Rule 240 deals with airline delays, and, while it is not a law, most airlines have policies about this. Anyone travelling should know the Rule 240 policy of the airline they are flying on. Knowing it may save you money and time, and prevent a bad situation from getting worse. Has anyone from AP ever used it ?

"Rule 240 deals with the obligations that an airline has to a passenger when his/her flights cancel or delay, or connecting flights are missed due to the actions of the airline."

"What details might a Rule 240 include?
A Rule 240 may or may not include the following items:
meal vouchers
confirmation on the airline's next flight or on another airline
option to not travel and obtain a refund
hotel accommodation
ground transportation
phone calls" - airtravel.about.com

Various Aairlines' Policies about Rule 240

I've used it. 2 years ago I was flying (on USAir) to see the family at Thanksgiving, but had a ticket into an airport 1 hour west because it was cheaper. Well, the flight was overbooked, so rather than risk getting bumped I volunteered, and got a flight less than an hour later to an airport 1 hour east of where I was headed. Since it was less than an hour delay, I didn't get hotel, meal, or ground transport (wish I'd known about the phone, but I spent less than a dollar on that anyway), but I did get a free ticket to anywhere in the contiguous US that I used to treat myself to a short vacation the next summer.

Few hundred dollar's value for less than an hours delay... not half bad

A few years ago, when my flight was cancelled, I got food and hotel vouchers, plus got bumped up to first class.

Flight get cancelled due to weather? Go straight to the counter and get hotel vouchers/discounts immediately and then book the hotel right away. The hotel vouchers don't always cover all the cost of the hotel but the ones I have gotten have been ridiculously cheap and worth the $20 to $40 to not have to gamble and take the risk of sleeping in the airport. You can get an opportunity to stay at a hotel far above your regular budget this way so it's not always a losing proposition.

Travel vouchers are great and if you have a slightly flexible schedule it's great to let the counter know right away so that they don't even ask others... it's much easier for them to just call you out and ask if you can take the next flight. Then you get the voucher for a free ticket or $200 and get to your destination slightly later.

I think most people will buy the cheapest ticket possible at the time of purchase and deal with the fallout if there are problems, but being the first to ask for your included benefits is really important.

I wish I had known! I would have asked for extras, like transportation vouchers on the ground. My 8:30 flight was cancelled, so I took a shuttle to Kennedy at 11 AM, then had to wait there for a 1:30 AM flight to Tampa. What should I have asked for? I should make them pay for my limo, no? Can I ask for reimbursement after the fact?

The pain is that you won't have much luck after the fact unless you write a very nice but disappointed letter to the appropriate party in customer relations explaining your inconvenience in detail. I once got a free ticket because we were delayed with a fuel leak on a flight to Seattle. We complained when we returned home by way of a letter and American West gave each of our party of 6 a voucher for a free ticket in the US. That delay was 8 hours sitting in Sioux City... a pretty inconvenient place to have a delay but better than exploding mid-air I suppose.

It never hurts to try, but in the future go to the counter and see if they can provide you with free service - most airlines have some kind of shuttle service available. They aren't likely to just give a voucher as they would want to use their preferred vendors for free transport. They might appease you with a discounted air-fare or something of the kind... it is worth the time it takes to write a letter.

Every airline has a rule '240' -- but not every airline calls it Rule 240

For example, if you check on Delta Air Lines' domestic contract of carriage, you'll find something called Rule 240 that promises the airline "will exercise reasonable efforts to carry you and your baggage according to Delta's published schedules and the schedule reflected on your ticket." But if you're flying internationally, Delta has no Rule 240. Instead, the 240 provisions are contained in rules 80, 87 and 95 of its international contract.

American Airlines calls its "240" Rule 18, Continental Airlines refers to it as Rule 24 (very clever, dropping the zero) while US Airways refers to its 240 as section X. Before your flight, I recommend printing your airline contract -- you can find links to every major airline's contract on my site -- and referring to it if something goes wrong. Don't invoke Rule 240, even if your airline has one. It will make you sound like a whiny, high-maintenance passenger. Instead, politely refer to your contract of carriage or conditions of carriage if you need to argue for compensation, and be extra polite. Civility often counts for more than being right.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/traveltips/03/12/rule.240/index.html