The jury's out as to whether the business traveller is to be sympathised with or envied. On the one hand they roam the world for free, seeing places and experiencing vastly different cultures, travelling with a degree of comfort few other people enjoy. Once their business is finished, they are able to put their briefcases away and tack a local side-trip on to their excursion at prices mere mortals will never be offered.

On the other hand, they work long, anti-social hours and spend extended periods away from home and their families, often in alien cultures or high-risk destinations; they suffer from higher stress levels than their non-travelling colleagues, are connected to their offices virtually 24 hours a day, and pay higher airfares and hotel and car hire rates than leisure travellers because of their pressing need for flexibility.

Surveys that attempt to determine which of these snapshots is a more accurate representation of the life of the business traveller abound - but their results are inconsistent and so it is difficult to conclude whether the business traveller doth protest too much. Either way, business travellers are a growing and demanding group of executives. What turns them on and off is becoming clearer - and gender plays a big role in the results.

Female business travellers tend to worry about the cost of travel, while men are more concerned by check-in queues. Men choose their hotel by cost, but women choose them by location, which is a reflection of their greater concern over security. In a recent survey, twice as many women as men (52 per cent against 21 per cent) said that they were concerned about security issues in the UK, although men became more security-conscious when travelling overseas (up to 43 per cent).

Across the board, though, the biggest turn-offs are - not surprisingly - late flights, road congestion, the high airfares to many destinations, long check-in queues, the lack of sleep that business travel entails, and the risk of potential downgrades to economy class.

All these concerns give an accurate picture of the current sorry state of the business travel market. Corporate down-sizing and cost-cutting are the order of the day, and more business travellers are having to squeeze themselves into economy-class seats and budget hotels these days than ever before.

And airline punctuality is just getting worse. Sympathise with any traveller who flies regularly into airports such as Milan, Geneva or Munich, as these regularly top the lists of European airports most affected by delays. Generally, over a quarter of intra-Europe departures are delayed more than 15 minutes, according to figures released regularly by the Association of European Airlines (AEA).

Flight delays exacerbate what is already a stressful and tight business schedule. Reduced budgets and the availability of flights to business destinations at either end of a working day has forced many business travellers to forgo an overnight stay - and the inherent cost - and squeeze all their appointments into one long day. And because more business travellers are flying from airports such as Luton and Stansted, where the 'no- frills airlines' such as Buzz, Go and Ryanair are based (Ryanair, for example, claims that 40 per cent of its passengers are business travellers), the businessperson often has a longer than usual trip home once the flight finally lands.

Meanwhile, it's a travesty that the UK, home to so many low-cost carriers, stings business travellers. The European Corporate Travel Index, published by American Express, revealed that British companies pay 76 per cent more than the European average for business-class fares to New York. The cost of a business-class seat to New York has increased by 50 per cent since 1994. A UK-based company that takes, say, 200 flights to New York in business class each year, will pay an average of £275,000 more than an equivalent company based in Germany, and £217,000 more than a French company - even though the distances involved are shorter. A British business traveller can expect to pay 46 per cent more for a direct flight from the UK to New York (3,234) than they would if travelling from Paris (2,217), and 55 per cent more than a traveller from Frankfurt (£2,086).

Stretching budgets for long-haul travel has meant that companies now send their executives via hub airports. In the same American Express survey, it was pointed out that British companies can save almost 30 per cent by sending executives bound for Los Angeles via Paris, for example.

But it's not all doom and gloom for the business traveller. The good news in that survey came on short-haul flights, where flights of less than 750 miles are significantly cheaper from the UK than the European average. And business-class cabins have never been so comfortable. These days they're fitted with seats that incorporate personal video screens, laptop power points, telephones, head rests, lumbar support - all operated electronically by the touch of a button. Some, notably cabins on British Airways' long-haul flights, are now fitted with seats that recline fully to become a flat bed. This is the sort of comfort that travellers used to get only in first class.

While first-class cabins are half the size they used to be in the 1980s, there are still business travellers who are able to pay £5,000 or £6,000 for a first-class ticket across the Atlantic. These tend to be the chairmen of large companies, city institutions, bankers, insurers, consultants and lawyers, all of whom can charge the enormous fare back to a client.

For them the status of flying in first class, being first off the aircraft, enjoying à la carte service and the privacy of sitting with probably only half a dozen others, is in direct contrast to the experience of those travelling in the business-class cabin, where there are upwards of 50 other passengers. There is also the advantage of superior food and drink and the much higher staff-to-passenger ratio, which translates to virtually one-on-one service. Compare one member of airline staff for every ten passengers in business class, to three crew members for every 14 passengers in first class. And bear in mind the fact that the first-class cabins are generally half full. It's the nearest you get to personal service in the air. And, once on the ground, the pampering doesn't stop, whether for first- or business-class travellers. Some airlines, such as Virgin Atlantic, treat them to chauffeur-driven cars to and from the airport.

Don't feel too sorry for the business traveller, though. Check-in options nowadays have increased enormously, so they can avoid the long queues at the counter. They can check in by fax or phone, from their car on the way to the airport, or at Victoria or Paddington train stations. And the comforts of business travel don't stop there. On arrival back in Britain, British Airways and Virgin, for example, have opened arrivals lounges that enable business travellers to shower, eat breakfast and go straight into the office after a 'red-eye' flight.

And when it comes to staying in hotels, downgrading to a three- or four-star property is not the depressing experience that it was some years ago. Budget accommodation has improved in leaps and bounds; the hotels are usually modern, well-maintained and up to the minute in terms of hi-tech gadgetry such as dataports, IDD phones, decent-size desks and ergonomic seating in the rooms. Greater hotel choice has helped the process. At the end of 1999, there were 62 hotel chains, up from 30 just 15 years ago.

Business travellers are, naturally, fêted by the airlines and hotels. It is these customers that account for the highest profits, so they need to be looked after and recognised as such. It is for this reason that frequent flyer programmes and hotel loyalty schemes have proliferated. Business travellers can earn miles or points while travelling on business, then use them at their leisure. One of the most useful benefits of being a member of such a scheme is the access it gives to airline lounges, upgrades and priority wait-listing on over-booked flights. Finding the time to redeem thousands of air miles is often a problem, though, and billions of them go unused each year.

Technology, of course, is playing an increasing role in alleviating the hassles of travelling on business, with the internet increasingly pivotal in all developments. Business travellers can already surf the net to check the lowest prices for flights and accommodation, then book online. However, some corporations have grave doubts over productivity issues if their staff are booking for themselves. Why should their high-paying executive 'waste' time doing that when a travel agent, who is paid far less, could do it instead?

A survey of 70 UK travel managers and business travellers by Carlson Wagonlit Travel, in 2000, unearthed an almost Luddite attitude towards new technology. Over half of the business travellers questioned said that they had never logged on to the internet to make travel arrangements, with some questioning the speed of the web compared with traditional booking methods. Even the web enthusiasts favoured it for leisure rather than business travel. Meanwhile, corporate travel managers were unimpressed by direct booking tools. Almost 90 per cent said they do not book on the internet, and would only use it for arranging the simplest itineraries. They saw several obstacles: the difficulty in consolidating accounting practices, the tracking of travel policy compliance, executive productivity issues, their lack of experience and skills when it comes to booking complicated itineraries, and the concern that suppliers may not offer their best prices to the direct booker.

On the plus side, the thumbs up was given to electronic ticketing because of its speed, the removal of queuing at tickets desks and the fact that it generates less paperwork. The process of organising refunds on e-tickets is straightforward but time consuming and some companies are concerned that millions of pounds' worth of unused e-tickets are going uncollected.

Only 40 per cent of the travellers surveyed had used video-conferencing, and most of them said they thought it would be unlikely to reduce the need to travel. Corporate travel managers agreed, with 75 per cent claiming that it had no impact on the frequency of business travel - one even said that it probably generated more travel. One cannot underestimate in such cases the low status of video-conferencing. Business travellers appear to like bragging to their colleagues that they have to travel to head office for a meeting.

Other technological innovations may be more readily accepted. Already the humble mobile phone is turning into a pocket-sized computer terminal. New WAP ('wireless application protocol') mobile phone technology gives dial-up web access, which means that the phone becomes an airline ticket and a check-in and loyalty mechanism. En route to the airport, it will know the status and location of your flight and, once you have arrived, it will guide you to the right terminal and car park.

Even better will be the newer mobile phones that will be introduced by the end of 2000, giving instant access to the web, with charges only be levied on receipt of information. These advances in telephony also mean that the airline will know exactly when the last passenger will board the plane, which could easily translate into fewer delays.

When all's said and done, business travellers don't have a bad life after all. And it's going to get a lot better.