U.S. businesses travel an average of 405 million miles each year with 16 percent of that being air miles, reports the U.S. Department of Transportation. There is a lot of room in those miles for the business traveler to experience issues that can be resolved with current technology. Make business trips something you look forward to:
Airport Security
For the business traveler, airport security checkpoints can be a hassle to get through. For the frequent traveler, keeping track of which ones require IDs, shoes off and laptops out of their bag can be a challenge. Check on this before entering the security line will help things go smoothly.
A free iOS and Android app, My TSA, by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) gives you a heads up on airport information across the U.S. Find out which airports are experiencing delays. Get the current list of items that can be carried on versus packed in your checked baggage. See what you can expect in wait times at the security screening points.
Find What You’re Craving
When traveling to another city for business, you may want to find a restaurant, market or deli similar to what you are accustomed to at home. The Zofari application will help you find just what you’re looking for. This is a free app available for your iOS or Android device.
What Pandora does for a person’s musical taste, Zofari does for your other preferences. Enter information about your favorite places and neighborhoods at home into Zofari and it will try to match similar places for you in other cities. If you’re from Houston and on a business trip in Boston with a craving for BBQ, try this app. A little taste of home while away from home can make many trips tolerable.
Make Last-Minute Bookings Easier
You’re out of town and the boss asks you to stop over at another city on the way home. You’re on your own getting a flight, car and hotel room. You can make the hotel search easier with the HotelTonight app free for your iOS or Android device.
This app looks at hotels in major cities across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe for last minute rooms and specials. Rooms can be found for up to 70 percent off. Hotels are eager to fill their unfilled rooms at the last minute and will offer discounts to meet their capacity. HotelTonight takes the work out of calling individual chains to find last minute room availability.
Have a Secure Connection Anywhere
On the road you have access to wireless networks in airports, hotels, coffee shops and restaurants. The majority of these will be public networks with little to no security. Have a secure connection to your office wherever you are with your own virtual private network (VPN).
ExpressVPN is a U.S.-based company with servers throughout the world. It doesn’t log your activity and share IP addresses for added security. Your smartphone or 7″ Android tablet on T-Mobile will connect to the ExpressVPN servers with configuration files they provide. Subscribers to this VPN service get unlimited bandwidth so you won’t have to watch your time online. Pricing starts at $8 per month with no contract commitment required.
