Few years ago, if an airline were to tell you that all their flights through western Europe would be cancelled for a week because a volcano in Iceland had begun to spew ash or perhaps that their cabin crew had threatened to go on strike for the greater part of a month, you'd probably shake your head in disbelief. In fact, you may even be forgiven for trying to spot a hidden camera.

If the past two years have taught us anything, it's that there's no such thing as the impossible and that you can never be too prepared.

Of course, you can't be expected to carry an inflatable raft when you're holidaying in France on the off chance that there may be no flights across the English Channel, but you can do a few simple things to prepare yourself in the event that your holiday does go awry:

Get insured

I can't emphasise this enough and yet most people only ever choose travel insurance out of compulsion – usually because they can't apply for a visa without it. It's hard to see the rationale behind spending an extra odd Dh100 when you're trying to squeeze every last dime into that dream holiday, but for as little as the tip on your dinner bill each evening, most premium travel insurance policies offer you quicker remedies in the event of unforeseen cancellations, medical emergencies, lost luggage and so much more.

Stay up to date

Airlines such as Jet Blue have been setting the pace for social media engagement with travellers for months now, and so have dozens of other airlines and hotels looking to build loyalty. However, the ash cloud crisis of 2010 proved to be a defining moment for organisations that are usually far from the usual limelight that airlines and hotels enjoy. Airports such as Heathrow and organisations like the EU stepped up to the plate and shared information with the thousands of travellers stranded in airports across Europe in real time over Twitter.

Travellers who followed these airports and organisations received news at least minutes, if not hours, before most of those updates even made it to the airline websites and airport notice boards.

Hooking even the most rudimentary of today's mobile phones to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter barely takes a few minutes.

You may need to check if your phone and service provider offer you mobile internet connectivity, but in a moment of crisis those minutes between a live and delayed update can mean the difference between being at the head or tail of the re-booking queue when you find out that your airlines are being restored.

Know your rights

Most people have never even heard of their airline's conditions of carriage, let alone the Warsaw Convention on airline passenger rights. And you'll be forgiven for it, because e-tickets rarely even mention it these days. What's important to remember though is that you are entitled to certain rights when you book a flight, especially if it's a return or connecting flight. You can't be expected to remember all of them, so in a moment of crisis, there's no shame in going straight up to the manager on the ground and asking them what your rights are.

If you're delayed beyond a reasonable few hours, most airline rights will entitle you to some form of refreshment. If you're delayed beyond that, most airlines are obliged to provide you with some form of accommodation – if not out of courtesy or obligation, at least to avoid a conflict at the airport. It's important to note though, that these rights differ from airline to airline. Low-cost airlines, for example, may not be obliged to do this if your tickets are offered on a point-to-point basis or if you perhaps waived your right to such claims.

Explore new alternatives

It may not seem like a great idea to hop on to a train to catch a flight from Europe to the Middle East from Barcelona if you're stranded in Paris, but ingenuity sometimes pays off. If you need to be somewhere as a matter of urgency and don't see light at the end of the tunnel with your airline, you may want to begin looking at other transportation alternatives. Perhaps book a train at the first sign of a prolonged delay. It may not have the in-flight entertainment system you'd hoped for, but most of today's trains are far more comfortable than their airline counterparts and you won't have to put up with the passenger in front of you reclining their seat all the way to your knees.

Check before you heed advice

In times of crisis, the biggest problem often isn't finding a solution. It's the dilemma over which solution you should choose, with everyone from the government to the local tabloid having their say on the matter. For example, most people who heeded their government's advice to board ferries across the English Channel at the time of the first ash cloud incident still face the prospect of never being compen-sated for their trip to, and stay in Calais. It's always great to explore out of the box alternatives, but if you expect to be compensated for your efforts, be sure to check beforehand and receive a written statement if it isn't already provided somewhere in writing.

- Albert Dias is the co-founder and Technology-Marketing head of UAE's premium travel website Musafir.com. The views expressed here are his own