Welcome to the boards goodtogo. What fscher is saying, is to have a airline cert issued on your favorite (or whatever) airline in which you have sufficient RT miles in advance of any last minute trips and have in your possession in case of occurrence you stated. That way you can call for reservations using the freebie or even walk up to the airline counter w/o a reservation, present it and hopefully fly on.

Right now I carry DL, CO and UA certs. They are good for a year and as they get close to being outdated, I send them back for credit for a $25-$50 fee. A Nice insurance policy.