What happens when the dream trip goes wrong? If you are on a flight that is delayed, are you a delayed passenger with a premium ticket or simply sponger with a "freebie"? Interpretations vary and the attitude of the airline folk, bipolar at the best of times, swings wildly.

Oddly, I was offered a curious choice when delayed by bmi on a Glasgow Montreal flight recently. Booked on a circuitous but comfortable route, via Manchester and Washington to Montreal, the Glasgow /Manchester flight was delayed to a point that I could not continue to the United States.

"Your ticket has no value," I was told, although they were prepared to reroute me at their expense in the Squishy Zone on either KLM and British Airways, both "The Enemy" as far as Aeroplan was concerned.