Expedia
www.expedia.co.uk
This well-used and trusted all-round travel booking site has a special business travel section. It leads you to thousands of business hotels worldwide and offers deals on booking flights and hotels together. It also highlights hotels that offer free Wi-Fi internet access and reminds business travellers that they can collect Nectar points when they travel abroad.
Seat Guru
www.seatguru.com
Rather like Room 77, this site looks at the specifics of making a booking. This time it’s which seat to choose on a flight. Seat Guru lists each airline’s different aircraft on specific routes and allows you to identify the best one in terms of what you’re after, whether it’s seat pitch or in-flight amenities. There’s no guarantee you’ll get the seat that you want, but at least you’re in the know when you book online or at check-in.
Transport Direct
www.transportdirect.info
Planning a business trip in the UK? This site will help you work out any A to B route, comparing journey times, prices, and even carbon emissions for trains, planes, automobiles and bikes. There’s live travel news on the site if you find yourself snarled up in traffic and want advice on how to get to your destination fast.
Last Minute
www.lastminute.com
This well-known site covers flights, hotels, city breaks, car hire, restaurants and theatre. If you have to book a business trip to London and want a restaurant recommendation, you’ll find that on the site, along with special offers such as a three-course lunch or supper with a glass of champagne, kitchen tour and dessert plate at Gordon Ramsay’s Maze for £25.
The Man in Seat Sixty-One
www.seat61.com
We all know that the train is a far more civilised form of business travel than flying, especially when it’s a short-haul destination. And if you’re at all environmentally aware, trains should be top of your list. The Man in Seat Sixty-One is Mark Smith’s invaluable guide to worldwide train and ferry travel. It includes everything from how to find the cheapest tickets to timetables and luggage arrangements on Eurostar.
Flight Centre
www.flightcentre.co.uk
If you’re looking for business or first class flights, this site will show you the best deals. And if it’s a last-minute booking, there’s a guaranteed two-hour response time to your request. There is guidance with advance seat and meal reservations, online check-in, airport transfer arrangements and baggage allowance, all of which can be confusing these days.
Tripbod
www.tripbod.com
This paid service hooks you up with locals around the world who have the inside knowledge of a resident to advise you on your travel needs. Whether you want some stress-free shopping tips in Paris, or which wine route to book for your trip to Cape Town, Tripbod is there to help.
Midas Travel Management
www.midas-travel.com
If you have challenging corporate travel to organise, Midas Travel Management could be the site you’re looking for, with expertise in handling one-off projects and ongoing travel with both 24-hour online and on-the-ground support. Whether it’s for a chief executive or a workforce of a 1,000, Midas Travel Management is a good contact.
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
www.fco.gov.uk
This website offers a ‘Know Before You Go’ service to help Brits stay safe and healthy abroad. Business travel sometimes takes you to destinations that may be unstable, so if you have any concerns at all, check out the latest travel advice here. The site also has a section on living abroad – useful for overseas postings.
Late Rooms
www.laterooms.com
This site is well established as one of the best sources for last-minute bookings. Select a destination and you’ll be given a list of price comparisons. For business travellers, there’s a helpful corporate section with specialist consultants, bespoke solutions, and conference and event planning. You can even get help organising this year’s Christmas party.
Kayak
www.kayak.com
This vast travel site will lead you to the most comprehensive choices of flights, hotels, hire cars and holidays across the globe as it searches hundreds of travel sites. If your boss wants a hotel in Paris, simply key in the dates and thousands of hotels will appear with competitive rates. And there’s a mobile app if you want to put it on your smartphone.
Skyscanner
www.skyscanner.net
Well regarded as the most comprehensive flights-only search engine, Skyscanner is invaluable if you’re planning a business trip by air. The site searches hundreds of airlines and travel agents and 670,000 routes to find the best cheap flight prices. You can also find a list of the funniest (and rudest!) flight paths on the site. Did you know you can fly indirectly from Ogle to Brest?
Beach Tomato
www.beachtomato.com
I couldn’t resist including this new site from the founders of trendy tour operator Black Tomato. Even if you just browse this site as travel porn during your coffee break, it’s full of gorgeous on-trend places to go, the latest holiday must-haves from swimwear to beach towels and plenty of tips on holiday beauty, to help you dream about your well-earned holidays.
Business Traveller
www.businesstraveller.com
You may already subscribe to Business Traveller magazine, but its online version is a great way of keeping up to date with all the latest news and views on business travel. There are great city guides, travel deals and even a section on golf.
The Cool Hunter
www.thecoolhunter.co.uk
If it matters to your company to book the most fashionable hotel in town or find the most happening bar for entertaining, then this site will lead you to those in-the-know spots. As well as hip hotels like the Le Royal Monceau in Paris, you can sneak a peak inside some of the coolest offices in the world, such as the Skype workspace in a historical brewery in Stockholm.
Room 77
www.room77.com
We’ve all booked a hotel that we’ve heard rave reviews about, only to find our room is d