If your flight gets cancelled and you must stay in a connecting city overnight, most airlines will provide a hotel room at little or no charge. Weather cancellation: Usually a hotel discount voucher. Mechanical problems: They are supposed to pay for your room in full by voucher.

The moment you have problems with a flight you need to do two things:

1. Write down the name of each airline agent that you speak with.
2. Make a quick outline of the problems experienced.

This information will validate your experience in future e-mail correspondence to the airline and make it easier to achieve an equitable solution.

Northwest Airlines pulled a tricky one on me. In July, my plane had a “cancellation due to mechanical problems” and NWA sent me to an overbooked hotel with no rooms available, stranding me and many other guests in Minneapolis. Sadly, they KNOWINGLY did this because I overheard the agents quietly discussing this before they gave us our vouchers. I asked them about this and they said they were discussing another situation. (*I really goofed up!)

When you are given a hotel voucher:
1. Keep your ears perked and listen to everything the agents talk about, especially when they whisper.
2. Ask for the phone number of the hotel room (or check your voucher for the phone number).
3. While you are still at the airline desk, quickly use your cell phone and call the hotel.
4. Immediately make a reservation in your name if rooms are available.
5. If no rooms are available, tell this to the agent so they can make other arrangements.
6. Be polite, but persistent.
7. Repeat the drill with the next hotel room voucher.

Stick to your guns, be polite and you will have a place to sleep PLUS extra frequent flyer miles or discount tickets if you follow up with a letter to the airlines via e-mail. Be sure to put complements in the letter for agents who were doing a good job. Make sure you have a frequent flyer card with each airline you fly.

*See how I worked out my goof up in the follow up topic: Flying The Unfriendly Skies: Important Travel Tip # 3