Business travel in the U.S. is expected to grow again in 2014 or up 6.6% to $289.9 billion globally as it did in 2013. This projection provided by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) should gain the attention of frequent business travelers as their employers may be sending them on more trips throughout the rest of 2014 and into 2015. Whether you love it or hate it, you should be should be using these great apps to help you manage your trip.
An easy way to impress business colleagues
In many instances, actual work is only part of business travel. You may need to impress existing or prospective clients with exciting activities. There’s a new app called Peek that directly addresses this important need. The app walks you through a personality quiz taking into consideration user preferences such as museums, sporting events, and restaurants. The quiz can easily be tailored to any individual, such as an important client. The app has real-time booking options, and users can search a calendar for events on specific days and review recommendations from top chefs and famous personalities.
Getting compensated for cancelled or delayed flights
An app called AirHelp, helps travelers determine what they’re entitled to when their travel plans are cancelled or disrupted. The company has a whole team of attorneys that will work on your claims for you and it’s typically resolved within six to eight weeks. The payout typically averages $600 per claim.
Book a last minute flight at a reasonable price
Whether you’re the business owner or simply an employee, you’re not going to want to spend an arm and leg to book last minute travel. Luckily, there’s an app called Flight Tonight that makes it very easy to book last minute flights at a relatively low cost. The application pools together discounted fares from your departure airport within the next 24 hours.
An instant business itinerary
This is one of those apps that you probably heard about or saw it mentioned by one of your connections on Linkedin, but never bothered to check it out. Let’s just say, you’re missing out. This application is considered to be a “life saver” to some as it creates an organized itinerary based on your flights, ground transportation, hotel reservations, and meetings. Basically, you’re able to forward all of those confirmation emails to your TripIt account which creates an itinerary for you. You can also add several alerts related to your travel. It’s a free app unless you sign up for the Pro edition (additional services) which costs $49 annually.
Tracking your flight
These are two apps that are great for tracking your flight. The apps provide very useful data such as departure and gate changes as well as baggage claim numbers. They also have statistical information for each flight (expected takeoff & landing times) so you have an idea of what to expect in terms of real delays. FlightTrack also offers a premium version at $4.99 with additional features. Of the two apps, FlightTrack has the friendlier user interface.
Lost at the airport?
Unless you’re flying into a Caribbean island, it’s not all that hard to get lost at the airport and not know where that bathroom or nearest Starbucks is before you takeoff. Gateguru (part of TripAdvisor) solves that problem and provides a comprehensive listing of amenities and services at over 150 airports.
Getting through customs quicker
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency recently released a Mobile Passport Control app, which speeds up the long dreaded customs process. Specifically, U.S. and Canadian citizens will be able to utilize a self-created profile within the app that will generate a QR coded receipt to present to the customs officer. This new app is in addition to the Automated Passport Control self-service kiosks located at many airports.
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Tags: business travel questions, business questions, business tax questions, Ryan Himmel
