Irregular Procedures or Weather Delays when Flying: Experiences, Advice, Issues

After waking up to see how much rain the houston area got overnight, I'm not surprised to see that most of United's flights out of IAH are cancelled/severely delayed today. This thread will hopefully be used for those of us that are unfortunate to get caught in such weather experiences and offer advice to those travelers in need.

Advice: If you're flying on United, ask to be rebooked on American or Delta if your flight is severely delayed/cancelled. They can do so for free and likely you will at least make it to your destination that day (assuming there are available seats). On American or Delta, you can only be rebooked onto United (American and Delta ended their interlining agreement last fall). Southwest and Frontier do not have any interline partners so if your flight is delayed or cancelled you can only stay on your respective airline

If you try calling into reservations (1-800) and the wait time is quoted as over 2 hours, you can set a call back number then call back in and wait on hold. Yesterday American was having issues with DFW's weather and I was quoted 2 hours + when calling in. Set a callback with that estimate, immediately redialed and after waiting on hold for just 6 minutes someone picked up.

If you're at the airport, find an agent that doesn't look swamped with a huge line and be as nice as you can. Little gestures like asking if they'd like a coffee or donut will make all the difference in them getting you home that day vs two or three days later.

Lounge access: If delays are terrible it is usually worth it to pay the $50 and gain access to an airline's lounge. The lounges have their own reservation specialists that can help you fix your flights with much shorter lines all while relaxing with free showers, food, and booze.

I'm sure I'm missing more things but feel free to ask any questions, post experiences, or give advice.