8 best travel apps business travelers should use on trips

When managing corporate travel becomes more than your finance team can handle manually, Brex's travel and expense management platform transforms how businesses approach travel spending. The platform combines corporate cards, travel booking, and expense management in one solution, giving finance teams complete control over travel costs while making the booking process easier for employees.

Unlike traditional travel management companies that operate as middlemen, Brex builds travel controls directly into your payment infrastructure. Your team can book travel with a corporate card that automatically enforces spending limits and expense policies, while every transaction flows straight into your expense management workflow without manual data entry.

Key features

Access to 24/7 support

Brex provides round-the-clock assistance from travel agents who handle everything from flight changes to complex multi-city itinerary adjustments. While other platforms charge premium fees for after-hours support, Brex includes unlimited help via phone, email, and live chat at no extra cost. Your travelers get immediate assistance regardless of their time zone or the nature of their travel disruption.

Embedded travel policies

Your company's corporate business travel policy automatically filters booking options in real-time. When employees search for flights or hotels, they see only choices that meet your budget requirements, preferred vendor agreements, and advance booking rules. This prevents policy violations before they occur rather than catching them during expense review.

Integrated corporate cards

Brex's corporate credit cards for employees work seamlessly with travel bookings, offering both physical and corporate virtual card options that earn 4x points on travel purchases made through Brex. Set spending controls by category, vendor, or individual trip, and issue single-use ghost cards for specific bookings while maintaining complete transaction visibility.

Complex approval workflows

Create expense approval processes that automatically route travel requests based on cost thresholds, destinations, and employee levels. Set automatic approval for trips under specific dollar amounts, require manager sign-off for domestic travel, or route international bookings to executive approval. The platform intelligently manages these workflows without creating delays.

Real-time budgets

Brex's budget management software features adapt to market conditions and seasonal price changes automatically. Set spending limits that adjust for destination-specific costs and current market rates, pre-approve expenses within defined parameters, and flag exceptions for review. This gives finance teams control over corporate travel budgets without requiring manual policy updates for every market fluctuation.

Unbiased global inventory

Access competitive rates from multiple airlines, hotel chains, and ground transportation providers without platform bias toward higher-commission bookings. Brex's marketplace approach displays all available options sorted by price, allowing your team to make cost-effective decisions while potentially reducing travel expenses by up to 25% compared to traditional booking methods.

Automated expense reporting

The platform automatically captures expense receipts, matches them to the correct transactions, and populates required fields including project codes, GL accounts, and expense categories. As a result, employees can focus on their trips while Brex handles all documentation and expense reconciliation, eliminating the typical back-and-forth between travelers and finance teams.

Pricing

Brex structures its pricing across three tiers designed for different business needs. The Essentials plan starts at $0 per user, per month and includes core travel booking capabilities, real-time reporting, and unlimited corporate card issuance globally.

The Premium plan, priced at $12 per user per month, adds customizable travel policies, live budget tracking, and advanced spending controls that give finance teams more granular oversight of travel expenses. For businesses requiring extensive customization, the Enterprise plan offers flexible pricing with unlimited U.S. and international entity support, local card issuance capabilities, and fully customizable implementation services tailored to complex organizational structures.

LoungeBuddy provides information related to airport lounges across more than 1,700 airports worldwide. The platform maintains detailed info on over 3,500 airport lounges, including access requirements, amenities, operating hours, and food and beverage offerings, helping business travelers make informed decisions about lounge access during layovers and delays.

Key features

• Global lounge database
• Personalized access recommendations
• Travel itinerary integration
• User-feedback on lounges

Pricing

LoungeBuddy operates as a free information platform with no subscription fees for lounge discovery and access checking features.

Citymapper combines all transportation options into a single routing platform for urban navigation. The app aggregates data from buses, trains, subways, ride-sharing services, bike shares, and e-scooters to provide route options between destinations in major cities worldwide.

The platform integrates public transit systems with private transportation modes like Uber, Lyft, Lime scooters, and various bike-sharing programs. Business travelers can compare different transportation combinations and costs within one interface rather than checking multiple apps for different services.

Key features

• Multi-modal route planning
• Real-time transit information
• Transportation cost comparison tools
• Step-by-step navigation

Pricing

Citymapper offers its core routing and navigation features free of charge. A premium subscription is available for $1.49 per month or $9.99 annually, which removes advertisements from the app.

Flio provides airport-specific information and services for travelers across more than 5,000 airports worldwide. The app focuses on the complete airport experience, offering real-time flight updates, terminal navigation, and access to airport amenities and services. Through Flio, business travelers can access detailed guides for unfamiliar airports and receive notifications about flight changes or delays.

Key features

• Real-time flight status tracking
• Detailed airport guides
• Boarding pass management
• Travel statistics tracking

Pricing

Flio is a free application with no subscription fees or premium tiers. All airport information, flight tracking, and core features are available at no cost to users.

Croissant operates as a global coworking membership platform that provides business travelers and remote workers with flexible access to thousands of workspace seats across over 70 cities worldwide. The service eliminates the need for traditional fixed-location coworking memberships by offering drop-in access to more than 500 shared workspaces through a single monthly subscription.

Key features

• Global workspace network
• Mobile check-in and seat holding
• Flexible membership structure
• Real-time seat availability tracking
• Team and corporate plans

Pricing

Croissant operates on a monthly subscription model with pricing that varies by city and included hours. Corporate and team plans are available with custom pricing for organizations requiring multiple memberships.

Xe Currency provides real-time foreign exchange rates and currency conversion tools for travelers and businesses operating across international markets. The platform specializes in delivering accurate exchange rate data for over 190 world currencies, updated continuously throughout trading hours. The app serves as both an information resource and a transaction platform, offering currency conversion calculations alongside international money transfer services.

Key features

• Live currency converter
• Custom currency rate alert notifications
• Historical exchange rate analysis
• International money transfer service

Pricing

Xe Currency offers its core conversion tools and rate information free of charge through both web and mobile platforms. Money transfer services operate on a fee-per-transaction basis with rates starting at $0, with actual costs varying based on transfer amount, destination country, and delivery method selected.

Google Translate provides real-time translation services across more than 240 languages through text, voice, image, and document translation capabilities. The platform uses machine learning algorithms to process and translate content instantly, making it accessible for travelers who need to communicate across language barriers. The service integrates multiple input methods, allowing users to type text, speak phrases, photograph signs or documents, or even engage in real-time conversations with speakers of different languages.

Key features

• Multi-modal translation input supports text, voice, image, and handwritten translations
• Offline translation capabilities
• Two-way conversation mode
• Website translation

Pricing

Google Translate operates as a completely free service with no subscription fees, premium tiers, or usage limits.

SpotHero is a parking reservation platform that allows users to find, compare, and book parking spaces in advance across more than 400 cities in the United States and Canada. The service connects drivers with available parking spots at thousands of lots, garages, and facilities, offering hourly, daily, monthly, and event-specific parking options.

Key features

• Advance parking reservations
• Parking coverage for 400+ cities
• Integrates with expense management tools
• Multiple payment and access methods

Pricing

The platform operates on a pay-per-reservation model with no membership fees, though some locations may charge separate oversized vehicle fees.

When considering different business travel apps, look for capabilities that truly make corporate travel management easier. The most effective business travel app platforms combine multiple functions into a single interface while being able to adapt to different company policies and traveler preferences.

Itinerary management

Centralized itinerary management consolidates all travel information into an accessible location. The best travel management software automatically imports booking confirmations from emails, organizes flight details alongside hotel reservations and ground transportation, and provides offline access to complete itineraries when cell service is limited.

This centralization eliminates the need to search through multiple emails or apps while traveling, giving both travelers and their support teams immediate access to complete trip details. Effective itinerary management also includes real-time updates that automatically adjust schedules when flights are delayed or gates change, ensuring travelers always have current information.

Expense tracking and reporting

Real-time business expense tracking integrated directly into travel booking processes significantly reduces the administrative burden on both travelers and finance teams. Apps that automatically capture receipts, categorize expenses, and populate expense reports eliminate manual data entry and reduce errors that often occur during post-trip reconciliation.

The most impactful expense tracking features are connected directly to employee business credit cards and company spending guidelines, flagging potential policy violations before they occur and ensuring all spending remains compliant with corporate credit card policy. This real-time tracking provides finance teams with immediate visibility into travel spending patterns and helps control costs.

Booking and reservations

Integrated booking capabilities allow travelers to search, compare, and reserve flights, hotels, and ground transportation without switching between multiple platforms. The most effective B2B travel software booking features incorporate company travel policies directly into the search results, showing only options that meet pre-approved criteria for budget limits, preferred suppliers, and advance booking requirements.

Advanced booking platforms also provide access to lower business rates and corporate discounts that individual travelers typically can’t access independently. This integration between policy compliance and preferential pricing helps companies reduce expenses while simplifying the booking experience for employees.

Real-time alerts and notifications

Proactive communication keeps travelers informed of changes that could impact their schedules. Platforms should monitor flight status, gate changes, security wait times, and weather conditions, providing alerts early enough for travelers to adjust their plans accordingly.

Effective alert management goes beyond basic flight status updates to include information about transportation delays, hotel check-in updates, and even local events that might affect travel routes. These notifications help business travelers maintain their schedules and arrive at meetings and appointments on time.

Integration with corporate processes

Integration with existing company infrastructure eliminates data silos and ensures travel information flows directly into necessary financial management platforms. The most valuable integrations connect travel apps with ERP platforms, accounting software, and automated expense reporting platforms.

This connectivity enables automatic population of expense reports with correct project codes and department allocations, while also providing finance teams with real-time visibility into travel spending across the organization. Integration capabilities also allow IT teams to maintain security and compliance standards while providing employees with streamlined travel tools.

Business travel requires a careful combination of tools to address the unique challenges corporate travelers face. The eight apps covered in this guide each solve specific pain points, from paying for travel to navigating unfamiliar cities and languages. Together, these tools create a foundation for efficient, cost-effective corporate travel that reduces friction for employees while maintaining the oversight and control finance teams require.

The most successful business travel programs don't rely on a single solution but rather combine specialized tools that work together to address different aspects of the travel experience. Whether it's using airport lounge databases to maximize downtime productivity or parking apps to eliminate travel stress, each tool contributes to smoother trips and better financial management. The key is selecting applications that integrate well with existing corporate processes and provide the reliability that business travelers need.

For organizations looking to consolidate their travel management approach while controlling corporate spend, Brex's travel and expense management platform addresses many of these challenges within a single, integrated solution. Rather than managing multiple vendor relationships and separate expense reconciliation processes, Brex combines corporate cards, policy enforcement, booking capabilities, and automated expense reporting into one platform that scales with your business needs.

The platform's approach to travel management eliminates the traditional friction between employee experience and finance team control. With travel policies embedded into each employee corporate card, real-time expense tracking, and expense management automation, your team can focus on productive travel while your finance organization maintains complete visibility and control over travel spending.

For Triage Staffing, a staffing agency, controlling travel spend was nearly impossible with a traditional corporate credit card and a separate travel booking platform. Employee spending was often out-of-policy and there was little or no visibility into spend before the credit card bill arrived. That changed once Triage Staffing switched to Brex.

“Now, Triage employees do all their booking through Brex travel with safeguards to ensure compliance. Plus, our managers and department heads can easily create budgets and spend limits in Brex. It’s a one-stop solution across the board,” Natalie Dircks, Senior Accountant at Triage Staffing, said. “We used to spend 25-30 hours a month managing expenses on our old credit card platform. We estimate we're down to 15 hours or less with Brex.”

Schedule a demo of Brex today to see how you can streamline your corporate travel.