I travel a lot. In the first six months of this year, I was on the road 17 of the 26 weeks. This week, I am visiting clients in beautiful Minneapolis, MN.

Several readers have asked me what mobile phone or web apps I find the most useful, and here are my top three. For each, I will explain how I use them, and why they are useful.

(FTC Disclosure: I work for IBM, and have no financial connections to any of the companies mentioned below, and have not been compensated in any way to mention them on this post. IBM has selected Concur as its travel platform, which runs TripIt mentioned below. This blog post can be considered a "paid celebrity endorsement" for each of the three sites below.)

Rome2Rio

[Rome2Rio] is one I use long before I plan my trip, and works both on my mobile phone as well as web application. Many people use apps like "Google Maps" for driving directions from point A to point B. But Rome2Rio handles airlines, trains and other alternative modes of transportation. It also provides estimated prices for each mode of transportation.

• In my blog post [IBM Technical University upcoming events in October 2018], I used Rome2Rio to determine that Hollywood is near both Fort Lauderdale and Miami to help plan my trip.
• Landing in Gatwick Airport, I used Rome2Rio to figure out the most cost-effective way to get to my hotel on Southampton Row. A taxi would have been $160-200, Ride-share like Uber or Lyft $75-95, and train $17-28. I chose the train and saved a lot of money!

Rome2Rio is a great app, both for advanced planning, as well as dealing with situations in the moment. I have it bookmarked on my browser, and the app installed on my phone.

 

TripIt

Long before IBM signed on Concur as its travel expense and trip planning tool, I was using [TripIt]. It automatically enters all of my airfare, hotel and car rental reservations into a single chronological itinerary, but then lets me add everything in between, such as meetings, dinner restaurant plans, and other activities.

While I am planning my travels, TripIt ensures I have all the connections I need. If I land at this airport, do I have a rental car or other transportation to the hotel? This forces me to get in advance all of the times and locations of every client dinner, briefing, or other meeting, so that I can plan how to get from point A, to B, to C, accordingly.

A few days before my trip, I can print out my TripIt itinerary, to PDF format file to send to my family and co-workers.

While traveling, I have the TripIt app to have all the information I need close at hand, including hotel address locations, or confirmation numbers once I arrive to the hotel.

 

FlightStats

[FlightStats] will show you the status of all flights, on any airline. Just enter the 2-character airline code, like AA for American Airlines, or DL for Delta Airlines, then the flight number. Here are the different ways I find this useful:

• When I land at an airport connection, but have not yet left the plane, I can use FlightStats to determine which gate I have arrived at, and which gate I need for my next flight. This will give me a good sense of how much time I have, do I need to hurry, can I stop for a snack, and so on.
• FlightStats seems to be more up-to-date than computer screens at the airport. I have learned of flight delays from FlightStats sooner than I have from the computer screens or gate agents.
• If my flight is canceled or delayed, FlightStats also can find flights from point A to B using real-time information.

Are there any apps or web sites you recommend? Please comment below!