChill lets you easily view alternate flight information and it will proactively prompt you to book a hotel or car from your iPhone if it detects that you are in jeopardy of being stranded at an airport.

TripChill's iPhone mobile web dashboard displays your current travel situation with access to all the details about each travel leg, including confirmation numbers, clickable phone numbers, driving directions integrated with Google Maps, weather, and much more. You can easily create and edit your travel itineraries and manage your friend notifications all from within the TripChill iPhone web application.

Web Innovators Group Demo Video

Here is the video for our demonstration of the TripChill iPhone application on December 9, 2008. Thanks to Permission TV for producing this.