WorldMate 4.0 With TripCatch: Let WorldMate Work For You

We're excited. Big time. For the last six months we've been working on TripCatch - the next phase in making WorldMate an even more convenient way for you to plan and manage your travel. We're just out of a closed Beta with about 1,000 active users, who told us quite plainly - "We love it". Well now you can get WorldMate with TripCatch too (well, on BlackBerry, for now).

What is TripCatch?

If you're reading this, you probably already know that WorldMate automates itinerary creation by reading the confirmation emails you forward to it, assembling the information in them into itineraries and adding location and meeting details. So far, you had to forward your confirmation emails to trips@worldmate.com manually. With TripCatch - even this is automated for you. TripCatch automatically identifies confirmation emails sent to you by travel agents, airlines, hotel chains etc., and integrates them into your itinerary. In plain English - TripCatch knows a certain email is a confirmation email and automatically takes care of it for you, it's that simple.

So what's so great about TripCatch?

TripCatch not only saves you the effort of manually forwarding an email. It also means that as soon as you get a confirmation email, WorldMate knows about your booking and can add it to your itinerary and start tracking it for you. So when you embark on your trip, you're guaranteed you have all your travel details with you. And as soon as you book something, WorldMate can help you with that booking - or assist with booking what you're still missing.TripCatch takes the hassle out of creating your itinerary. Whenever you enter WorldMate on your BlackBerry or on our website, your itinerary will already be built and will include all of your travel plans. It will save you time and effort and will make the whole process a lot easier.

I'm a control-freak. Can I retain control?

With TripCatch, you decide the level of automation you want. You can choose to have TripCatch alert you whenever a travel confirmation email is detected - at which point you can decide if you want to integrate that booking into your itinerary or not. Or you can decide to Always have TripCatch integrate the bookings it detects, and have a fully automated process. The choice is always in your hands.

 

So is WorldMate now looking into my inbox?

Your Privacy and Security Are Assured.

At WorldMate we take our members’ privacy very seriously. We built TripCatch with that goal in mind – it works quietly in the background only picking up travel-related emails. It filters emails with only very specific travel expressions and is careful not to pick up other messages.  It is optimized such that it almost never "catches" the wrong email. In fact, we had it catch dozens of thousands of emails during the private beta period, with virtually zero non-travel emails caught. Furthermore, all emails are immediately deleted off our server after they are parsed (including the ones that are "misses"), so even in the rare case the wrong email is caught, it is immediately deleted without a trace.

Your privacy is our concern. So much - that you don't have to take our word for it.We’ve partnered with privacy leader TRUSTe. They’ve certified our software and databases with the TRUSTe Privacy Seal to verify that your information is safe with us. Please see our privacy policy for more information about how we maintain your privacy.

How can I help TripCatch get even better?

If you appreciate the value of technology like TripCatch, you can help us improve it even further. We've launched TripCatch as a Beta to make sure we have an opportunity to keep improving it. If you'd like to assist us - please join our Product Improvement Program. By doing so you'll enable us to analyze those emails that TripCatch "misses", so that we can improve it even further.

Hey, what about us iPhone users?

We are working to enable TripCatch for you too. It is a little tricky, as iOS has different limitations, but we'll get there. And you'll be the first to know.

New to WorldMate, Search for Your Hotel by Brand-Name

As a savvy business traveler, you have your favorite airline and your favorite seat on the plane. You probably also have a favorite hotel chain no matter what city you’re in, which you’ve chosen due to their business facilities, personal amenities or other qualities. So when it comes to booking your hotel stay, wouldn’t it be easier to focus in on your preference instead of having to sort through a list of many other brands?

Here at WorldMate, we’re helping you do just that. This week we unveiled a new feature for our Hotel Search to help you zero in on your preferred brand.

Now when you visit our Hotel Search window on our website or your mobile device, you’ll see a new tab called Find By Hotel Name. Just fill in your destination city and your hotel brand preference, and we’ll do the rest. We’ll pull from our database of over 100,000 hotels, powered by hotels.com.

You don’t even have to enter the full hotel name. Just fill in the first couple of letters and it will display a drop-down menu that lets you choose just your brand. Filling in “Boston” and “Sher” will give you a list of all of the Sheraton hotels in the city.

The new feature is in addition to our already advanced hotel search, which lets you filter your hotel choice by a slew of characteristics.

The best part of the software is it remembers your brand preference, so next time you make a booking it will fill in the brand name and your other preferences.

Don’t forget for each hotel booking you make at WorldMate, you get a free month of our Gold Membership or a free two months for current Gold members.

So what are your waiting for? Login in today and see how easy it is to book your next hotel stay.

WorldMate Chosen by American Express Business Travel to Power New Mobile Offering

In business travel, few brands are more familiar, more essential or more respected than American Express. That's why we at WorldMate are so proud to announce today that we have been chosen by American Express Business Travel to help power the platform of their new, expanded mobile offering.

As one of the world's leading travel management companies, American Express Business Travel serves millions of business travelers worldwide. With the new mobile travel services resulting from this collaboration, AmexBT customers worldwide will now have the following essential WorldMate tools to make the most of their business travel:

• Pop-up alerts when flights are delayed or canceled
  

• Suggested alternative flights when necessary
• In-the-app hotel and flight booking
• Easy sharing of itineraries with colleagues and business contacts
• Calendar synchronization to add business meetings into the itinerary
• Search for and connect with nearby LinkedIn contacts in the app, for better networking while traveling
  

These and other innovative WorldMate features, combined with one-click access to American Express Business Travel counselors, make a powerful mobile travel solution for American Express Business Travel customers worldwide, many of whom relied on WorldMate and American Express separately for their travel needs--until now.

We are thrilled to help American Express realize the mobile needs of its customers, continue its legacy of leadership in business travel and build a strong, mobile future.

Update Your LinkedIn Status with WorldMate

Just landed? Want to make sure your professional network knows you’re around? Send a LinkedIn status update right from WorldMate on your BlackBerry.

With WorldMate 3.5 you’re now able to update your current status as soon as you hit the ground, which should provide you not only an additional way to communicate effectively with your immediate network but also a new way to tap into the local knowledge network you’re a part of.

On the Web:

On your BlackBerry:

Just landed:

Status information will be broadcast to your connections as a network update and will also appear as a new element on your profile page. Remember that there is a 140 character limit on status message and if you tweet don’t forget to link your twitter account with LinkedIn.

WorldMate Gold for iPhone is the Best App Ever!

Today BestAppEver announced the winners of their 2009 contest and WorldMate claimed the glory of Best Road Warrior App. We at WorldMate are thrilled to receive this title and we thank our members for voting us to the top.

This is the second year for the contest, put on by 148apps, to celebrate the best iPhone apps available. Apps were nominated according to category by users, the 5 apps with the most user nominations were put together with 5 apps selected by iPhone app bloggers. Those ten finalist apps were presented to the public for open voting--1 vote per IP address, per month. This year over 98,000 votes were cast across all categories! Our talented developers have worked hard to create an app that exceeds the expectations of a mere travel app to create a true personal travel assistant, and we have more features in the works to make our iPhone offering even better. Thanks again to our community of members for all your enthusiasm and to 148apps, for putting on a great contest.

WorldMate with LinkedIn: Because even elite travelers eat alone on the road.

At WorldMate we’ve always understood that business travel is about meeting people, and we're extremely proud to announce that you can now connect the World’s most powerful business travel assistant to LinkedIn; the world’s best business network to see where See when you will be in the same city as your business connections and where your professional network is traveling.

This is perfect for when you are going to a meet a few business contacts, some of whom you haven’t met before. Their names and backgrounds are a little fuzzy. You know you’d have an edge if it was all clear in your brain. Maybe it’s in the email conversations, maybe not. Either way you don’t really have time to look through it all on your phone.

Or maybe this situation. You’re traveling to a city you aren’t too familiar with to attend a conference. You know there are a few more leads to be followed and contacts to meet, but you don’t know how to find them. Did the buyer you met a few months ago work in Chicago or Cleveland? You can’t figure it out, so you find yourself eating dinner alone when, with a bit more information, it could have been a business dinner.

WorldMate with LinkedIn makes both of these uncomfortable business travel situations a thing of the past. Now you can search for your LinkedIn contacts from your current location, or in a city of your choice, view their full profiles and send them messages, all from your Blackberry.

On your BlackBerry:

See who is around in a destination city: WorldMate users have the WorldMate icon, WorldMate users currently traveling also have the airplane icon. Users with no icon aren't yet WorldMate users and you can only see their default home location -fix that by inviting them!

On the web:

Stay tuned for more post that will show how to update your LinkedIn status and send your connections LinkedIn messages through WorldMate.

Scheduling with the WorldMate on the Web: It’s All in the Timing

WorldMate’s web app makes scheduling meetings a breeze. Schedule your meeting in the web app, and then you can stop thinking about it, because the web app calculates the correct time zone for you.

Better yet, all this information syncs automatically with WorldMate on your smartphone.

Why You Can Zone Out About Time Zones

The WorldMate time zone system works by treating your meeting as a place, not just a time. When you enter the meeting location—whether it’s New York, Singapore, or Sydney—our system keeps track of the correct time, no matter how many datelines you skip.

Even complicating factors like Daylight Savings Time are automatically taken into account. If for example your meeting is in New York, the time of the meeting will always be displayed in Eastern Standard Time—wherever you are in the world.

So when you reach your destination and set your computer for the local time, your meeting times stay the same—because it’s the place that matters, and we’re on it.

Doing Things the Old Way Makes Jack a Dull Boy

Without WorldMate’s web app, what happens? You end up doing one of two things:

• You schedule meetings on your PC in the local time of your current location. So you’re in London, and you have meetings in New York, Hong Kong, and Melbourne. This means you spend a good twenty minutes calculating what time it is in each of these cities, and then what time the meetings will be in your current London time. And with all your careful calculations, somewhere along the way, it’s easy     to make an error and miscalculate by an hour, perhaps two—just enough     time to make you late, or worse, make you miss the meeting altogether.
• Another old school way to schedule meetings is in the time zone of your destinations. So if you have meetings in New York, Hong Kong, and Melbourne at 10:00am in each, then 10:00am is what you put in your calendar. Sounds easy, right? Except that you reach your destination and change the local time on your computer, the meeting times will change, too…And you’ll be lost.

Three Time Zones? No Problem!

Now imagine the same scenario—you have three 10:00am meetings in the course of one trip, in New York, Hong Kong and Melbourne. You’re flying from London. But this time, you’re using the WorldMate web app to schedule your meetings. You’ve entered into your itinerary that your meetings are at 10:00am in those three cities.

You don’t have to calculate the time zone. You don’t have to worry about the times changing on your PC.
While you travel around the world, crossing datelines and time zones, your meeting times are fixed in stone. And they’re available on your PC calendar and your smartphone for easy access.

So log in to our web app with your WorldMate user info and start scheduling your meetings today!

(image credt: http://www.salvador-dali.org/en_index.html used with permission)

5 travel trends for 2010

2010 is knocking on the door and with it, some big changes to the way we travel, we’ve listed some of the major trends in 2010 travel to give you a better picture of what the future has in store for you

The year of SWF WiFi

Last year it was widely predicted that SWF (surfing while flying) WiFi would become ubiquitous. Well, it may have been slightly ahead of time (at least for U.S. travelers), but the trend is clearly growing stronger, with Virgin America, American, and many other airlines rolling out service in 2009, and many more on tap for 2010. Kinks are still being worked out, based on the chatter about porn-surfing and VoiP use, among other controversial pastimes. Still, it’s clear that the value to many travelers is so great that it’s likely to become an important new revenue stream for airlines this year.

China, India and Gulf States are the new hot-spots

Are we done with the United States and Europe? Probably not. But global travelers are getting more courageous with their travels, and expanding their horizons. Industry insiders are expecting travel to skyrocket in China, India, and The Gulf States over the next twelve months. Why? Well, it certainly has nothing to do with political stability. No, what it really comes down to is money. While the economy is still down, New York, Paris and Milan remain as expensive as ever. But, countries like China and India are seeing enough signs of growth to warrant visiting, offering favorable exchange rates, enormous potential business opportunities and low travel expenses. Their tourism industries are also starting to expand and these countries are going to be top destinations in 2010. Between China and India alone it is expected that over 35,000 hotel rooms will have to be added to meet the impending demands.

Tighter security

Thankfully 2009 did not end with a bang for the passengers of Northwest Airlines flight 253, but the attempted terrorist act there does mean that there won’t be an easing up of airport and plane security any time soon. The Transportation security organization did release the following statement:

“Passengers flying from international locations to U.S. destinations may notice additional security measures in place. These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same thing everywhere. Due to the busy holiday travel season, both domestic and international travelers should allot extra time for check-in.”

The New York Times reported that in some cases no one was able to move from their seats during the last hour of flight. That means no bathroom breaks, no accessing carry-on luggage, nothing. When that plane starts descending, you're stuck. Multiple sources have also reported that no electronics are allowed on international flights. So you can't even play video games to distract yourself from how badly you have to pee. From what we can tell, this is largely restricted to inbound international flights so far.

Whole body image scanners

Get ready to show your stuff. Travelers will soon find that checking through security will be a revealing experience with the rollout of whole body image scanners that can see beneath clothing are now being installed for added security, replacing traditional x-ray machines. You might think these machines sound like something from science fiction – but they’re very real and very current. A whole body image scan is simple: you enter a booth and your body is scanned. In another room a full image of your body is shown to the security force. The airport security force can easily see what they refer to as metallic and non-metallic threats. The machines have already been deployed at certain airports for test periods. Expect them to become more of a standard at airports in the near future. For now the process is optional – you could choose to be pat-down.

The 2010 Vancouver Olympics

Not technically a trend, but the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is an event that will affect travel like an explosion (to get my point, go online and try to get a flight to B.C. in February. Just try!). The 17 days of the Vancouver Olympics are expected to attract a global television audience of three billion people and more than 80 countries and 6,850 athletes and officials are expected to participate. The opening ceremonies will be held on February 12, 2010, and as a result Vancouver is the city to visit in North America in 2010. Everyone wants to get there that big torch gets lit. It’s a beautiful city in a mountain-filled area of Canada that will be perfect for the event. The city will inevitably be overrun with tourists, hotels will be packed and streets will be crowded, but this is the city to see and be seen in this year. So grab a Canadian flag, learn about at least one winter sport (I recommend the luge), buy an obnoxious compressed air horn, and get yourself over to Vancouver to cheer on your country of choice.

Conquer the World with WorldMate Maps on the Web

 

There are so many reasons to use WorldMate on the web in addition to your smartphone. With our Maps feature, you can see your entire trip mapped out precisely—including flights, meetings, and hotels. And it gets better, because the map is interactive: You can book the hotels that appear on the map through our site, for unbeatable savings. Find the best hotel for your itinerary, at the best possible price. 

How the Maps Feature Works

Using Google Maps technology, our Maps feature displays all your flights, hotels and meetings against the backdrop of a detailed map. This is useful for multiple reasons:

• Get flight info intuitively. Just a click on the airport on the map pulls up your complete flight info, including the flight number and times. With all your info on a map, you can suddenly see the big picture.
• Get the best deals on hotels. Click on a hotel on the map for instant booking through Hotels.com—and the best deals in town.
• Find the best hotel for you. Everyone has a unique preference when it comes to hotels—some people prefer to sleep near their meeting locations, while others like the convenience of the airport hotels. With our maps feature, you can easily browse all the hotels in the area of your itinerary.

But the hotel search doesn’t stop with location. With our detailed search  options, you can customize your hotel search to find the best match for you. Select the amenities, star rating, and price range you’re looking for, and we find you the options that best suit your choice. The search toolbars are fun to use, allowing you to navigate smoothly between options.

Your meetings at a glance

With all your meetings mapped out, you can see their distance to your hotel, check the meeting times, and get directions with the address.

So what are you waiting for? Login to our web app with your WorldMate user info and get started today!

WorldMate Services: Get it all on the Web

We’re not just on your phone anymore. With the new, hugely expanded WorldMate web app, you can plan your entire trip on our site—from flight bookings to hotels, transportation, and meetings. These details sync automatically with WorldMate on your phone, providing you with the ultimate travel planning tool.

We’ve partnered with Kayak and Hotels.com to get you the best flight and hotel deals when you book through us. Plus, we show you your entire itinerary on a map, so you can see the big picture at all times. Instead of having all your travel information scattered in different places, the WorldMate web app combines it all in one sleek, clickable package.

 

The Ultimate Online Travel Tool All your travel needs are covered with our new web application. Book your flight and hotel, schedule meetings, and manage your itinerary with ease. All the details will appear in your online profile and sync with your WorldMate smartphone app. 

Here are some of the features offered in the new web app: 

• Your Personal Booking Assistant. Booked a flight and hotel, but not a car rental? The Booking Assistant will remind you that an item is missing from your itinerary, and provide suggestions to fill the gap.  
• Map it Out. See your entire itinerary on a map—flights, hotels, and meetings. Book hotels on the map that are conveniently located to your meetings, or near the landmark of your choice. All the addresses, flight details, and meeting times show up on the map with just a click.
• Keep Track of Your Meetings—in Any Time Zone. When you book a meeting halfway around the world, time zones can become a confusing obstacle. If for example you’re flying from Australia to New York with a layover in Japan, it’s all you can do just to keep track of your comings and goings. That’s why WorldMate keeps track of time zones for you. Just schedule your meeting in the web app, and WorldMate will calculate the correct time zone. You show up punctual, refreshed—and in the know. 

It’s easy to get started with the WorldMate web app. Just log in with your WorldMate username and password, and your mobile account will sync with your web account.  So what are you waiting for? This holiday season, plan your travel with the new WorldMate web app!