I’ve been traveling a lot recently and have grown frustrated with the lack of hotel room USB jacks necessary to recharge my iPhone and other devices. J.D. Biersdorfer of the NYTimes.com shares some tips for emergency charging when it seems like there is no place to plug.

First | Look for USB jacks on your TV

No, these jacks aren’t on your TV to serve as a re-charger, but for reasons like displaying photos on your TV. However, on many TVs, those USB plugs can supply a small amount of power to gadgets connected with a USB cable. According to Biersdorfer, “Phone manufacturers recommend that you charge your phone’s battery with the cable and electrical adapter that came with the device, and you use other options at your own risk. However, travelers who remembered their phone’s USB cables but forgot their wall charger cubes have been tapping power from functioning television USB ports for years.”

If the television has a functioning USB port on the back,
you can probably get enough power from it to juice your phone in a pinch.

However… | The phone’s battery won’t charge as quickly as it does with your standard power adapter and the television may have to be on. But the TV’s USB port can do in a pinch if you have no other options and the hotel’s front desk does not have a charger to lend you.

A warning about those built-in hotel room USB ports | Some hotels include USB ports in the rooms. However,  some security experts have advised against “juice jacking” — not plugging a USB cable directly into a public USB jack because of the slim chance of data theft or malware.

Best advice | Always keep a spare travel charger tucked in your suitcase.

Also on SmallBusiness.com

13 Ways to Keep Your Laptop’s Battery Going and Going

Photos | GettyImages

We know that several users of SmallBusiness.com travel for business a lot, so we’re always glad to pass along ideas to make flights a bit more bearable. That’s why we couldn’t resist posting this clever idea posted by Reddit user @randomusefulbits.

As shown, it uses a tray lock as a clip to secure your phone. Just put your phone in the bag and clip it to your tray table. The trick works best with wireless headphones, but your wired earphone works if you punch a hole into the Ziplock.

Best part | If the passenger in front of you reclines their seat, the bag will quickly rock back into easy viewing position.

Yet to try | We have some flights next week during which we’re going to test the approach with an iPad Mini and a gallon-sized Ziplock bag.

VIA | Reddit: Convenient way to watch a movie on your phone when flying

Whether you are traveling for work or pleasure during the next three months, be aware of this: Millions of Americans will fly somewhere for Thanksgiving this year—and for many of them the search for flights will begin this week. “Last year we saw a spike in flight-related searches for Thanksgiving dates starting in mid-October,” according to Matt Kayala, Insights Engineer at Google Flights.

Here are some year-end travel tips from Google for the year-end business traveler and advice for holiday traveling, as well.

1. Avoid the busiest travel days.

Travel is bad enough. You don’t want the added hassle of long lines at the airport, flight delays or cancellations. Americans are pretty predictable when it comes to Thanksgiving travel plans—flight searches over the last two years indicate that Friday Nov. 17, Wednesday Nov. 22 and Sunday Nov. 26 will be the busiest days to fly, so pick other travel days if possible.

2. Prepare for (or avoid)  these airports.

If you’ll be traveling domestically, be aware that airports in the U.S. cities shown on the map above tend to be the busiest. If it’s an option to consider alternate airports, Google Flights can help you identify other more affordable options that are close to your destination. Just tap on “airports” in the flight insights bar and move the map icon to see the closest airport to your final destination.

3. Book your flights before expected price increases.

Flight prices often rise 21, 14 and 7 days in advance of travel dates. For example, if you’re looking at a departure date of November 23, you can expect significant increases in flight prices on Nov. 1, Nov. 8 and again on Nov. 15. So make sure to book your Thanksgiving flights by the end of October to get a better deal.

Bonus: A tip from some of our users who are travel warriors.

The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a good time for business travel. Family travel tends to be at a low-point and the holiday activities at home keep some people on the ground. Need an empty seat next to you? Check out the first couple of weeks in December.

VIA | Google Flights

illustrations: Google,  photos: istock

If it’s not cloudy, those of us who bring you SmallBusiness.com will have some of the best seats in the house on Monday (August 21, 2017) for the first U.S. coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in over a century. That’s because our home-base is Nashville, Tennessee, the largest city along the entire 70-mile wide “path of totality” — the area where people will witness a total solar eclipse. How lucky are we?

3.7% (12 million) | Percentage of U.S. population that live within the “path of totality”

But when it comes to solar eclipses, the entire U.S. population will be lucky this Monday. Everyone in the continental U.S. will be able to witness at least a partial eclipse. And for thousands of small businesses who live in or near the path of totality, a 2-4 day travel and tourism boom is taking place.

27% (88 million) | Percentage of U.S. population who live within 200 miles of the “path of totality”

Because of the proximity of so many Americans to the path of totality, experts predict millions of people will drive hundreds, even thousands, of miles to see the total eclipse. Over the past few months, these “eclipse chasers” have snapped up hotel rooms, camping ground spots, and campus dorm rooms set aside for the event. According to Bloomberg, Airbnb listings and bookings have surged within the path of totality.

50,000 | People booked to stay this weekend in an Airbnb rental in the path of totality
11,000 | People typically booked to stay in an Airbnb rental during a weekend in the same area

With such an influx of visitors, many small business owners, small town Chambers of Commerce, and regional tourism agencies have been planning for the eclipse for months, even years, hoping it will be an opportunity of a lifetime…and not a logistical disaster.

Map: Eclipse Megamovie

Welcome to Eclipseville, Hopkinsville, Kentucky

Ten years ago, Cheryl Cook, the executive director of the regional visitors’ bureau that includes Hopkinsville, Kentucky (population 33,203), received an email from an eclipse chaser informing her that a spot near Hopkinsville would have the “greatest eclipse” in America a decade later.  (The “greatest eclipse” refers to the spot that will provide the longest time for people to watch the total eclipse — 2 minutes and 40 seconds for Hopkinsville.) Once Cook learned the caller wasn’t a prank, she notified local hotels and business owners. In 2015, the city and business owners started preparing in earnest, first with the formation of ten host committees. Hopkinsville is expecting over 100,000 visitors and nearby towns like Clarksville, Tenn., and the large Army base, Fort Campbell, are expecting equally large numbers of spectators to the region. The city of Hopkinsville even registered the domain name Eclipseville.com and has received international media coverage.

Similar phenomena are occurring across the country.  For example, according to the Great American Eclipse website, Nebraska is the closest destination for 33 million Americans who do not live in the path of totality. State tourism officials estimate the state will see between 117,000 and 466,000 visitors to Nebraska communities like North Platte, Kearney, and Lincoln that will be in the totality path. The town of Beatrice, Nebraska (population 12,362), expects as many as 50,000 visitors, many of whom will be headed to the Homestead National Monument, four miles outside town. Homestead is hosting scientists from NASA and Bill Nye the Science Guy at its eclipse-watching events. Overall, the state could see a three-day growth of 25 percent over its population of 1.9 million. “It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” John Ricks, director of the Nebraska Tourism Commission, told CityLab.com. 

Businesses and makers recognize the entrepreneurial opportunity

In addition to the individuals who have turned their extra rooms, yards (for camping) and houses into weekend rental units, other types of businesses, community groups, churches, schools and individuals along the path of totality have created festivals, marketplaces, and other events to celebrate the eclipse. For example, 3,500 items turn up on Etsy for a search of the term “solar eclipse.”

The Path of Tee-Shirt Totality

Of course, it wouldn’t be a community event without designers creating and selling tee-shirts to commemorate the 2:00 minutes or so of total eclipse. Here are just a few of the countless tee-shirts you’ll find along the Path of Tee-Shirt Totality. Oh, and that reminds me: We may be hard to reach on Monday as we’ve declared the day an official office scientific phenomenon and small business tee-shirt sale.

Note: Feel free to share the Path of Tee-Shirt Totality image.

To purchase any of the Tee-Shirts (temporary)

Corvallis, Ore. Eclipse Tee-Shirt | Amazon.com
Casper, Wyo. Eclipse Tee-Shirt | Amazon.com
Lincoln, Nebraska Eclipse Tee-Shirt | Amazon.com
Kansas City Eclipse Tee-Shirt | Amazon.com
Nashville Eclipse Tee-Shirt | Olivia Frankenstein
Smoky Mountains Eclipse Tee-Shirt | Amazon.com
South Carolina Eclipse Tee-Shirt | Amazon.com

Tee Shirt HT | Space.com

Photo of solar eclipse: istock

Here’s some great advice for avoiding jet lag via Travel + Leisure: Schedule your meals around your destination time zone before you actually arrive. This helps you adjust to a new time zone before you arrive.

• Meals help to regulate a person’s underlying rhythms
• Eating meals in sync with your destination time zone helps to adjust such rhythms before arriving

However, it may be a challenge to rearrange your eating times. For example, when traveling on an overnight flight, it could mean that you’d need to be sleeping when the meal is served. You can ask the flight attendant to save your meal for later or just bring your own snacks in order to start the day with a breakfast.

Help your body make more sense of a time difference by using meals as a guideline. 

Bonus tip for avoiding jet lag | Don’t drink alcohol on a long-distance flight as it can act as a stimulant, making jet lag worse.

Travel + Leisure | How to Eat Your Way Out of Jet Lag
VIA | LifeHacker.com

Also on SmallBusiness.com

If Your Business Travel Plans Change, Here Are Your Options For Changing Airline Tickets

istock

Almost every tech website features a post or two (or more) about how to keep your laptop from exhausting its battery. I find myself on planes a couple of times each month, so I have developed an obsession with this topic. Thanks to several sources I’ve listed at the bottom of this article, here are 13 things to do to keep your laptop from running out of power somewhere over Arizona.

1 | Learn to manage your laptop’s power saving option, especially how to set it up before you expect to use it several hours unplugged. Before trips, I set my MacBook Air to use as little power as possible.

• In Windows, it’s “Power Options,” which you can bring up by hitting Start and typing just that.
• In macOS, it’s in System Preferences under Energy Saver.

2 | Use a battery monitor for more information about charges, cycles, and remaining battery life. Here are some free utilities that can tell you everything you want to know about your laptop’s battery:

• macOS users can try Battery Health
• Windows users can try BatteryCare

3 | Keep your screen’s brightness as low as possible when you are unplugged. However, it’s not an end-all, be-all solution. It’s not going to give you an extra hour. Consider it an emergency measure.

4 | Keep your laptop cool. Heat is a battery killer, so it helps keep your laptop as cool as possible. At the very least, avoid blocking airflow when you’re using it on the go. Consider using a portable laptop tray (Amazon link). This is especially critical if your laptop uses a fan.

5 | Avoid full discharges. People debate this, but what the heck, we’ll take a stand: Don’t let the battery die completely.

6 | If you’re not using an application, turn it off. Even before you unplug your computer, turn off anything you are not using—especially anything you don’t think you’ll be using.

7 | Single-task, don’t multi-task. This is the key to draining power due to applications not in use. By working on one thing at a time, you can more easily keep from having several applications opened at once.

8 | Turn off all hardware possible, like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Sure, your plane has Wi-Fi, but if you are not using it at this very moment, turn it off.

9 | Put your laptop to sleep whenever possible. If you have a Windows laptop, use “hibernate” instead of “sleep” to save some extra juice.

10 | Close browser tabs. A browser is the most power hungry app you use. Close tabs whenever possible.

11 | Use a web browser that’s less power-hungry than Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Huh? you may be wondering. But here are some options:

• Opera (Windows or macOS). It even has a low-power mode.
• Edge (Windows only)

12 | Use applications with fewer features. Here’s a good example. When trying to save power, use a text editor instead of full-featured software like Microsoft Word.

13 | Avoid these applications entirely

• Photo editing tools
• Video editing
• Games and Video

Battery backup options

If you are a road warrior and can’t be without your laptop for even a few moments, purchase a spare battery or an external battery pack. For laptops with a removable battery, the simplest option is a second battery. For laptops with internal batteries (like the Macbook Air I’m writing this on), an external power pack plugs into your laptop the same way your charger does. Side benefit: they come with adapters for use with many different laptop models and can be reused on more than one system,  even for other devices, like your phone or tablet.

Lifehacker.com | Top 10 Ways to Extend Your Laptop’s Battery Life by Alan Henry
PCMag.com | 9 Tips for Longer Laptop Battery Life by Matthew Murray and Brian Westover

istock

I’m writing this during a cross-country flight, the perfect place to test the suggestions of Dr. Quay Snyder, the president of the Aviation Medicine Advisory Service regarding where to sit for the most comfort on a passenger jet. Here are Dr. Snyder’s suggestions and the results from my tests.

Suggestion #1

Do this | Book a flight on the largest possible plane
Why? They fly at the highest altitude so they have the least turbulence
What I did | This was an easy decision. I’m currently flying on a Southwest Airlines 737, the largest aircraft in their fleet. (Note: All the aircraft in Southwest’s fleet are 737s.)

Suggestion #2

Do this | Choose a seat that is directly over the wings—usually somewhere between rows 10 and 30.
Why? Seats over the wing won’t reduce motion entirely, but you’ll feel a lot less, according to Dr. Snyder. Seats at the front and back (aft) of a plane tend to have the most turbulence.
What I did | On the open-seating approach of Southwest, I chose a window seat on Row 14, exactly in the center of the wing.

Results

Because I fly often on Southwest Airlines, I know that the flight I am on at this moment is near perfect in terms of comfort. The turbulence (called, “bumps” by the pilot) is minimal, a lot fewer bumps than my bicycle commute to and from work, say. But I’m not sure I can credit the aircraft or where I’m sitting. The weather has been perfect. But I do believe that once you know where to sit and how to mentally prepare yourself for turbulence, you’ll be in for a somewhat smoother ride. According to Dr. Snyder, if you can secure a seat on the forward part of the wings, you’ll get a little peace and quiet too.

In the future, however, I will return to my practice of not sitting over the wing, as I enjoy taking photos of the earth passing by. (Current view out the window, Row 14.)

But even with bumps, remember this

While turbulence might be scary, here is some good news. The last major air disaster attributed to turbulence was on March 5, 1966, in Japan, near Mount Fuji. During the 50 years since that crash, the aircraft and the technology running and guiding passenger jets have improved greatly.

VIA | Lifehacker.com and USAToday.com

Thinkstock

Recently, we gave a shout-out to the travel app Hopper for its approach to providing small business travel warriors with the best time to purchase an airline ticket — advising you to wait and then, alerting you when the best purchase time arrives.

While not the exact same thing (Hopper is an app only), Google has unveiled an update to its Google Flights service that is similar to Hopper and other flight services with similar features. It predicts when flights are likely to increase in price. Google Flights also is supposed to help you find good hotel deals, as well. (Note: Hopper’s announcement was about new features that provide flight options based on comfort and efficiency of travel options.)

As part of its agreement with the U.S. Justice Department’s approval of the $700 million purchase of the travel industry database ITA, Google had to license the software to all travel websites for five years. This year marks the fifth year.

After selecting a specific flight on Google Flights, a notification may appear letting you know when the current fare is expected to expire and how much you can save if you book now. For example, the flight (below) to San Diego is likely to cost more in eight hours — and you would likely save $87 if you book before then.

If you’re looking at a certain route like New York to San Diego, but haven’t selected a specific flight yet, you may see a notification bar with multiple tips showing how to find the best price for this route. Tips can include things like recommendations for alternate airports or dates. You may also see a new tip telling you about an expected price jump based on historic prices for that route. When you tap on the card, you’ll see more details like how much the price is likely to increase and when.

Also on SmallBusiness.com

Travel App Hopper Adds ‘Flight Filters’ to Its Price Prediction Search

When it comes to iconic small business tourism-related imagery, there is nothing more All-American than the bed and breakfast, leaf-peeping trek across New England. For some parts of New England, early- to mid-October is peak season. (A real-time foliage map is available on NewEngland.com.)

Estimates of $3 to $5 billion in travel-related spending is generated by Autumn tourists visiting New England. And while there are large retailers and hospitality chains that have branded themselves with New England imagery (Yankee Candle company and Hampton Inn, for example), the small New England inns, pubs and pumpkin patches are still thriving–especially this time of year.

1. Cheaper flights
2. More convenient or efficient flights

Hopper, an airfare “predictive” app that has focused on finding travelers cheaper flights since launching last year, is adding “flight filters” to its flight search service to help passengers discover more convenient and efficient flights.

Users now can filter the Hopper database to screen for convenience or comfort, as well as cost. For instance, the user can filter searches to discover the least number of stops, long layovers and basic fares (cheaper fares, but with more restrictions and fees for things like seat selection and bags).

(Note: Hopper does not have access to data from Delta, Easyjet, Ryanair, and Southwest Airlines.)

Hopper’s Approach & Why it is Popular

Hopper has received several accolades since launching in 2015, including an Apple’s App Store Best of 2015, a Google Play Award for Standout Startup of 2016 and the Webby Award for Best Travel App.

Here’s why: When you search for a flight, Hopper predicts when you will find the cheapest fare with the considerations you have set with the flight filters. It also recommend whether you should wait or book. If Hopper says WAIT, the user can tap an icon in the shape of binoculars to monitor the flight’s ticket price. The app will send you notifications whenever the price drops. If Hopper says BUY, you can choose your flights and book in just a few taps and a swipe. You can store passenger and payment information for future flight booking.

Flight Filters

While passengers often focus on the cheapest fares, business travelers may put more emphasis on fewer stops or quicker layovers. Flight filters let the user place priority on such factors.

• Nonstop flights are available for about two-thirds of domestic trips.
• Typically, nonstops flights are 21% more expensive than flights with stops.

According to Hopper, the app’s predictions and notifications can off-set the 21%.

TIP: If you do opt to fly stops (or there’s no nonstop option), consider filtering out long layovers because it rarely adds a significant amount to the ticket price.

Promotional video via Hopper

The Hopper App is available for iOS and Android
| iOS
| Android