Find business travel planning stressful? Click here for the best apps for trip planning and take all the hard work out of it.
We’re all looking for productivity hacks to help us get organized and reduce stress. With an app for trip planning, you can get business travel booked in no time. Whether you’re looking for a streamlined way to track expenses, stick to a budget, pack more efficiently, or plan your route, business travel apps can help.
But with so many corporate travel apps on the market, it can be difficult to know which ones are worth using. That’s why we’ve rounded up the top eight apps, along with a few bonus business travel tips, to help you get started.
What exactly do we mean by “corporate travel app,” and what can these business travel apps do? Whether via a desktop or your smartphone or tablet, travel apps lighten the load of trip planning. Use general travel apps to find and book flights, hotels, and car rentals, as well as plan your itinerary. With business-specific apps, you can also track expenses and find meeting facilities.
According to Priceline research, the average person spends 16 hours planning and booking a trip, with Gen Z and millennials spending over 20 hours. That’s the equivalent of two full workdays (or more), which is why it’s so important to find ways to streamline the process.
The study found that trip planning isn’t only time-consuming, but also stressful. Over a fifth (22%) of adults surveyed found the planning process frustrating. Separate research commissioned by Hotels.com confirmed this, with over 25% of those surveyed stating they found trip planning to be one of life’s biggest stressors. Roughly 40% stated they’d be willing to pay more to avoid planning and research. These are just a few reasons to use trip planning apps to cut down on the stress.
From the research above, it’s clear that vacation planning is a daunting task for many tourists, but what about business travel planning? The key to taking this stress out of the equation is to start planning like a pro.
Business travel planning involves multiple steps, from budgeting to packing. Fortunately, corporate travel apps transform this process using automation and personalized results. With a good business travel app, you can:
With these apps, you’ll be able to put all our business travel tips into action for effortless planning.
There’s nothing worse than booking a flight only to see its price drop a week later. With Hopper, you can time your bookings to ensure that you’re getting the best deals. The app’s algorithm analyzes billions of prices daily to predict future flight and accommodation costs. When the lowest prices are predicted, the app notifies you it’s time to book. An impressive 95% accuracy rate makes it a trustworthy option, too.
One of the trickiest aspects of business trip planning with a group of colleagues is figuring out who pays for what, especially when you’re all on a fixed per diem. With Splitwise, you can calculate and share expenses in a group. Everyone using the app enters expenses on the go, describing the type of expense (e.g. meals, accommodations, transportation) and who was involved. At the end of your business trip, Splitwise calculates the expense per person for more efficient reporting and reimbursement.
Not all business trips are between point A and point B. When you’re embarking on a multi-destination trip, travel plans get complicated – you need an app to keep everything in one place. Enter TripIt, which combines confirmations and itineraries into a single document. It automatically syncs with your online calendar, letting you review and change plans on the go. TripIt also sends alerts to make sure you don’t miss any legs of your trip.
This comprehensive trip planner is packed with features, most of which are free. With Wanderlog, you can plan your itinerary with the help of user-written travel guides and find the best deals on flights, car rentals, and lodging. Once you create an itinerary, you can store it in the app for easy access. This business travel app is particularly useful for road trips because it helps you figure out the best route, as well as roadside support and attractions.
Traveling to London, Dubai, or Paris for work? Save time and skip the taxi lines. Use Wheely to request a high-end luxury car in advance and get whisked away from the airport to your hotel or meeting by a qualified driver. It’s easy to book, and you can add your flight details in the app for an on-time pickup. Cars also come equipped with chargers in case you’ve drained your devices on the plane.
You don’t have time to get lost, so you should download a good map app before you travel. Sygic Travel is perfect for planning detailed itineraries for each day of your trip, giving estimated walking times and distances so you won’t be late to meetings. Sygic is also a great choice for those combining business with leisure. It comes with a user-generated database of each city’s most popular attractions, restaurants, bars, and shops. Use the Travel Maps feature to discover hidden gems recommended by other travelers, all while planning your own trip.
Business trip planning often focuses on flights, accommodations, and activities. Packing right is important too, whether it’s presentation materials or an outfit for an evening reception. With Packing Pro, you can create an unlimited number of lists to get organized, taking factors like weather and trip duration into account. As you pack each item, check it off the list for streamlined tracking. The app even gives you suggestions to make sure you aren’t forgetting anything important.
Business travel planning involves a multitude of variables, which can quickly get overwhelming. With Booking.com for Business, you can take control of travel plans from inception to completion. Use Booking.com’s all-in-one platform to reserve flights, car rentals, and accommodations without paying extra fees. It offers exclusive business rates for travelers and lets you earn loyalty points.
Yes, many of the apps listed above are free, including Booking.com for Business, TripIt, Skyscanner, and others. Many of the best corporate travel tools come with multiple levels of service, with the most basic functions available for free and upgraded professional versions available for a monthly subscription fee. Whether you need a paid business trip planner depends on how frequently your team travels – and for cost-saving apps, the fee can be well worth it.
There’s no one-size solution for every company. The best business trip planner will depend on your company’s size, budget, and travel frequency. The largest corporations will need a platform that can handle hundreds of complex itineraries at once and provide dedicated account management. Small and medium-sized companies would benefit from free corporate travel planning tools like Booking.com for Business to streamline bookings while minimizing costs. The best apps for trip planning are also customizable, letting you tailor your travel solution to best meet company needs.
From dedicated customer support to itinerary tracking and spending management, today’s corporate travel tools take the hard work out of the business planning process.
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