I would read the insurance policy to know explicitly what it covers. In the airline business there are two main types of cancellations; Weather/ATC and Maintenance/Crew.
Weather / ATC
-If you encounter a weather cancellation move fast as it may affect multiple flights and all those passengers will be scrambling to get re-booked.
-Do NOT call the Disney vacation reservation line. There is little they can directly do to get you re-booked.
-Call the airline directly and at the same time get in line to speak with a customer service agent.
-If you are flying an airline that has a lounge it may be worth it to pay for a daypass to have access to an agent in the club to re-book you (you will encounter a shorter wait and have better customer service)
-Go online and look for alternatives yourself. You can check seat inventory for free at
www.seatcounter.com however they limit the amount of searches you can do per day. You can also sign up for a free trial for Expert Flyer (
www.expertflyer.com) which will allow you unlimited searches. By doing this you are not requiring the agent to do the work of finding you a seat or new routing; all you need them to do is put you on a specific flight.
-Typically the airline will not book you onto another carrier (or interline you) for a weather delay.
-Have a list of nearby hotels. While the
airline is NOT responsible for your hotel cost, many hotels have unpublished discounted rates if you claim you are a distressed passenger. It's best to book the hotel yourself and then file a claim under your insurance policy.
Mechanical / Crew
-
Most the tips above still apply
-Ask to be endorsed to another carrier. To ensure the seats are not taken call the airline you want to switch to and make a reservation; tell them you will pay for the ticket at the ticket counter. Have the airline that canceled your flight issue you an endorsement to the new airline and take that to the new airline to "pay" for your reservation. (Make sure your airline does have interline agreements in place. Southwest, Spirit, and the ultra-LCCs will NOT interline. Period.)
-A mechanical or crew delay or cancellation is considered within the airlines control so they
will issue you a hotel voucher if a delay or cancellation requires to to spend the night.
**Remain calm and
be nice to the agents. So many people flip out and yell at the agents. Believe me, they hold all the power and can most certainly bend the rules, be nice to them and they can get things done for you that they might not be willing to do for the guy who just yelled at them for 20 mins.***
**A passenger that takes it upon themselves to handle the situation will be much better off than the passenger who simply waits in a rebooking line and expects the agent to do all the work!**
Any other questions, just ask!
