In the last few years I’ve tried dozens of applications to make being on the road a little bit easier. Several were duds, but there have been a few that were so good I use them on every trip. These are the ones that made the short list. Go download them now.

Expensify

If you’re not using this application for your expenses you’re losing money. Too many receipts go missing when you’re trying to keep them long enough to get them scanned or mailed in. Using this website and iPhone app you can say goodbye to all that noise. Expensify can reproduce most* receipts under $75 dollars and lets you easily upload photos of any receipts over that amount for attaching to the line items on your expenses reports.

*Update: Make sure you check out the eReceipts FAQ.The exception is hotel receipts – not just the hotel stay but any purchases you make in a hotel with your credit card. Just charge everything to your room and then send the receipt for the entire stay to receipts@expensify.com so you can attach it to your report.

Tripit

Are you still trying to find that email with your confirmation for your hotel / car rental / flight? Set up a free account with Tripit and forward all your confirmations to plans@tripit.com. Now you have a clean itinerary you can pull up any time you need it using the handy Tripit iPhone app.

Flight Track Pro [via iTunes]

Now that all your confirmations are in Tripit, get yourself Flight Track Pro and link it up with your Tripit itineraries to automatically load up your flight details. No more getting off a plane and desperately trying to figure out a) where you are, b) where you’re going to have to go to catch your connection, and c) how much time you have to do it.

Now Playing [via iTunes]

Want to catch a flick? Where’s the nearest movie theater? What’s good? This handy app does it all. Using the GPS on your iPhone it ranks the theaters by distance from your current location.

Kayak [via iTunes]

Already our favorite site for finding the best flights, the iPhone app gives you the same flexibility without having to fire up the browser.

ZAGAT To Go [via iTunes]

The popular restaurant rating system is now on the iPhone. Looking for a good people watching spot? How about the best burger in town? This app will help you find you want. My personal favorite is “Visitors on an Expense Account”.