We’re travelling so much nowadays on business that our smartphone is the thing we spend the most quality time with. And this got me thinking: which apps can actually help take the stress out of these journeys?
Let’s start at the airport (as most business trips do). Take a few minutes to download your airline’s app – for example with easyJet you can check in and get your boarding pass on the go. If getting the best seat on the plane is vital, then Seatguru can help you be a step ahead of the competition. It provides seat maps of your plane, showing where you can get electrical access for your laptop, or a seat with the most legroom.
If you forgot to book a hotel before you took off, you could always pick up a last-minute deal at Hotel Tonight. Discounts can be as much as 70% and only top international hotels are included, so use this if luxury is your thing.
So you’ve got your flights, your luggage and your hotel room sorted. Next problem is to get out of the airport to your destination as painlessly and as cheaply as possible. A taxi? Yes, but it’s easy to fall victim to the dreaded ‘tourist tax’. That’s why I now have Taxi Magic on my phone, a GPS-powered app that lets you hail and pay for the nearest reputable taxi with a tap of a button. There are some other ways to see if the cabbie’s taking you on the ’tourist route,’ such as the Google Maps App and the CoPilot SatNav App. Hailo is a great black cab app for travelling across London. And taxi.eu has extensive coverage across many European cities.
For those of us who don’t enjoy planning out our business trips, there’s an app that can map out the entire journey for you. Just provide your reservation confirmations and TripIt will create a detailed itinerary covering planes, trains, automobiles, hotels and restaurants. You can even share this itinerary with business colleagues – so you don’t all end up at different terminals or restaurants.
And, for those of us (all of us?) who don’t enjoy inputting reams of expenses, let Expensify do the legwork. It will sync all your card payments as your trip unfolds, and take pictures of your receipts while compiling them all into one report.
These are just some of the great apps out there that can make your business trip as stress-free as possible.
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