Have you ever raced to the other side of the airport to catch a connecting flight only to discover that your flight was delayed? I have while wearing heels, with a garment bag slung over my shoulder and a rollerboard in tow. Not a lot of fun, let me tell you.

Luckily, there are some new services that can help you stay on top of a flight's status at all times.

For example, OAG.com, a provider of independent business travel information, has introduced OAG Mobile, which allows you to access information for virtually any flight worldwide with only a Web-enabled cell phone, PDA, pager, or any other type of pocket PC.

OAG Mobile, which is free for registered OAG visitors, provides real-time flight details, including flight times, availability, duration, and layovers. You can also register for E-notification, which sends you automatic alerts updating you on the status of your flight.

Currently, E-notification is free, but starting early this year, OAG will implement a $99 annual fee for unlimited use of this added service. E-notification allows for alerts to two devices - your cellular phone and your significant other's desktop, for example.

If you frequently travel between two cities or several "city pairs" and you opt for the Palm OS download, you can use a feature called a "static download," through which you can program up to 10 city pairs - flights between New York and Chicago, for example. At $59 a year, information for these programmed city pairs will come up automatically instead of your having to find it each time.

Another cool service comes from Galileo Wireless, which focuses more on coordinating your various travel reservations - air, car, and hotel, for example - into one comprehensive itinerary. You can also receive notification of changes to gates, arrivals, and departures. And a feature that sets it apart from other services - with a push of a button, you can rebook any same-day flight.

This free service is available through travel agencies, who then set up your cellular phone with the wireless program. Or you can download the service if you book your trip through TRIP.com, a Galileo subsidiary.

GetThere's Wireless Network and DirectMobile also provide general flight information for virtually every airline. Take note that these services are currently available only through certain brands of Web-enabled phones.

DirectMobile includes a feature called My Trips that allows you to view previous bookings, including car rental and hotel information, and flight notification, which provides updates before departure and another update before arrival - to a spouse's phone, for example. If you want to synchronize your flight, car, and hotel reservations into one itinerary, however, your company will have to arrange its travel through a GetThere booking system.

So if you're sick of the frantic flight shuffling at the airport, you can give one of these services a try. Instead of being a slave to those little airport screens, this could be your one-way ticket to better business travel.