A side project called Crosby
Our mission at Pana is to fundamentally improve the user experience of travel for everyone.
Whether that’s finding you the perfect place to stay or simple ensuring you have a Kosher meal on your flight, we want to make travel simple, delightful, and tailored to you. Currently, we fulfill this mission through a travel assistant service, which gives our 1,000’s of members direct access to real humans who work tirelessly to plan, book, and manage travel.
Today we’re announcing the beta of Project Crosby, a free version of Pana that allows travelers to take control of their travel like never before. Crosby is a handy (free!) bot who organizes your travel plans in one place and helps you stay one step ahead.
How does it work?
First, Crosby connects to your email to travel booking receipts and build an itinerary in Pana. Any travel-related emails you have appear in your itinerary — flights and hotel receipts, restaurant reservations, car rentals, event confirmations and more.
Once Crosby has your itinerary, the real magic starts to take place. Crosby reads your itinerary and proactively send alerts, recommendations, and advice based on your schedule. Here are a few types of messages you’ll receive:
Flight alerts: delays, cancellations, and gate changes, plus connection and baggage claim information.
Crosby Picks: Have a flight without a hotel? Crosby will recommend the best place for you to stay, which you can book right from the app!
Dining and activities: Recommendations for food and activities, based on your profile and preferences.
Destination information: weather, traffic and logistical tips as you travel.
Connections: Update your friends and family when you land or changes occur.
Can I chat with Crosby?
Crosby is a bot, but not a conversational bot. He’ll recommend, alert and even book travel for you, but you can’t chat back with him. If you want to chat, any free Pana member will be able to upgrade to our world-class concierge and travel assistant service, which allows you to chat with a live human 24/7 anywhere in the world. Learn more about the Pana concierge service.
How does it compare to other travel apps?
The travel world is filled with technology to help individuals plan, manage, and book their travel.
A few of the more popular ones include TripIt, TripCase, and WordMate. These apps are great and help thousands of travelers, but we thought we do even better. Crosby fixes many of the bugs and annoyances that travelers often face with trip itinerary apps, such as duplicative trips and misreading of emails. Furthermore, through powerful artificial intelligence, Crosby will offer all the premiums services the existing apps offer for free, and he’ll get to know you and your preferences over time.
Oh did we mention we’re working on a free version for teams to use as well? Team members will be able to share itineraries and messages between each other, all while staying updated by Crosby.
How do I get Crosby now?
Head over to our pre-launch page and enter your email address. You’ll then be taken a referral page which has your unique URL to share. Each time a person signs up using your unique code, you’ll earn progress towards real rewards, such as early access to the app, a Crosby t-shirt, or up to $200 in credit towards purchasing Crosby Picks.
