Tripit vs Kayak Itineraries Feature

For the sake of this post we are going to be excluding everything about Kayak, except for its itinerary feature. This is the only way to do a fair Tripit vs Kayak itineraries comparison with level footing for both.

I’ll be looking at both the apps as well as the websites, showing show to sync the trips with Google Calendar and discussing at the end which one I prefer and why.

Spoiler alert, but I actually use both of these in conjunction with each other. This suits my needs perfectly, but you can decide for yourself exactly which app is better for you.

Tripit

Tripit is a dedicated trip planning website and app, so you’d imagine that it would have the advantage in a Tripit vs Kayak itineraries showdown but that’s not necessarily true.

For this discussion we are using the free version of Tripit.

There is a pro version available to you as well if you’re willing to pay $49 / year. It will give you alerts for things such as flight status changes, gate changes, fare price changes and more, as well as a few other cool features that you can read more about here.

How it works

For tripit to work you essentially give it permission to read through your email address that you make all of your bookings with.

Alternatively, you forward all relative emails with bookings to “plans@tripit.com” and it will read the email, as well as the first attachment only, then update your itinerary with the details.

I personally just forward all my emails to the address as soon as I get them so that I know nothing has been missed. You can manually add in extra details as you go, but the basic info is probably all you’re looking for here.

A look at the Tripit website

• This is as the website looks on Tripit, as I have merged all the individual locations into one large trip, your screen might look different if you decide to keep them all as individual trips
• I like the stats in the bottom right corner which is a handy thing to have for curiosity’s sake

• Once you click into a trip you will see a bit more detail, for example flight times, layover times and more
• Some of the info will be blank, but you can add it in as you go if you like. Things like “Aircraft and Service Details”
• See the red circle in the top right corner to change to the map view, a unique feature of Tripit that is pretty cool to look at

• Here is the map view that was talked about, obviously it changes as you add stuff into it, showing beds, flights, trains and other info with little icons on the map

A look at the Tripit app

• This is the home screen of the app, showing a list of trips except that I have merged them all into one large trip
• You can see you old trips as well as the upcoming ones

• This is the next screen after having clicked into the trip, where everything is broken down into a neat descending timeline, something that you will also see later on in the widget
• See the red circle for the clickable option to view in map view

• The map view in the app was not as good as the website version, I found it difficult to navigate and not very clear about where I was as I scrolled through different bookings, but it still worked

How to sync Tripit with Google calendars

• This is where Tripit shines, simply click on “settings” in the app and you will see this option here, click it.

• Then go in to the Google Calendar app and you will see this box here, click that and you’ll be laughing all the way home.

Kayak

Kayak is owned by Booking.com and has a lot of extra functionality as a website, because it is a meta search engine for booking flights, accommodation and rental cars.

However as stated, for this Tripit vs Kayak itineraries post we will be disregarding all of that other stuff and instead focus on just the offerings of their itinerary service.

How it works

Like Tripit, this works by giving the website access to your email account for it to scan for bookings. They can also scan attachments in the email.

I still find it better to just forward the emails to “trips@kayak.com” so I know that it is getting everything and also because it happens instantly this way.

A look at the Kayak website

• In my opinion the Kayak website is a lot cleaner than the Tripit one and it looks a little bit simpler to follow
• This is showing the major overview of the different trips, here however notice that I haven’t merged all the trips, but kept them separate. I did this as an alternative of the Tripit itinerary so I can see two different versions

• This is the view of when you click into a certain trip, again it is a bit cleaner and easier to follow along with than the Tripit website is.

A look at the Kayak app

• The overview screen is really good with large image overviews of your destination to get you excited for your trip

• The view if you click into a trip

• This is the view for when you click on a flight within the trip, it shows you some more info, like the flight map and the things we’ll see below

• I thought this was super handy, not that you could expect Malindo to ever answer a phone call if you were in trouble but hey, there’s a first time for everything!

• And just for comparisons sake here’s the view if you click into the accommodation. It’s pretty similar with contact info and addresses.

How to sync Kayak with Google calendars

• This took me a lot longer to figure out than the Tripit version did and needs to be done on the website, not in the app
• Go to your account and click the circled “Account” button

• Scroll down until you see this option here, but don’t click on it (if you click it it will download a static calendar file that does not automatically update and sync)
• Right click it and select the “copy link address” option or something to that effect

• Next go to the Google Calendar website
• On the left sidebar where it says “other calendars” click the “+” button
• Select the “From URL” option and then past the previously copied link address as the URL

• Now you can open settings and under the email address that you had added the calendar to in the above step then you can click “show more”

• Your trip will appear here, which can be edited to select a certain colour or even change the name of it that will appear in the calendar.

Tripit vs Kayak itineraries: Which is better?

This is a hard one for me to answer as I actually use both in conjunction with each other. They both have some advantages and disadvantages that you can try and decide between, or you might ultimately decide to use both like I do.

Why I still use Tripit

I keep using Tripit because I really like having the widget on my phone screen as I’ll show you here;

As you can see, this is the same as the view I get when I click into the app and then select a trip to view.

Except I don’t have to enter the app at all!

This allows me to view everything, including my upcoming bookings and where I might have holes to book more stuff all without ever entering the apps or opening things up.

Then underneath you can see that I have the widget for the XE currency exchange app, which is one of the best travel apps that you can get.

Why I still use Kayak

I use kayak because I trust it to update my itinerary with any email that I send it since it has yet to fail me. I personally like having a second app that has all the trips as separate just as an interesting point of difference to the other one which has everything merged as a single around the world trip.

Also it’s worth noting that Kayak will send you flight delay alerts and the such which is not given to you on Tripit unless you upgrade to the paid version for $49/year, which to me isn’t really worth it but you might think it offers good value.

Here’s an example of the flight delay alert that I received from Kayak;

Conclusion

So in the end it sort of boils down to a few key factors that you can test out and see which best suits your style. Tripit vs Kayak itineraries, what does one offer above the other?

Tripit Advantages;

• Has a phone widget option for those who want the quick access of information
• Is easier to sync with Google Calendars
• Offers the map view which can be interesting for friends and family to follow along with, or for you to look back on in the future

Kayak Advantages;

• Has a better email reading system that has never failed me
• I find the layout and colour scheme much easier to read and therefore much easier to quickly find out information that you might be looking for
• They will send you flight delay alerts and things for free without having to pay extra

That’s it folks, good luck with the choice. You can’t really go wrong with either option.

Perhaps you’ll be like me and decide to keep both?

See More Resources Here!