When you need to take a bus or a train to school, every day…

it doesn’t take long to discover that there are some gadgets and devices, like the iPhone battery pack, that you simply can’t live without.  However, it doesn’t stop there.  There are actually quite a few things that can make a huge difference in your ability to comfortably and conveniently make it too and from class, every day.

The key is to find exactly which items you really need and that fit the bill perfectly, because the last thing you want to do is spend money unnecessarily or give up limited real estate in your bag to something that isn’t perfect for the job.

The following are the absolute must-haves when it comes to equipping yourself for your daily commute to school:

• An iPhone battery pack – This one goes without saying, but if you don’t have one, it’s worth a reminder to pick one up. If you are going to face a commute every day, then you will need to make sure your smartphone, tablet and/or MP3 player are always charged.  This will allow you to keep yourself entertained and even keep up with your reading of electronic textbooks, so you can pass the time more quickly and usefully.
• A large water bottle – Preferably one that is stainless steel to protect you from plastics leeching into your water and to lower the risk of breakage associated with glass. Find one with a design you love – or even your school logo – so you’ll feel motivated to use it even more.
• A fantastic, durable bag – A backpack or messenger bag with padded places for your laptop, water bottle, books and all the other essentials is something you just can’t live without. This should be considered an investment.  Don’t cheap out on function in favor of form and be sure to try it on in the store.  Put something inside the bag, if you can, to see how it functions when you’ve got some weight in it.  Focus on padded straps, a padded back, quality materials and solid stitching.
• Emergency clothing – Life happens. Be ready when it does with a spare black tee, yoga pants, socks, undies and purse flats. They don’t have to be bulky or trendy.  They just have to be there for you in case the ones you’re wearing rip, fall victim to a spilled coffee, you sit in gum or anything else happens to them. Choose black options because they’re most likely to match the rest of the outfit you’re wearing on that unlucky day.

With these items and a gift card to the coffee shop you pass on your way…

which is great for breakfast or a latte when you’re running late – you’ll have the essentials covered for your daily commute.  Just don’t forget to keep your water bottle full and your iPhone battery pack charged for when you need it!

Airlines see a mere 13% of volume on mobile devices according to new report.

A recent report from Netherlands-based global multichannel payment company Adyen revealed that travel made up 15.5% of mobile transactions on its global payments network in Q1 2016. While m-payments made up 32% of overall online payments in this year’s first quarter, in the travel sector, the share plummets to 15%. According to Adyen, these findings show that there is opportunity to extend the reach of smartphones and tablets in the travel industry.

Compared to other industries, the travel sector sees significantly fewer mobile transactions.

The report – Mobile Payments Index 2016: Travel Edition – shows that while accommodation services see 17% of volume on mobile devices, airlines see only 13%. Also, tablets are the preferred choice among mobile devices when it comes to booking in the travel industry.

President of North America at Adyen, Kamran Zaki, stated that the travel sector is seeing notably fewer browser-based payments happen on mobile compared to other industries. Zaki added that “an average of only 15 percent of online payments take place on a mobile device, compared to over 30 percent across all verticals” among airline and accommodation merchants on the Adyen platform.

However, airlines investing in mobile offerings are seeing higher m-payments activity.

Even though only 13% of transactions for airlines are occurring on mobile, Adyen’s report also pointed out that the airlines investing in their mobile offerings are actually seeing higher than average activity in regard to mobile payments.

For instance, European airline Transavia has a share of mobile payments that is 65% higher than the average.

Adyen CCO Roelant Prins said “We are moving to a future where many loyal travel industry customers will make their entire journey in-app, from initial booking to final checkout, with payments as a key step in that journey.” He added that aside from in-app, travel merchants who invest in optimized experiences for web browsers across key types of devices are already seeing a significant increase in their mobile transaction volume.

Adyen believes that the travel industry has more opportunity to take a larger share of m-payments by branching into other mobile services like smartphone check-in among other convenient customer services.