The Business Journals profiled seven websites offering to make planning your next business trip a snap. Use these tools to take some of the hassle out of tracking flights, comparing hotel reviews and saving money on fares and lodging:

Kayak.com is a fare-comparison tool that allows users to filter prices by number of stops and connections, take-off and landing times, carrier combinations, airline type and more. The reviewer found the site to be clean and intuitive. Other options for similar services include Dohop.com and Matrix.
SeatGuru.com maps aircraft seats for more than 100 airlines in one place. Maps come color-coded with alerts highlighting the best and worst seats and explanation of why they are categorized as such taking into account variables including legroom and reclining seat options.
FlightStats.com helps travelers track an airline's performance flight-by-flight and down to the hour, making business operations more transparent. Real-time flight tracking drives most traffic to this site. Other features include a page of global cancellations and delays.
TripAdvisor.com is the hotel industry's Yelp. Although the site gets a bad reputation from some experts because of potentially planted reviews, the smart traveler will take into account the general consensus rather than one or two glowing reviews.
FlyerTalk.com is a business travel message board with a wealth of detail about life on the road. If a major airline or hotel chain is experiencing trouble or introducing information about program or policy changes, you'll likely see it here first. Companies even employ staff members to interact with and respond to the boards, proving this site has some serious market credentials.
EvReward.com allows travelers to maximize rewards generated from credit card, airline and hotel shopping portals. Enter the name of the store or website you want to shop and it will supply a list of bonus offers you may qualify for.
Mapquest.com has a page that allows flyers to view airport area street maps. While it isn't the most state-of-the-art in its layout, this tool can take the pressure off of making a flight when a traveler embarks in unfamiliar territory.

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