Nasty, nasty weather over parts of the South today.

In fact it got so bad, that the folks at the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport said their Emergency Operation Center will be active through the night to assist passengers stranded by the powerful thunderstorms.

Actually, being stranded at an airport is precisely what I talk about in my latest column for ABCNews.com. Plus, I’ve got some great links for you! Keep reading for more…

This is a myth I’ve busted again and again, but it keeps turning up in travel sites that ought to know better.

The latest reference is from a post explaining how never to get “screwed” (their word) by a cancelled flight again. How? By invoking “Rule 240″ because it means “your airline must book you on another airline’s flight if that is available and will get you to your destination quicker.”

Sigh. Chances are, it won’t work. Let me repeat: IT WON’T WORK.

And for a very good reason. Click “more” to find out what it is, and what your REAL rights are (hint: there aren’t many).

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.

First of all, you have to see this priceless video of Grumpy Santa in the snow. Turns out this is one Jolly Old Elf who hates the stuff!

Or maybe it’s just because he’s been temporarily grounded; read all about his adventures in Boston, and his trip on the train right here.

And don’t forget to enter our contest: if you correctly answer the question, “How Much Did Santa’s AirFare Cost?” you win a free round-trip flight.

And you’re always a winner, when you sign up for FareCompare’s free Email Alerts; that’s how you learn about the cheapest airfare before anyone else. Promise.

Just a couple of days ago, Graeme, the CTO of FareCompare.com, was held up by a delayed flight in Denver (overnighted on his way to Durango). And just today, my wife was delayed and canceled 3-times to Phoenix from Dallas. Well, the more you fly, the more you get delayed, right? Not always.

Grumpy Santa has been traveling from dawn to near-midnight for about 3-days now, and he has yet to experience a delay of any consequence.

Moral of the story: when it comes to delays, you just never know.

I hope all continues to go well for our indomitable Santa; I have my fingers crossed, but the weather in the mid-section of the country hasn’t been looking so good lately…

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

Well, most of us dodged a bullet last week, despite doom-and-gloom predictions; Thanksgiving travel seemed to go off without a hitch, as travel writer Chris Elliott pointed out in a post called, “Oh, never mind!”

But most of us (including yours truly) weren’t crying wolf. We were pointing out what COULD have happened. And I think, on some level, we may have helped prevent an apocalyptic scenario.