Thanks for all your input. Based upon what I heard here and other places, it seems it comes down to the following:

- As early as possible, try to reschedule your flight. If they decide to charge $75 for the change, it is cheaper than the hotel room.
- Wait list on as many flights as possible. One good thing about status is you get preference above all those other travelers
- Rebook your flight. This might mean you have to pay the current fare, but it may be better than staying around. You can always consider booking a RT and throwing away the backside trip
- Book a full-fare one-way ticket at the slightest hint of a problem on an alternative flight. A friend of mine books a one-way full fare ticket on a preferred flight. Then if he needs to use that flight, he tries to change to his original fare. If they say it is full, then he tells them about the full fare ticket and has them cancel it and take his discounted fare. Obviously this only works if you are the top elite, but even at that, this strategy seems risky if you are using the same airline (obviously, this would be fine on a different airline). He swears it works.

DW: What do you mean they protected you?