Saturday, December 8, 2007

Social Travel (List of Online Travel Organization Sites)

Since Online Travel Organization Sites was one of my most popular posts. I decided to enhance it and add value to it. Here is the revised and improved version.



Social Travel--List of Online Travel Organization Sites

I strongly believe the value of online
travel organization with social networking (travel2.0 ?) capabilities due to the shift in people's behaviors (from planning, to booking, to coordinating with friends, to what's done with photos after the trip). And other folks think it's a good idea too.

Although most people still coordinate trips the old fashioned way using massive amounts of email, phone calls, instant messages, and wall posts, a centralized way of simplifying social travel is a hot idea. Below is a list of companies leading the way:

TripHub
TripHub create a single "hub" for all trip information and discussions. Users can invite people and track who is coming, research and discuss travel plans and activities, collaborate on decisions and keep people informed, create a shared trip map and schedule of events, and share travel itineraries from any source or supplier.

TripIt
Tripit allows users to organize trip details into one master online itinerary -- even if arrangements are booked at multiple travel sites. It automatically include maps, directions and weather, and gives the option to book restaurants, theater tickets, activities and more right from within the online itinerary. Users can safely access travel plans online, share them, check-in for flights, or print an itinerary.

WAYN
WAYN is the fastest growing travel and lifestyle social networking community website in the UK. WAYN helps you to keep track of all your contacts from around the world and make new friends based on where you are now, where you have been and where you are going!

TripWiser
TripWiser is an intuitive way to capture trip experiences by various profiles and social factors. Users can create, customize and print multiple itineraries, upload photos, write and share with close friends and the broader community.

Trip Tie
TripTie is an online community of travelers, all devoted to planning and sharing their trips. Members plan and store their itineraries, then you take the best pieces of them and create your own. Share your favorite places, travel tips, to-brings, photos, stories, and more.

yowtrip
YOWtrip allows single travelers to find others going on similar trips.

imin
I'm In! is a social media site for organizing travel with friends. It has unique trip ideas, private planning pages, and a place to share memories and trip details.

Trip Up (Side Step)
TripUp is an interactive travel community that connects people from all over the world through a social network with a travel twist.

Matador Travel
Matador is a meeting place. It’s a place for you to express yourself, tell others about your adventures, get meaningful travel advice, and take inspiration from the beautiful and remarkable things others like you have discovered all across the globe.

TripConnect
TripConnect is an online service that allows people to get travel advice from people they know, others who share similar interests, and also from established and relevant information sources. The company's mission is to help people with the process of choosing travel destinations and hotels by presenting them with the most useful sources of information: those that they trust and those that are most relevant to their tastes and interests.

Dopplr
Dopplr lets you share your future travel plans with a group of trusted fellow travellers whom you have chosen. It also reminds you of friends and colleagues who live in the cities you're planning to visit. You can use the service with your personal computer and mobile phone.

Groople
Groople is a online group travel agency dedicated to simplifying the otherwise difficult task of planning travel for your group.

Kango
Kango is a travel information search engine - your first step to deciding where to go, where to stay or what to do. We're here to help you make informed decisions about what best fits your travel preferences.

Yahoo
Yahoo! Travel is a comprehensive online travel destination, where you can reserve cheap airline tickets, hotels, cars, cruises and vacation packages, all in one place. Research trips from a wealth of planning resources including destination and city guides, user and expert reviews, local weather and currency information, and much more.

Travnotes
TravNotes is a micro-blogging service that allows you to note your travels. Share short notes with friends and family, and quickly log your thoughts while traveling, plan an upcoming trip, or ask questions. Categorize your notes by detsination if you wish.

Mylifeoftravel
My Life of Travel is a free web-based travel journal and travel research tool that lets travellers record their journeys, map travel histories, share tips with fellow tourists and keep in touch with friends and family, without the need for mass email communication and photo sharing sites.

There are are a lot more out there that don't really fit into Social Travel, but might fit into Travel 2.0. They are:


farecast helps save money with flexible airfare. (I used it and recommend it.)
erideshare helps you find carpool and people who are traveling to where you want to go. (I am testing it for my Vegas trip)
sidestep searches sites to find the Web's best travel bargains.
kayak is a travel search engine that searches hundreds of travel sites from all over the world.
Yapta enables customers to tag specific flights/itineraries and then monitors pricing and sends email updates when fares drop
hereorthere allows users to share travel experiences.

Charter Bus America
is online charter bus service.

RedWeek is a service for timeshares for rent or sale.
SeatGuru is a source for airplane seating, in-flight amenities and airline information.
RealTravel is travel guide and trip planner powered by advice from real travelers
Home&Abroad is a travel planning and purchasing service
Site59
is a great getaway last minute travel site that specializes in last-minute, online travel deals.
world66 is an open content travel guide, where people from all over the planet can write about the places they love, the hotels they stayed in, the restaurants that have eaten.
Travellerspoint
is focused on cultural travelers and provides a live meeting point for travelers to create more understanding for different cultures
IgoUgo is a community of travelers sharing reviews and photos
wikitravel.org is a wikipedia for travel.
TripAdvisor is just a big, big site with hotel reviews, photos and travel advice for hotels and vacations.

Now I will make my blog more searchable like a website using keywords from several Travel2.0 sites.

TripHub:

<meta name="Keywords" content="Group travel,vacation planning,family reunion,spa vacations,ski trips,girls getaway,girlfriend getaway,weekend getaway,weddings,destination wedding,birthdays,triphub,triphub.com,www.triphub.com,40th birthday,30th birthday,trip planning,hotel reservations,bachelor parties,bachelorette parties,invitations,trip websites,reunions,retreats,church retreats,club travel,school trip,team travel,alumni travel,trip advisor,group rates" />    

TripIt:

<meta name="keywords" content="trip planner, travel itinerary, itineraries, travel itinerary, travel planner, business travel, trip planning, group travel, travel planning, travel organizer, vacation planning, flight itinerary, vacation planner, group trip, group vacation, itinerary" />

WAYN:

<meta name="keywords" content="location, friendfinder, contact, contacts, where are you now, wayn, keep in touch, lost friends, old friends, friends, maps, visualize, world map, search people, contact management">


11 comments:

David T. said...

I recently came across a site called I'm in! www.imin.com.
Has a lot cool tools to organize and collaborate with your group but it also has great trip itinerary ideas (always hard for my group to lock in on what we'll do next or where we'll go). If you find something, you can download it and start editing it as you discuss with your group. Saves time and pretty cool....

Taige Zhang said...

Thanks. I think it's good site. I'll add it to the blog! We just need one good site that everyone is on so it's super useful. That's what I want.

Taige Zhang said...

Just added yowtrip.com to it.

Jeremy said...

Taige, great list here. Thought you might want to also include Travature.com, a new travel startup that merges search tools, social networking, and community driven content. Think of it like TripUp, Wikitravel, Tripadvisor, and Kayak all rolled into one!

Unknown said...

dont forget about social travel site skoovy.com

A great site to find and post the latest travel deals and news.

Unknown said...

I might be a bit biased, but you should really add www.globetaggers.com

Macky said...

Hey Taige.... not knowing my exam schedule is so frustrating!

I can't wait to making the freaking booking!

See you in UK...!

P.S. if you were a girl, I would say "with lots of hugs & kisses", but since you are a guy, I'll say... peace out bro!

Anonymous said...

Hi Taige,

Good list, but if you haven't already, check out www.tripbase.com.

In a nutshell, users select what's important to them in a travel destination (nightlife, weather, budget, dining, attractions, etc.), then Tripbase makes unbiased recommendations for the most appropriate locations that match those preferences.

Taige Zhang said...

thanks letting me know about the other travel 2.0 sites. you think I should do a revised list again? I think there's some new ones and some are dead. like triphub... my favorite because of their experience but i heard they had bad management or something.

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