It's Monday night and you're due in Chicago for a Tuesday morning meeting. No problem, you think. But when you check the airport monitor, you see that a handful of flights, including yours, are canceled or delayed. You're stuck for the night.

By STEVE HUETTEL

With thunderstorms tying up flights across the Midwest, David Dunlap had already switched airlines to get from Milwaukee to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

But his hopes of getting home that night sank when he reached the American Airlines gate. His flight, scheduled to arrive in Providence, R.I., at 11:30 p.m., wasn't even expected to leave until after midnight.

American didn't owe him anything. But Dunlap, a seasoned air warrior, knew to ask for a perk: Could he get a discount on a hotel room for the night?

The gate agent gave him a coupon with a phone number and a special code. Dunlap got a $49 room, about $100 off the standard rate, and another lesson in how to deal with airlines when planes run late or don't fly at all.

"They have discretion to do certain things," said Dunlap, who flies more than 100,000 miles a year as a manufacturer's sales manager and has homes in St. Petersburg and Newport, R.I. "If you have an idea that can short-cut their time working with you, they usually take it."

Your legal rights are limited when a flight is delayed or canceled, but airlines selectively give out perks to ease the pain.

Need to let someone know your flight's late? Some airlines provide phone cards for a three-minute call. Stuck at the airport through dinner time? You might get a meal voucher. Did a delay cost you a day of vacation? You could receive a discount coupon for a future flight.

The most important things to remember, travel experts and frequent fliers say, are to be politely insistent and to ask for something specific.

"You usually have to ask for it," said Sylvia MacVettie, owner of Travel Network Vacation Centers in Pasco County and president of the American Society of Travel Agents chapter for Central and North Florida. "The nicer you are, the further you'll get. Most things are at the discretion of the person behind the counter."

Two Tampa customers who bought a vacation package to Cancun called in a panic last month from Tampa International Airport when American told them the flight was canceled.

MacVettie's agency called the tour operator, which contacted American. The airline put them up in a hotel, provided dinner vouchers and flew them first class the next day, she said.

Each airline must file "conditions of carriage" with the U.S. Department of Transportation that spell out its legal obligations to customers when things go wrong.

Except for federal rules on how they handle bumping passengers from oversold flights, airlines can write the rules however they want, according to Terry Trippler, airline expert for travel Web site OneTravel.com

In practice, the major carriers have similar rules and exemptions. "They protect the airlines more than the passengers," Trippler said.

Your rights when a flight is delayed or canceled depend largely on what the airline says caused the problem.

If it's the airline's fault, such as a plane that broke down, the carrier generally must book you at no extra cost on the next flight with available space, even if the seat is on another carrier or in first class. The carriers also typically must provide a hotel room if you're stuck away from home for more than four hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

You're entitled to far less if the problem is a "force majeure event," which includes weather, strikes, labor disputes and a shortage of fuel or flight crews. In that case, the airlines generally are required only to refund your ticket.

Some carriers offer a little more. Under some circumstances, Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines have promised to provide a three-minute phone call and meals when a delay extends through a typical meal time.

Airlines acknowledge they let their gate and ticket agents go beyond the basic obligations when customers are seriously inconvenienced. But they don't spell out what consumers should expect for specific problems.

"We empower our people at the airport to make decisions in the best interest of customers under the circumstances," said David Castelveter, a spokesman for US Airways, the largest carrier at Tampa International.

Airlines use a pecking order when rescheduling customers on new flights. They typically put elderly people, children and passengers with medical conditions at the front of the line. They also take care of their most frequent fliers first.

Dunlap recalls when everyone had to get off a US Airways flight because a mechanical problem kept the plane from leaving the gate. Customer service agents handed him and a couple of other elite-level frequent fliers tickets for new flights as they stepped off the plane.

Last in line for help, travel experts say, are customers with the cheapest tickets. "You're a prisoner of the price you pay, unless you have some elite status," said Joe Brancatelli, a columnist for Web site BizTravel.com.

But there are things you can do to get a leg up, travel experts say.

Find out before you travel what other airlines fly to your destination. A ticket agent is more likely to get you on another flight if you can suggest an alternative route.

Before you stand in that long line at the ticket counter to rebook, call the airline reservations line or your travel agent and reserve a seat.

"You really need to pay attention to what's going on," said Dave Cox, a field marketing and sales consultant in Clearwater who is an elite flier on US Airways and Delta. "Otherwise, you'll be in line with 500 people trying to get on a plane that holds 250."

Your best chance for a freebie is to ask for something that doesn't cost the airline much, said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, a Washington group that represents airline passengers.

That includes meal vouchers, upgrade certificates for future trips and passes to an airline's airport club.

If you can't get satisfaction during the trip, write the airline's customer service or marketing departments. Ask for something specific, such as a discount coupon for a future trip. Some airlines automatically send them to frequent flier club members who get delayed.

"A $25 or $50 voucher is not that much to them, and not everyone uses them," said MacVettie, the travel agency owner.

The good news for travelers is that airlines don't seem to be experiencing the chronic flight delays and cancellations they did last summer.

Last July through September, nearly half the flights on United Airlines, whose pilots refused to fly overtime as they negotiated a new contract, were late by 15 minutes or more, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The downturn in business travel is a double-edged sword for passengers who run into delays, travel columnist Brancatelli said.

With more empty seats, they have a better chance of getting rebooked on another flight. But with most major airlines losing money after years of fat profits, they're likely to be stingier with perks for put-out customers.

"Airlines are cutting back on any expense," Brancatelli said. "That means there will be less freedom for gate and ticket agents to throw you a phone card or anything else."

- Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.

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