Our Dallas-based website, FareCompare.com is still up, but a brutal, fast-moving storm has left 160,000 others in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area without power.

Hurricane-strength winds ripped doors and roofs off buildings, knocked over trees and power poles, and snarled the morning commute.

Our office has no power, expected to be restored later today.

We have not heard of any injuries from this storm, and for this we are grateful.

We’re quick to tell you when airlines don’t live up to our expectations, so I feel it’s my duty to tell you when they exceed them.

On Tuesday, during incredible storms in Northern Texas, American had the good sense to cancel their flights — with the result that about 100,000 passengers were stuck or diverted at the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport. But, by the next day, most were on their way home.

Good sense? To cancel flights? Yes. Let me tell you about it.

This goes back to Dec. 29, 2006, when a terrible storm hit Dallas. Two American Airlines flights heading there were diverted to Austin, where they sat on the tarmac.

Kate Hanni of Napa, California says her plane sat for more than 9-hours and during all this time, no one was allowed off.

Hanni called this “false imprisonment”, and says passengers suffered hunger, thirst and overflowing toilets. She and another passenger have now filed lawsuits against American.

If Hanni’s name sounds familiar, it’s because she heads the Airline Passengers’ Coalition for a Bill of Rights (here’s her website).

As for American Airlines, there was no immediate comment.

Interesting tidbit from the Washington Post about airline ticket & trip insurance, and a good reminder for us all.

It tells the story of a vacationing family that had to flee a hurricane, only to find out that the trip insurance they thoughtfully took out, didn’t cover their losses.

Read the fine print, everyone. And I’m reminding myself, as well.

We saw some terrible weather this past weekend, and hundreds of flights were cancelled at O’Hare and Milwaukee, while Des Moine’s airport was shut down altogether for several hours.

How to beat the odds this upcoming holiday time? Here’s a quick checklist:

• If you haven’t purchased your tickets, do so now!
• Try to fly non-stop
• If you must make stops/change planes, try to plan for stops in “warm weather” cities
• Don’t check your bag; airlines can’t “misplace” your carryon
• Bring food, and, a diversion (a book, a video, an iPod, a puzzle); you could be waiting awhile
• Make sure all batteries (for laptop, phone, music player, etc.) are fully charged