By: Danielle Ulman

Sometimes it pays to get a little worked up over things you can’t control in public. On our way back from an idyllic honeymoon in Barbados, my husband (!) and I found out that our connecting flight from Miami to Baltimore had been canceled.

In the movies, airlines always seem to pick up the tab for passengers’ hotel rooms when they cancel flights. In real life, not so much.

Despite the desire of more than 100 people to get back to Baltimore that night, American Airlines shrugged its shoulders and said, “Sorry, can’t do it.” How about that free hotel room? The response was the same.

Apparently weather cancellations are considered an “act of God” in the contract between the passenger and the airline, which means the airlines are not responsible for passenger hotel rooms.

But back in Baltimore, everyone said the storms had come and gone. Another American flight going to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was still scheduled to take off.

I didn’t want have a hissy fit, but I decided to ask about the hotel room again since the weather seemed fine in Baltimore.

That’s when the woman helping us reluctantly said she could give us a voucher (similar to the meal voucher above) for a discounted rate at a few nearby hotels. Bingo.

My tenacity got us a room at the Hyatt for $79 instead of the $129 rate charged to other customers. So what if in the eyes of American Airlines I’ve been branded a “distressed passenger.”

Next time “weather” gums up your flying plans, I suggest you act the damsel in distress.