I have been accommodated more than once in this situation, over phone and in person. 4 phone and 2 in person, from what I can remember.

One was a flood in Buenos Aires that closed all roads into the city. I left 7 hours before my flight departure time for a 4 hour drive, but it took about 9. I did eventually get there but it was clear a good 2 hours before my flight that there was no way. I called the 800 number (using Skype and a data connection) and explained the situation, and asked nicely what could be done. EZE is an airport with exactly 1 Delta operated flight a day. The agent could not accommodate me on a later flight on a partner airline, but was able to rebook me for the next day's flight.

One was a traffic accident that closed the highway due to an overturned military truck. I did arrive to the gate about 10 min before departure but they had closed the door. I went to the ticket counter and was offered standby for a much later flight (4+ hours) or confirmed the next day. I took the next day and went home.

I have also had my spouse need ER surgery (needed to get home a day early and ASAP), a relative go into hospice and then die (2 weeks of travel, both times they rescheduled my business trip with no fee), and once just plain had the wrong time in my head (called and said I had a last minute issue and they put me on the next flight). The surgery, hospice and wrong time were phone, the other I was there in person as I had taken a different flight to try and get us there in time.

However, I do have status so that may help your customers more than one without. I would agree with the other posters that try multiple times on the phone, and that in person might get a better reaction.

Is there CC travel insurance that generally covers the cost of booking a new flight in the instance where the rebooking offered by the original airline is not as good as other available flights , and the original ticket is not able to be refunded?

I wouldn't necessarily go to the airport. There was an accident on the only bridge out of Key West and we were stuck for hours and missed our DL flight out of MIA. Sent the Twitter rep our itineraries and a link to the accident. This was the day after the Orange Bowl in MIA and flights were sold out for a few days. The Twitter rep said closest airport out of which she could get us was MCO the next morning. We were able to change rental to a 1-way to MCO and totally bypassed MIA. So yes, sometimes going to airport is right choice but in our instance it wasn't. We were not charged an additional fare and, in fact, I got upgraded on MCO>LGA. Having proof really helped, I think.

No, you are badly wrong. What happens when an international flight cancels to the Salt Lake area? Does your property ever have a group or a few people have to cancel due to last minute interruptions? It also happens with airlines.

Many others may not have shown up. Salt Lake City is a MAJOR hub for Delta. I have seen flights sold out, go to having availability of Y9 (9 seats) in a matter of less than 30 minutes. Who knows what would have been available at the airport, or what a nice agent would have been willing to put together.

Also - I did not say your clients were not nice. You asked for generic advice. I gave generic advice to anyone reading - be nice to the agents if you are late, because they don't technically owe you anything, but generally return kindness to those who are also kind to them.

Fair advice for your situation - but I don't think it jives with the OPs case.

Differences:
*You are leaving from EYW - an outstation for any airline. OP's client leaving from SLC, a major hub for DL and destination for OALs.
*You are DM. OP's client lacks status
*Major in-town event happening that locked up availability for you

For someone who doesn't have status, and is heading to a major hub, they should always go to the airport if they are late.

Having said that - OP - maybe your client (or other clients) could look at tweeting DL in the future. I'm not sure the response time for general SkyMiles members, but as a DM, I get a response usually in under 15 minutes.

NO, in the post you quoted, the person was leaving from MIA, not EYW. He/she was apparently driving from Key West to MIA when the problem occurred.

I'd slightly tweak your advice. It's always worth calling/Tweeting the airline while on the way to the airport. If they rebook you later or out of a different airport, great; then there's no need to go to the airport. At the very least, get them to annotate the record before schedule departure saying you are likely to miss your flight because of a flat tire situation. But if the phone agents aren't able or willing to get you rebooked, don't take that as being out of luck; go to the airport as expeditiously as possible because the airport agents can do things phone agents can't do, and the sooner you get there, the easier it will be to convince them that it really was a flat tire situation.

Sigh...

I DID tell them (well, I told dad who relayed to son) to use Twitter. I did tell them to keep trying to get through to DL. I did tell them to, if they got through, to try the "flat tire" trick. I told them that, because they had no status, it could take awhile on the phone and to HUCA if they were told "sorry, no re-accomodation" to see if they would get another response. WHEN I LEFT WORK FOR THE EVENING - the son was still stuck and they were still trying to get through. I NEVER told them to buy another ticket, I NEVER told the son to come back. Those words were put in my virtual mouth. I did not find out what the end result was until I arrived at work the next afternoon, far too late for me to assist further.

I'm not rude - I'm just tired of the usual FTer bull. I wanted to keep it general because this situation could happen to anyone, anywhere. To ask what road, what airport, not relevant. To post a new report of the accident to "verify", not needed or relevant.

I know you told them to call and use Twitter and did not mean to suggest otherwise. (In fact, see post #5!)

Your Original Question:

"I want to be able to give out good information to some of my hotel guests in the future..."

Best Answer - tell you guests to call/tweet but still go to the airport.

Off topic: I've recently changed to purchase an annual trip insurance policy. Its about the cost of 3 trips and I take way more than that each year. Trips up to $10k.

Unfortunately, as a sometime poster and frequent lurker, this is a common occurrence.

If you start a thread and argue with the people who are giving advice, it's the thread starter's fault if the OP thinks it's turned "nasty", not the people volunteering their time to give advice.

The advice is to continue going to the airport, not to buy another ticket over the phone. We're all aware that the OP did not tell the son to give up and come back and just buy another ticket. They did that of their own accord. Why the OP is blaming us is perplexing.

It's also a common occurrence here for people to start a thread "asking for advice" and when they don't get the answer they wanted they get mad and start accusing everyone of being nasty.

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Your tone comes across as abrasive and confrontational. What you think is relevant isn't necessarily applicable to others. Remember, you chose to open this discussion on a public forum.