Whether you're looking for a colleague, boss or even significant other, the presence of business travel on the itinerary can give you some fantastic gift ideas.
- Meal delivery coupons. There are many meal delivery services which operate on a national level, such as GrubHub. These services either directly deliver meals from local restaurants or simply link restaurants that deliver, either way it's much easier for someone on the go to get a fast, quality meal.
- Collapsible (or travel) speakers. If your friend, colleague or family member often uses their phone for an alarm, listens to audio books or listens to music while working, travel speakers are a great gift. There are collapsible speakers which fit in a carry-on and special devices that make everything into a speaker (you can attach them to cups, boxes and more).
- Charging stations. A simple, mobile charging station is apt to be a fantastic convenience. These stations plug into a single outlet and charge multiple USB devices at once -- and most of them either collapse or roll up. This is also great for being the most popular person at any given airport gate.
- Hotspot finder. If your traveler is really on the go, they may need to be able to track mobile hotspots. There are little hotspot keyfobs that can alert a traveler to the presence of an open wireless connection.
- Airport-rated laptop bags. Most laptop bags need to be opened up when going through the TSA -- a deceptively simple process that's actually quite time-consuming and irritating in practice. An airport-rated laptop bag can be tossed through security like any other bag, making it much easier. (And they'll think of you, every time they need to pass through security.)
And then there are some gifts to avoid. Most gifts that deal with the actual plane ride aren't actually rated for use while the plane is going. As an example, "organization" bags which fit over the back of the seat in front of you -- you'd be hard-pressed to find a flight attendant willing to let you leave that bag there. "Leg room" extenders which lock the seat in front of you are also a big no-no in the travel industry.
