The Internet ...

Many airline Web sites now update travelers on itinerary changes via e-mail or text message. Do these services work?

Delta.com provides the best updates of any airline site, providing “day-before reminders and frequent updates during the flight.”

Continental.com and American.com both are “good,” but not great. The former allows you to track airborne flights you might be waiting for, while, in our test, the latter “kept up with three different gate changes.”

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Southwest.com and Northwest.com both have serious problems. The former provided updates slowly and withheld important gate information. The latter was sometimes actually wrong, though apparently a better service exists for frequent fliers.

Flightstats.com, an independent site, actually provides updates that are more frequent and accurate than many airlines’ own sites. Source: The Wall Street Journal