Business trips can become hectic, disruptive, and very stressful. With this in mind, developers have come up with some apps to help make the hassles easier. Regardless of where you find yourself, they can provide some useful help and guidance in many situations.
Here are seven apps you should consider downloading before you head on your next business trip.
Skyscanner
Skyscanner is an app that allows you to search flights from over 1200 travel partners to find the best prices. It allows you to plan your own airfare to save time and money.
The app has a Chart feature to discover the best time to book a flight, as well as receive price updates and share travel info with family or co-workers. It also includes flight ratings, travel tips, and help to locate hotels and car rentals.
Skyscanner is available for iOS or Android devices, and is completely free to download.
Tripit
Tripit is an organizational app that helps create an overview of your entire travel plan. Every email confirmation of hotel rooms, flights, car rentals, or restaurants is used to generate a master schedule. This helps you to meet business obligations by being in the right place, on time.
You can link directly to multiple email accounts and travel sites like Orbitz or Kayak. Any piece of information on travel services can be added to your itinerary, and you can also pull up area maps to discover local features.
It’s available for both iOS and Android devices at no cost, but you’ll have to pay 99 cents for an ad-free version.
Evernote
Evernote is a popular digital note-taking tool, but it does much more. It allows you to capture or create notes in more than 20 languages, then organize and share them as you like. You can use it to create a list of tasks or needs, and link to other notes or attachments. You can even connect to Outlook or Google Drive, PDFs, audio files, images, and data tables. Evernote also lets you save and search hand-written notes.
With this app you can plan out your business trips in a way that’s meaningful for you, and share whatever information you choose with colleagues or family. Evernote will run on Mac or Windows computers and iOS, Android, and BlackBerry devices. Pricing ranges from free to paid versions for the extra features included.
Avast Wi-Fi Finder
Connecting to a public Wi-Fi network can be risky. These networks aren’t encrypted and can leave your devices vulnerable to data breaches. This is where Avast Wi-Fi Finder can come handy.
This app gives you access to constantly updated maps all over the world showing where the closest Wi-Fi hotspots can be found. These hotspots are reviewed by fellow users for factors like cost and performance. Most importantly, the app will show you how safe the hotspots are so that you don’t risk compromising your devices.
With Avast Wi-Fi Finder, you’ll save time and money by finding the best Wi-Fi connection everywhere you go. This is convenient when you find yourself working remotely. It’s a free app for Android and iOS devices.
ParkWhiz
As the name suggests, this app helps to locate and reserve parking spaces to save you time, money, and headaches in your business travels. ParkWhiz now covers most major cities and partners with other services such as StubHub. Good parking places in congested surroundings or events can cost you $12 and more, but ParkWhiz will help you locate a good spot at substantial savings.
Without the wasted time of hunting for a space, you’ll be able to get to meetings on time. The app includes a parking pass you can use straight from your phone to save more time, and access to coupons to save even more money. ParkWhiz is free in both Android an iPhone platforms.
Concur
Concur is a management app that lets you capture travel expenses. When you complete a business trip and it’s time to account for your expenses or get reimbursed for out-of-pocket costs, Concur is the perfect tool.
This app allows you to take photos of your receipts while traveling for business. You can send the receipts back to your company along with prepared expense reports. This saves time and helps to minimize errors and disputes while eliminating the need for paperwork.
Concur is made for Android, but charges at a per-transaction rate of $2 and up.
WeatherPro
This weather app was created and first marketed in Europe, but it lets anyone check the forecasts in over two million locations around the globe. No matter where you go on your business trips, you’ll know what to expect when you get there.
Different WeatherPro versions are available for Android, iOS, BlackBerry, or Windows devices. It costs anywhere from 99 cents to $2.99 to download, depending on the source. A more feature-rich Premium version at a subscription rate is currently available only in Europe.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, you’ll find your business trips much easier to manage with the right apps on your phone. You can do anything from planning detailed trips around the world to working on the go or checking what the weather will be like on your arrival. The best part is that many app developers provide these useful services for free.
