Having a plan B is a good thing, however, not all case scenarios have much else other than. Like one flight per day going out of Merida Mexico for instance. Ok, so you know other flight from other airlines go out too. So now you must find a ticket counter that will sell you the other airline ticket. And you can go overboard too buying up backup tickets. They take a long time to get the money back on them too. Cross that bridge when you get to it. But try to have your flight well planned out. Don't like go when there is alot of overbooked people. I remember trying to get out of Little Rock one time, and it was coming down to the last flight of the day. Things were very tight. I went to the bar and had a plan b. I had a glass of beer, and was contemplating renting a car to drive to Houston. I calculated roughly 8 hour drive. I also knew that another guy was trying to get on too, and he would have probably been a good candidate to split the cost. But at the end, we both made the flight. I called the rental joint and told them to cancel me.