Not long after a string of airline horror stories involving travelers getting stuck for four hours on the tarmac appeared in the news, three executives from a Minneapolis-based technology firm were relieved when their pilot, faced with a one-hour delay at the gate, let everyone off the plane.

The trio went to a restaurant on the concourse to grab a bite. Forty minutes later, when they went back to their gate, the plane was gone; the pilot had gotten a quicker- than-expected clearance, and they didn't hear the reboarding announcements.

That was bad enough. What was worse was that their briefcases, packed with confidential corporate information and irreplaceable personal items, were in the plane's overhead compartments.

They didn't panic. They called Sue Hagen, president of Avant-Garde Personalized Travel LLC. After she told them their options, they asked her to book a corporate jet. Within an hour, the three were able to fly to New York, $8,000 lighter but still able to make their meeting. Hagen also tracked the briefcases and ensured that they were put in a locked storage area at La Guardia airport.

In a world of either mega-agencies that book billions of dollars in business travel a year, or self-booking sites such as Travelocity, Egencia (the corporate travel division of Expedia) and Orbitz, companies such as Hagen's are a rarity: She's a corporate travel concierge with a modest client list. She works with a dozen firms, ranging from sole proprietors to the software company, which has 10 frequent fliers. Because her client list is small, she knows everyone's travel history well--what kinds of trips they've had, what their preferences are--and can monitor each trip as it progresses.

Glitches are all too common for road warriors, and Hagen, a former trade show organizer and customer-service agent for Northwest Airlines, puts her insider knowledge to work when the inevitable happens. She even mans the 24-hour service hotline herself. The only thing she outsources is the back-office aspect of her business, which she launched in 2004.

The VIP treatment Before any en-route dramas, though, comes the front end: planning the itinerary. Stacy Small is president of Elite Travel International, which also provides individualized attention to business travelers. Elite designs itineraries to get the best fares, the most convenient flights, the fewest (or shortest) layovers and the most comfortable aircraft. If a preferred hotel is sold out, Small will call the general manager of the hotel personally to see if her client can be accommodated. Both Hagen and Small monitor seat availability for upgrades (too tedious for most travelers to do on their own), and will handle converting frequency points to fares, hotel rooms and rental cars.

Small puts her background as a travel writer to good use--she's got an insider's knowledge of many destinations, plus a vast network. So when a client wants to know where the hippest restaurant in Paris is, she not only knows the answer but gets her clients reservations for the best table at the best time.

Once the bookings are made, the next part of the concierge service comes into play: monitoring the weather at destinations her clients are traveling to and from; checking on delays; and e-mailing, texting or calling clients to advise them if anything changes (a gate, a departure time, a cancellation or airfare change).

"The first thing my clients do after they land is check their BlackBerrys to see if something on their trip has changed," Small says. "I get the alerts directly from the airlines or hotel or weather service and e-mail the traveler, so they're only getting updates from a single source, and I can keep a closer eye on everything."

After consulting with the client, both Small and Hagen will rebook if necessary, and will keep other travel suppliers--hotel and car rental firms, limo drivers, and colleagues--apprised as well. "There's nothing worse than a long delay in the air only to be told your rental car was given away because you didn't show up when you said you would, or you get charged for hotel room you didn't use because you didn't cancel it by 6 p.m.," Hagen says. "Then again, you may need to change plans because your meeting ended sooner than expected, or you need to stay an extra day."

What price quality? Small charges a flat rate of $500 for each itinerary, no matter how complex. That includes everything from booking fares and rooms to handling incidentals--arranging meetings, booking theater tickets, making spa and hairdresser appointments, booking golf excursions, and finding client gifts and arranging for delivery.

Hagen charges a monthly retainer for each traveler. The exact amount is based on travel requirements, plus a modest transaction fee.

Because Hagen's behind-the-scenes work often unearths savings, clients' incremental savings often pay for her fees. "If the fare bought yesterday goes down 35 percent in price today, I'll rebook the lower fare if the traveler approves," she says. Depending on the pricing plan, the client gets to keep 100 percent of the savings or shares a 50-50 split. She estimates that her prices are 10 percent lower than a traditional agency or online booking site that doesn't include the personalized attention.

The monthly retainer also extends to business travelers taking leisure trips, and to all members of the traveler's family. "It's one way a small company can add value to their employees," she says. She advises on everything from vacation selection to how to travel with young children. For one client, a veterinarian, she arranged a tour of Minnesota dairies (and planned a few excursions to baseball games) for a group of Japanese dairy farmers.

Small is deft at last-minute requests: For one New Jersey-based client, she was given less than 24 hours to organize a reward junket to Palm Beach for four top salespeople.

I've used Hagen's services twice on business, for trips to Louisville, Ky., and Dublin, Ohio. Both times she offered advice that saved me time and money, helping me determine whether it was cheaper to rent a car or use cabs, and which taxi company was cheapest. She got in touch when "rolling delays" out of LaGuardia changed departure times, asking whether I'd like her to rebook me on another airline. She also changed my seat assignments when seats closer to my preferred ones opened up. I consider myself an experienced traveler, but it was strangely reassuring to fly to unfamiliar cities knowing Hagen had my back.

"A business trip is tough enough--you shouldn't have to worry about being your own travel agent, too," she says.