(FORTUNE Magazine) – PETER MAYER, chairman of publisher Penguin Group, recently booked an overnight flight from New York to Paris on Air France, just so he could attend a meeting the next morning. Then, he says, ''my secretary made reservations with two other airlines that were leaving about the same time.'' When he got to New York's JFK airport, he paid the cabdriver to wait outside a few minutes so that if a problem arose he could get to another terminal quickly. Good thing. The Air France plane was delayed five hours. He switched to TWA and made his meeting with time to spare. Mayer's strategy is not one the airlines smile upon, but it represents the kind of extra steps managers are taking these days in a world of more -- and often more hectic -- business travel. Corporate travel has increased 48% in the past five years; the bill last year was $95 billion. Combine all that to- and-froing with airline deregulation around the world, and you can understand why executive travelers are developing new ways to cope with restrictive ticketing policies, increasingly congested airports, and what many consider a general deterioration of service. Their tactics are many and varied. Peter J. Tanous, director of Bank Audi USA, asks airline reservation agents for the on-time ratings of their flights, an underutilized airline service, before he makes his booking. The ratings show how often, in percentage terms, the flight has arrived at its scheduled time over the past two months. Though airlines have begun to increase their estimated flight times to appear more punctual, the on-time ratings still provide a guideline. When confronted with canceled flights, a New York airline analyst, who asked to go unnamed, does his own rerouting with the help of the frequent flier's bible: the Official Airline Pocket Flight Guide, North American edition, which lists all scheduled flights. (For details on this and other travelers' publications and services, see box.) The analyst was in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a while back when his Eastern flight to New York was delayed and finally canceled. By that time all eastbound flights out of Albuquerque that would get him to New York that night had departed. The analyst flew to L.A., had dinner with a friend, and took the red-eye home. Says the determined Wall Streeter: ''I was in New York first thing in the morning instead of getting back in the middle of the afternoon.'' Experienced travelers use another method to fight canceled flights. Instead of waiting in line for an airline representative to rebook, they head for the nearest phone and call their travel agents or other airlines. They get a confirmed seat while everyone else is still in the queue. With the help of technology, Tanous goes them one better. As he waits in line for an agent to change his ticket, he dials American Express travel service's 800 number from his cellular phone. ''Anyone who travels as much as I do inevitably educates himself or herself to maximize time,'' says Tanous, who also travels with a portable computer (for word processing), a nationwide beeper (to receive calls), and a Walkman (to discourage conversation with seatmates). ''It's a survival instinct.'' Many business travelers see commercial airspace as a battlefield and, like military strategists, come armed with numerous tactics for hassle-free flying. Judith Gardner, vice president of multinational account development for American Express, leaves etiquette at the gate when it comes to boarding. ''I'm right after the little old ladies and the kids,'' she says. ''I want to get my share of overhead space and make sure I'm settled and comfortable before someone comes along with the same seat assignment.'' And where would you like to sit? Rather than trust airline personnel, veteran fliers carry aircraft seating guides to make the choice themselves when they make reservations. Most frequent request: up front, on the aisle. Jean Gabella, director of European delivery services for Renault, follows his own prescription, at least on overseas flights. ''I take a mild, over-the- counter sleeping pill and put up a little DO NOT DISTURB sign as soon as I get on the plane -- then I sleep through,'' he says. ''Five or six hours of sleep is very helpful if you have a meeting as soon as you land.'' Gabella also makes sure his hotel room will be available in the morning so he can take a shower before doing business. Once on the ground, weary business travelers want to move expeditiously. Swiss Air is famous for its fly-rail luggage service ($7 a bag), by which bags checked at departure make their way to the end of your rail line, almost anywhere in Switzerland. Major hotel chains are on the brink of instant registration for their frequent guests; as a member of Marriott's Club Marquis, you can make a reservation by phone, then simply pick up your key when you arrive. And car rental companies like National and Hertz are competing for clients by offering memberships that let renters bypass counters and go directly to vehicles. The keys are in the ignition. Just get into a car you like, present a special card and a driver's license at the gate, and drive off. Some car rental companies offer cellular phones, and you can also hit the ground talking at several airports where phone companies rent the devices (typical rates: $2.95 a day, $1.45 a minute). LapStop Corp. rents computers ($44.95 to $54.95 a day), printers ($9 to $19.95), and fax machines ($29.95) at Avis counters in five airports, with plans to expand to 15 more. Being plugged in is the main travel strategy for some executives. With the help of his GRID laptop and cellular phone, Derek Schwartz, executive vice president of sales for Modatech Systems, a Vancouver, British Columbia, software company, claims he can operate as efficiently on the road as in the office. Schwartz was driving out of Atlanta a few months ago when his portable phone rang. The call was from a New York apparel company ready to sign a contract. He took the next plane to New York, connected his laptop computer by phone line with his office in Vancouver, receiving the text of a letter of intent, and signed the company on. For flights like that one, the cost of the ticket matters little. But many companies are trying hard to save money on travel -- and the opportunities are greater than ever. Some travelers regularly use so-called hidden-city fares to economize. A New Yorker who asked to remain unidentified recently booked a one-way flight from Minneapolis to Baltimore via New York. Then he got off in New York and threw away the New York-Baltimore coupon. The regular Pan Am one- way Minneapolis-New York fare with no advance purchase was over $300. He paid $166. The hidden-city technique works because airline fares are 27% higher per mile to and from hub city airports dominated by one or two airlines than at airports where there is more competition. So virtually any hub city will have a ''beyond'' city that is priced lower. According to a 1990 Runzheimer International report on travel management, 30% of 257 companies surveyed said they or their agencies book hidden cities. So common is the practice that a monthly publication, Best Fares, is devoted to them. A recent issue showed that the one-way fare from Dallas to Toronto via LaGuardia cost $240, vs. $493 for a Dallas to LaGuardia flight. A one-way fare from St. Louis to Cleveland via Pittsburgh ran $247, vs. $361 St. Louis- Pittsburgh. To avoid problems, Best Fares publisher Tom Parsons recommends booking hidden cities so that the unused portion of the ticket is the last leg (e.g., if you're traveling between Dallas and New York, Dallas-New York-Toronto for the outgoing, New York-Dallas-Austin for the return). Naturally, he adds, don't check your luggage, which will go to the final destination. If you're traveling round trip, confirm your return reservation or book your tickets separately to make sure the computer hasn't canceled the return because you never arrived. OTHER FORMS of creative ticketing also have become common, particularly among entrepreneurs traveling on their own nickel. Last August, for instance, Los Angeles public relations consultant Larry Weinberg took a day trip to San Jose, California, to pitch a potential client. Instead of buying a regular round-trip coach ticket, which cost $284, Weinberg purchased two round-trip supersaver tickets (Saturday night stay required) at $81 each. One supersaver originated in Los Angeles, the other in San Jose, the same day, and he flew on the two outbound coupons. Though he was left with two unused return tickets, he still saved $122. ''Everybody uses that trick,'' says Weinberg. ''If I really strategized, I'd work it out so I could use the other half.'' Wayne Matthews, a Safety Harbor, Florida, newspaper consultant who takes about 75 trips a year, does just that, and more. Hang on to your seat: Not long ago he booked back-to-back round-trip supersavers to two different cities, taking advantage of ''open-jaw'' round trips airlines permit. ''Say I've got to go to New York in two weeks, come back home, and the following week I've got to go to Boston,'' Matthews says. He buys two supersaver open- jaw round trips (Saturday night stay required), each for about $160: Tampa to New York outbound, Boston to Tampa return; and Tampa to Boston outbound, New York to Tampa return. Then he uses them out of order: For his New York trip he uses the Tampa to New York portion of his first ticket and the New York to Tampa portion of his second; for his Boston trip he uses the Tampa to Boston part of his second ticket and the Boston to Tampa part of his first. ''If I bought full-fare Tampa to Boston or Tampa to New York, I would probably pay $500 or $600 a ticket,'' he says. ''I even teach my travel agents tricks.'' Flying at cut-rate prices doesn't mean traveling with the masses. Consultant Matthews prides himself on purchasing the lowest fare yet sitting in first class, as well as paying the lowest hotel rates and sleeping in the best rooms. In anticipation of an upcoming trip, for instance, he bought a $298 round- trip Eastern Air Lines supersaver (which is refundable and changeable) and converted it to a first-class ticket with a complimentary confirmed upgrade certificate the airline sends him every 5,000 miles he logs. He also planned to book a $65 room at the Marriott that, with his Marriott platinum card, he ! hoped to upgrade to a suite. Indeed, there's a lot more to the frequent flier programs than free trips for family vacations, particularly if you fly enough miles (some 25,000 to 75,000 annually) to attain elite status. Holders of elite cards generally are entitled to special reservation and service numbers, first-class upgrades (granted 24 to 48 hours in advance in the best programs), priority boarding, and in at least one instance specially tagged luggage that shows up on the carrousel first. And then there are the unofficial perks granted to the airlines' most-valued customers. Armed with elite cards from TWA, Continental/Eastern, and Delta, Matthews finds he's even able to change nonchangeable, nonrefundable tickets. Says he: ''If you have the right smile and the right cards and credentials, you can get almost anything done.'' Now if 10,000 miles would just entitle you to lift the fog in Boston, you'd be home free.