I recently caught up with Shawn DuBravac, head of research for the Consumer Electronics Association. We got to talking about mobile technology and the apps that continue to manage every part of our lives. Naturally, since we are both frequent business travelers, we soon ran through our list of favorite apps for business traveling.
Give them a try on your next trip and let us know how it goes:
1. Airline and Hotel Reward Program Apps and AwardWallet to keep track of reward programs.
2. Expensify keeps track of expenses in different currencies.
3. GateGuru is the leading day-of travel application that allows you to view your Tripit and KAYAK itineraries, view or post airport security wait times and see a structured list of airport food, shops and services -- including over 25,000 reviews and tips.
4. Hipmunk takes the agony out of searching for a flight and hotel. With Hipmunk you'll see all the relevant flights on a timeline, helping you visualize the right choice, and it doesn't just show you the cheapest flight first -- the app instead sorts by "agony," which incorporates important factors like how long you'll be traveling.
5. SeatAlerts is the only way to painlessly secure a preferred airline seat, get out of the middle seat or ensure that you're seated next to your travel mate.
6. Since there's a lot of down time while traveling, reading apps, like Pulse, keep one up-to-date on news and interests.
7. Tripit can turn flight, hotel and car rental confirmation emails into simple mobile travel itineraries.
We'd love to hear about your favorite app for business travel. Post your comments and suggestions here.