Five must-have apps for your next business trip

When time is tight, efficiency is the order of the day. Whether it’s keeping in touch with the office or staying on top of your agenda, these essential apps, says The Club’s Marisa Cannon, will maximise your productivity while you’re on business

Clever cartography

Few things are more stressful than being late for a flight in a foreign city. Map apps are in no short supply, but business travellers will appreciate a new tool from Apple Maps. It’s stocked with detailed maps of major airports, so you can check the location of security checkpoints, toilets and restaurants in relation to duty-free, your gate and where you are, to make the most of your time before boarding. The maps are currently available in more than 40 airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and New York JFK.

Master plan

Travel management company Concur’s app, Tripit pulls together your hotel, flight, car rental and restaurant-booking emails, creating a master itinerary with all contact information and confirmation numbers. The pro version of the app ($49/£35 a year) will send alerts to your device when flight delays or changes occur, locating alternate flights and even notifications when a better seat becomes available. It also keeps track of your loyalty programme accounts, balances and expiration dates.

Get connected

With more than 62 million hotspots in 180 countries, iPass is the world’s largest Wi-Fi network. Members can get online in airports, hotels, public spaces and even in flight, for a flat monthly fee (dependent on your account’s number of users) that offers unlimited data. All you need to do is sign in and you’ll be connected to the best-performing Wi-Fi in the area, protected by SSL encryption – meaning your security is never compromised.

Social network

Cityhour connects you with professionals who have complementary business needs and skills within a 50-mile radius. If you find yourself with spare time, you can search for people based on their industry and location and arrange a face-to-face meeting. The in-app calendar organises your meetings, and you can manage invites by setting your availability for each day of the trip.

Break the barrier

iTranslate is one of the most popular translation apps, allowing you to translate text into more than 100 languages. The pro version (£3.33 a month) even has voice recognition capability. Avoid roaming charges with the offline mode, which supports languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and French, but, if you are connected, you can translate whole websites with the built-in translator browser. There’s also a dictionary and verb conjugator, with pronunciation recordings available.

Manage your travel on the move, download the BA mobile app for Android and iPhone.

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This article has been tagged Technology, Travel Tips