Tom’s Tech Tip: Five Holiday Travel Apps for Every Certified Legal Nurse Consultant

I love the holidays and, unlike most people, I love to travel during the holidays. That may sound counterintuitive – but traveling for business during the year becomes routine to me. Hopping onto a United Airlines 737 is really no different than boarding a Greyhound bus to Poughkeepsie (The passengers are more fragrant on one than the other – you’re right either way you pick.).

But during the holidays, there’s a change in the travelers. I love the joy of a child on his or her first airplane flight – they’re too young to be jaded and get all excited about a window seat in the 85th row. While their parents may be beleaguered and business travelers put out by the impediments novice flyers create at security checkpoints (“Ma’am, please take the baby out of the carrier before you put it through the x-ray scanner.”), the people watching is most excellent during the holidays. Trust me on this one. Get yourself a cup of steaming hot Starbucks^®, then get to your gate early, settle in and just sit and watch the world go by. It’s amazing the things you’ll see on the way to the places you’ll go.

But enough about the fun. If you’re a CLNC^® consultant traveling for your legal nurse consulting business or just engaging in the typical holiday travel, with or without your family, here’s five apps to help safely guide you through the busy season and even afterwards.

My first and semi-favorite travel app is the app created by your particular airline. Whether you regularly travel on Southwest, United, Delta or Fly-By-Night, they all have an app which will help you determine how late your flight will be, what gate you’ll be running to and which uncomfortable seat you’ll be in. It can also help you rebook a flight after delays or weather-related cancellations and find the airline lounge to relax in. I find these extremely handy.

My next favorite app is Gate Guru. This free app helps you find the food options near your gate and what food options are available at the airport in general. It even rates the eateries based on traveler’s opinions. It’s got some other uses too but finding food is the one I depend upon the most.

Speaking of food, every Certified Legal Nurse Consultant should have Yelp on their smartphones. I’ve Tech Tipped about Yelp in the past and I’ve really come to love it. Yelp will help you find banks, restaurants, bars and just about everything else. Best of all, it can tell you what is within a particular distance of your location. I’ve used Yelp to help feed Vickie and the CLNC^® Mentors at every CLNC Certification Seminar. My favorite part of Yelping is looking at the food pictures and recommendations from other Yelpers. I’ve found more good restaurants with Yelp than with any other app.

The fourth travel app is one that my best friend swears by – it’s called Waze and helps you find your way around traffic jams using real-time information. If you’re ever running late for an appointment with an important attorney-client or for Christmas dinner at Grandma’s, Waze can help get you there on time.

Finally the last travel app is FlightAware. This handy app tells you whether or not airline flights are on time, delayed or early! If you’re picking up friends or relatives at the airport you’ll want to have this app so you’ll know whether or not you have time to stop and pick up a tasty snack to munch on while you wait in the airport cell phone lot.

Enjoy your holiday travels wherever they may take you!