Cool concepts. But TripIt's mobile app isn't as bad as you are saying. I can always quickly and easily get what I need from it. The mobile app is one of the few "pro" upgrades I actually pay for on any app and it is worth it for someone who travels 15+ times per year.
Which phone do you have? On my iPhone4 it lags and is slow all the time. I think particularly when it's in air plane mode but it might just be my perception.
Same here, I'm on an iPhone 4. Apparently it's just constantly pinging the server when you launch it, even in airplane mode. You'd think it would know to skip that. Will certainly be testing it out on the iPhone 5 when I upgrade next month.