HipTrip

How HipTrip Builds a Trip

Most trip planners hand you the average of the internet. HipTrip builds each trip in a fixed sequence of steps, starting from places that people with taste have vetted, and checks the result against real map data before you see it. This page walks through that sequence from your first message to the finished trip.

At a glance

  1. You tell us about the trip in a short conversation.
  2. We gather vetted places for your destination, and research it live if we don't know it well.
  3. Every place gets a HipScore, so tourist traps are filtered out.
  4. We shape the trip, one base location for each day.
  5. We build each day, one at a time, grounded in real places.
  6. We check the work and fix what doesn't hold up.
  7. We add the extras: flights, packing list and best time to go.
  8. You preview it, unlock it and make it yours.

1. You tell us about the trip

Planning starts with a chat, not a form. The planner asks one question at a time and usually needs three to five exchanges. It is looking for:

  • Where you are going and for how many days
  • The style of trip: hiking, biking, beach, historical, cultural, cafes or bars
  • How challenging you want it: easy, moderate or challenging
  • Your travel dates, if you have them
  • Who is traveling, including children and infants with their ages, so pacing and logistics fit the group
  • Your home airport, but only once you have dates, so we can look at flights

When it has enough, the planner shows a plan card. You choose Build my trip or Adjust before anything is generated. What you say in this conversation is what shapes the trip. Your onboarding answers and saved memories help the in-trip assistant, but they do not change how a trip is built.

2. We gather vetted places

For your destination we pull the places our editors have curated and scored, plus the curated trips that match. Places an editor rated poorly are left out.

If we don't know a destination well, we research it live before building. We search the area for coffee shops, dinner spots, bars, brunch, cocktail bars and museums, with extra categories for your trip style. We read photos and reviews for the strongest candidates and score them, so new places are judged the same way as the ones we already know.

3. Every place gets a HipScore

A HipScore measures whether a place is worth your time, not whether it is popular. It looks at six qualities:

  • Vibe
  • Authenticity
  • Uniqueness
  • Scene
  • Visual
  • Value

Editors score places by hand, and our AI scores them from photos and what people actually say in reviews. Places that read like tourist traps score low whatever their star rating. When we build your trip, the strongest places lead and the weak ones are kept off it.

Places are also grouped into neighborhoods, each with its own score based on the places inside it. On a shared trip, a curated place shows its neighborhood next to its name.

4. We shape the trip

Before filling in any days, we sketch the whole trip: a title, an overview, and one specific base location for each day. We also draft your packing list, the best time to visit, a rough budget and a few practical tips. Getting the overall shape right first keeps the days from repeating each other or zig-zagging across the map.

5. We build each day

Days are built one at a time. For each day:

  • We start from the highest-scoring places near that day's location, so the best nearby places anchor the day.
  • Each day gets a mix of experiences, a meal or café, and a place to stay.
  • A place used on one day is not repeated on another.
  • Every place the planner names is looked up on the map. If it can't be found, it is replaced.
  • Long moves between places, such as a drive, flight or transit leg, appear as their own transfers, with travel time and a directions link.

6. We check the work

Once a day is drafted, a review pass checks it for the basics: is there a meal, a place to sleep, enough variety, a realistic pace. It also checks that every place resolved to a real location and that none of the places we filter out slipped in. If something fails, the day is revised once with the problems in hand.

7. We add the extras

  • Flights. If you gave a home airport and dates, we add the cheapest round-trip fare we can find. It is a price snapshot for planning. Nothing is booked.
  • Packing list. A categorized checklist drafted for your destination and trip.
  • Cover image for the trip.

8. Preview, unlock and make it yours

Generating a trip is free, and you see a preview first. Unlocking uses one credit and reveals the full detail: every day, map and place details, packing list and tips. See Credits & Pricing.

After that the trip is yours to shape:

  • Edit by chatting. Ask the assistant to swap a place or change a day. It proposes the change and you confirm before anything is saved.
  • Share it by link or with specific people, and see which friends are viewing.
  • Split expenses with your group.
  • Recap afterwards. Mark each place as loved, didn't love or skipped to keep a record of the trip.

What to expect

A trip takes a few minutes to build, because each day is researched and checked rather than generated in one pass. Flight fares and places change, so confirm opening hours and prices before you go.

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