United, Continental and your frequent flier miles

As winter weather snarls more and more travel plans, passengers separate into a few camps: Those who proactively rebook before a flight is officially cancelled, those who rebook as soon as a flight is called off, and those who roll the dice, waiting for other cancellations to open up a short-notice seat. When my mom was stranded in New York during last month's blizzard, she opted for the latter strategy, which worked for her in that particular instance. Her original flight was for Tuesday morning, and when it was cancelled, the airline rep quoted a Thursday-night departure as her earliest rebooking option. With a strong college-football-playoff-related reason to hustle home, she rode the phones, hoping to get lucky, and scored a seat on a Wednesday afternoon flight. But things could have easily gone another way—and not everyone wants to spend hours on hold waiting for customer service to pick up. We want to know your tried-and-true snowy-travel strategies (or lessons learned the hard way)—post them in the comments below, and check out our guide to your rights to cancellation compensation.

It's time to get your hands dirty: In an upcoming Trip Coach column, we're digging into farmstay vacations. As always, we want to hear from you first so we can put together a story that'll address all of your questions and concerns. If you've ever had questions big or small regarding farmstays, farm visits, or agritourism operations of any kind, now's the time to ask. You might be wondering: What are the best resources for finding and evaluating farmstays? Do guests really have to do chores? What kind? How "hands-on" are the activities? What happens if I don't want to milk a cow? What kind of lodging can guests expect? Are certain farms better than others for families? Or couples? Or solo travelers? Are certain parts of the world more likely to have farms that welcome travelers? How much do farmstays cost? Is it cheaper if guests work in the fields or tend to the animals? Now's your turn. Fire away with any questions you have about farmstays, and we'll do our best to answer your most pressing concerns in an upcoming issue of Budget Travel. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: A Farmstay in St. Croix The Farm Stay: Perfect for Families with Young Kids Farm Tours Where You Can Pitch In

Let's say you arrive late at night in a major city and you unexpectedly need to book a hotel on the spot. Last-minute rates for hotels can be sky-high, and finding a cafe to do a half-an-hour's worth of Internet searching isn't practical. A (promising) new solution to this problem is Hotel Tonight, an app for buying a bargin hotel room at the 11th-hour for one night. So far, its deals are as impressive as Expedia's, Priceline's, and Hotwire's, and the app is easy to use. Hotel Tonight lets you search in three categories of hotel: basic, hip, or elegant. Reserve rooms on the same day from early afternoon until 2 a.m. in the wee hours, local time. Annoyingly, Hotel Tonight has piled on the "members' only" trend, pioneered by Jetsetter, and you have to "become a member" by filling out an online form. That means a lot of tapping on your phone just to get that first hotel stay. (About 80 taps, according to a company exec.) On the bright side, "membership" is free and quickly granted, and you receive a virtual coupon worth $10 off your first booking. Once you've joined, it's superquick to book a hotel, and prices include all taxes and fees—so there's no surprises at on checkout. Once you're set up, the app is more attractive to use than Priceline's, whose bidding process takes too long at the last-minute. Besides, when you are booking on the same day, you probably don't like the uncertainty of not knowing which hotel Priceline might book you in until your bid is accepted. Hotel Tonight is a surer bet, and less confusing to use on this score. A downside, though, at least for now: Hotel Tonight only covers hotels in New York City, San Francisco, and L.A. Most people aren't stuck in those cities needing a hotel at the last minute often enough for them to go through the long process of becoming a member of this app. But I bet the app will improve its coverage with time. The other downside is that this app is only available as an app for iPhones, iPads, and the like. I'm sure that will change, too. The company is a sister of DealBase, which we've praised in our Extra Mile Awards. It does a good job of vetting hotels: Staff members have stayed in the properties and have written up brief reviews. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Extra Mile Awards Priceline's new app is best for last-minute hotel bids Quiz: Can you spot the travel rip-off?