Traxo connects travelers via social media, travel sites

Traxo combines the best of both worlds: social media and travel sites

Have you ever returned from a trip and found out a friend or colleague was in the same place and you just missed them? Heading out on a business trip and want a trusted restaurant recommendation near your hotel? If so, Traxo is for you.

Traxo is a recent social media/travel site startup and its already gaining a lot of Internet buzz. Traxo is unique in that it takes your upcoming and/or past trip info and combines it with the best of social media, similar to facebook. Basically, you set up an account on Traxo’s website (or you can login using your facebook account) and it connects your travel sites with your designated friends to see when and where your travel plans overlap.

I recently chatted with Traxo’s founders, Andres Fabris and Andy Chen. They noticed on their own facebook pages that the majority of information being shared amongst friends was travel related. Their self-proclaimed “cocktail napkin idea” for Traxo stemmed from their extensive travel industry backgrounds coupled with a love for the social aspect of traveling.

Intrigued, I set out to test Traxo’s site to gauge its user-friendliness and the necessity of it to my travel plans and social media network. I set up my Traxo account first by logging into my facebook account via a link on Traxo’s homepage. Next I set up a Traxo account and linked it with my facebook account. (Alternately, you can set up just the Traxo account and import your contacts individually. However the advantage of linking facebook with Traxo is that it imports your designated facebook contacts automatically.)

Your Traxo account requires your screen name (as you want it to appear to your Traxo buddies), your travel name (what appears on your actual travel documents, which in my case is different than my screen name), a password, and your date of birth and gender. After clicking submit, a confirmation email is sent with a registration link to click from the email. User info that you designate can be pulled from 40 major travel sites (air, hotel, car) or you can add your own sites. In my case, I set up my Traxo account and used their secure site to authentic my Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan number and my Expedia and Starwood Hotel user IDs. If I booked air, hotel or travel packages on any of those three sites, my travel info would show up to those I have selected as my Traxo “buddies.” And voila! Let the Traxo moments commence.

Traxo is not just for the frequent fliers and road warriors either. You can use Traxo to see which of your buddies has been to a particular destination and then get restaurant or hotel recommendation from a trusted friend rather than a complete stranger. For example, I got a Traxo alert that one of my buddies has booked an upcoming trip to my hometown of Seattle. I know they love sushi, so I could send them a message of my favorite secret sushi place or ask them if they wanted to meet up while they’re in town.

Obviously you wouldn’t want to broadcast to the Internet public that you’re going to be out of town for any length of time. Or maybe you don’t want even your closest friends to know that you’re heading to Dollywood…for your birthday…for the third year in a row. The great thing about Traxo is you can set privacy settings for each individual trip to make it as public or private as you want.

Bottom line: If you love social media and love to travel, Traxo makes it easy to share travel plans, seek travel advice and see travel matches. Try it out for free and start experiencing your own Traxo moments.