How PackList works

Hit New trip from the dashboard. A short wizard walks you through five steps — the whole thing takes about 30 seconds.

Once you confirm, PackList fetches the forecast, runs the rules engine, and drops you straight into your personalised checklist.

Your list is grouped by category — Clothing, Toiletries, Documents, Tech, Health, and more — so you can pack one bag compartment at a time.

• Tap to tick — Tap any item to mark it packed. Ticked items move to the bottom so you always see what's left.
• Quantities pre-calculated — Clothing items show a quantity badge: underwear = days + 1, t-shirts = roughly 80% of days, etc. Carry-on mode keeps quantities conservative.
• Delete items you don't need — Swipe or hover to reveal the trash icon. Deleted items don't come back when you refresh.
• Priority items at the top — Visa documents and adapter reminders are injected at the top of their categories so you can't miss them.

PackList uses Open-Meteo — a free, no-API-key weather service — to fetch the forecast for your destination during your trip dates. No account or payment needed on your end; it just works.

• Live forecast (trips up to 16 days out) — The standard 16-day forecast is fetched at trip creation time. If the average high exceeds 20 °C, warm-weather items are added automatically — sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, swimwear.
• Historical climate (trips further than 16 days) — For trips further in the future, PackList falls back to the same date range from the previous year’s archive data. Your checklist page shows a small note: “Based on last year’s climate.” Accuracy is good for typical seasonal weather; it won’t predict a freak heatwave.
• No weather data — If the fetch fails entirely (rare network issue), your list is generated without weather adjustments. You can always add items manually.

If you've set your nationality in Settings, PackList checks whether you need a visa for your destination and shows the result as a badge on your trip page.

• Visa-free 🟢 — No visa needed. Your passport alone is sufficient.
• ETA / ESTA required 🟡 — Entry is easy but you need to apply online before travel — for example, ESTA for US-bound trips from VWP countries, or an eTA for Canada.
• Visa required 🔴 — You'll need to apply for a visa in advance. A high-priority checklist item is injected as a reminder.
• Visa on arrival 🟡 — Available at the border, but the checklist item reminds you to check current conditions.

Coverage: 13 nationalities × 50+ destinations, with full Visa Waiver Program (ESTA) logic built in. If your corridor isn't covered, the badge is hidden and no visa item is injected — the list is still fully usable. Always verify requirements with the official embassy before travel.

The more PackList knows about you, the more tailored your lists become. Open Settings to configure:

• Nationality — Drives the visa check. Without this, no visa badge is shown and no visa items are injected.
• Home country — Used to determine your native plug type for the power adapter check (see below).
• Currency awareness — The "Local currency" checklist item is personalised automatically — e.g. "Local currency — Japanese Yen (JPY) or Revolut/Wise" — based on your destination country. 80+ countries covered.
• Trip type — Business trips add work-specific items (laptop, adapters, business cards). Beach trips add swimwear and suncare items on top of the weather check.

PackList cross-references your home country's plug type against the plug types used at your destination. If they differ, it injects a specific adapter item — for example "Power adapter — Type G (UK/Ireland)" — into your Tech category so you know exactly what to buy.

• 80+ destination countries covered — Includes all common travel destinations with their plug types and voltages.
• Voltage warning — If the destination voltage differs from your home country (e.g. 110 V vs 230 V), an additional item reminds you to check device compatibility.
• No duplicate items — If your home plug is compatible with the destination (e.g. both use Type C), no adapter item is added.

Make sure your Home country is set in Settings for this to work. Without it, no adapter item is injected.

PackList sends packing reminders so you're not scrambling the night before departure. They're sent via whichever bot channel you've connected (Telegram and/or WhatsApp).

• When reminders fire — A reminder is sent a few days before your trip and again the evening before departure — calculated from your trip start date and your timezone.
• Timezone setting — Set your timezone in Settings so reminders arrive at a sensible local time, not 3 am.
• No bot connected? — Reminders require a connected bot channel. If neither Telegram nor WhatsApp is connected, no reminder is sent.

The day after your trip ends, PackList asks how packing went. Your answers make future lists smarter.

• Three ratings — "Too much stuff", "Just right", or "I forgot things". Takes two taps — in the bot or on the trip page in the app.
• Optional note — After rating, you can add a free-text note — useful for remembering what you actually forgot.
• "Often skipped" intelligence — If you consistently leave an item unchecked across two or more similar trips, it gets a 💤 label in future lists so you can decide whether to ditch it entirely.
• Tip banners — If your last few retros show a pattern (always over-packing, or always forgetting something), a 🧠 banner appears at the top of your next list with a nudge.