Published in InfoAlert.

Let's face it--the business executive doesn't have time to surf all over the Net to plan his next business trip. He or she needs the information in a consolidated, easy-to-maneuver site. The Internet provides numerous sites that will make planning a business trip simple and expedient, the only way to go.

BizTravel.com is the "Internet company for frequent business travelers" where you can book air, rental car, and hotel reservations online. BizMiles even allows you to monitor multiple frequent travel programs simultaneously. Plus, you get 500 bonus miles with each airline booking. At the bizCity category, you can choose your destination, then find information about hotels, restaurants, airport facilities, business services, street maps, and more. If your destination is not listed, they offer local maps, driving directions, and city yellow pages for most of the U.S. BizTraveler, their travel zine, provides articles of interest to business travelers, travel alerts, tax hints for travelers, executive lodging, city reviews, and more. This site is a "must see" for the business traveler.

Another excellent site is Steinberg Business Traveler Info Network, which "is dedicated to all hard working business travelers." You'll find links to the major domestic and foreign airlines, hotel chains, car rental companies, software of interest to travelers, overnight package delivery services, weather forecasts, plus other business travel-related links.

The "internet's leading source of information on business travel" is Business Traveler Online. The Destinations section offers an objective look at the political, cultural, economic, and social aspects of doing business in the world's major destinations. Under Special Reports, you can choose a category, such as Airlines, Technology, Health, or Leisure, and read articles by top travel writers. Under Airlines, you can read "Take Your Seat" which outlines shortcuts you can take to make sure you get the seat you want before getting to the airport.

TheTrip.com claims to feature "everything for the business traveler except the stress." The site contains flight availability and reservations, flight tracking, airport strategies, ground transportation, hotel and restaurant reviews, and interactive city maps.

If you travel internationally, Landseer Online is the perfect spot for you. The site provides links to world facts, destinations, local times, a trip planner, health and travel insurance, and even travel merchandise. The trip planner allows you to build a customized miniguide to destinations around the world. The site also provides a currency converter and a site for foreign language assistance.

Council for Disease Control Home Travel Information Page provides reference material and disease outbreak information for international travel.

A timesaving site for international travelers is Passport Services, where you can download printable passport applications and find out where you can apply for a password nationwide.

Travel & Entertainment Network features a section on business travel that provides links to the Association of Business Travelers, various conference and meeting resources, corporate rate hotel directories, corporate news and wire resources (such as Travel Discounts Corporate Travel Newsletter), and world trade resources. The entire TEN site is superb and worth a look.

Fodor Travel Online contains a hotel finder for finding the perfect hotel the world over, a restaurant finder with full reviews of thousands of restaurants worldwide, and a resource center with travel tips, photography, languages, and more.

Another site for making hotel reservations is TravelNow Online Travel Reservations, which features 20,000 hotels in 5000 cities and 140 countries, as well as airline tickets and car rentals.

If you're interested in what restaurants are available at your destination, DineNet Menus Online contains menus from various restaurants across the United States. A search in a particular location will provide menus broken down by the type of food, such as American, Mexican, Continental, and so forth.

For business travelers who drive, a wonderful map site is Maps-On-Us, which contains maps, routing, and a yellow page service. You can enter your starting point and destination, and it will bring up a map of your trip, or turn-by-turn directions.

If you do a lot of driving, and if your foot tends to get a little heavy on the accelerator, the WWW SpeedTrap Registry could save you some headaches (and speeding tickets). The site is a resource to help drivers know where they might encounter speed enforcement so they can adjust their speed accordingly.

You might want to read the news, weather, or events at your destination before arriving. At the Editor's and Publisher's Database Directory of the World's Online Newspapers, you'll have access to over 1600 online newspapers.

Robin Nobles is a freelance writer who can be reached at robinnobles@robinsnest.com.

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