The airline landscape may be in a state of accelerated disarray, but let's start with some good news. Despite the airport mess, with fewer flights, more bumping, delays and cancellations, at least hotel rates in Hawaii and Florida are lower by 20 percent over last year. The cut in airlines service meant that this was the first time since 2003 that occupancy rates have dropped. And similar drops are now happening in Palm Springs and Phoenix.

The real silver lining may be found in redeeming those nearly impossible-to-use frequent flyer miles on overseas flights. Under deregulation in the U.S., it's easy to cancel domestic flights and routes. But on overseas routes, it's quite different. Because of bilateral agreements between countries and competition for popular (and lucrative) foreign routes, airlines can't just cancel flights. They'll lose the routes. As a result, for a limited time this fall and winter before the Christmas holidays, there may be up to 60 percent of seats available. This is the first time in recent memory that you can actually redeem those points for flights to international cities. Act between now and December 17th to cash in those miles and you might be pleasantly surprised.

Thanksgiving is the most heavily traveled holiday of the year. Planes will be even more crowded, and fares are soaring. But the week after Thanksgiving is called the "dead week" in the travel industry. Fares drop significantly the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. So if you can delay Thanksgiving by a week, you'll save hundreds—and families can easily save thousands—of dollars.

Crews usually spend the night at the airport and arrive at the aircraft on-time and refreshed. You'll need to haul yourself out of bed early in the morning, but it's worth it.

You'll minimize your chances of being bumped. Remember, in those situations, the airlines' only responsibility is to offer a refund without penalty, or reschedule you on another of their flights. But "rescheduled" flights can get you hop-scotching around the country in an itinerary of their choosing.

Whenever possible, buy a travel package, since tour operators block-book space on flights that may not show as available on other websites or through the airlines themselves. Yes, packages can be a bit ordinary, but you can certainly get luxury ones.

Airlines price non-stop flights for business travelers who must arrive somewhere quickly. Instead, book connecting flights that go through major hubs. Give yourself at least two hours to connect—no matter what the airline offers as a shorter "legal" connection time—and be prepared to take advantage of the hubs' many options in case something goes wrong.

Not just in the hours before you take off, but before you even make your reservation. Flightstats.com offers a historical picture of the yearly on-time performance of every scheduled flight. If a flight is late 96 percent of the time, try another flight or airline.

Yes, you've heard it before, but here's a rule of thumb: On flights that are less than 400 miles, trains and buses can be economically viable alternatives to flying. Example: A recent trip from Albany to New York City cost $44 on a beautiful train ride down the Hudson—and the train beat the $460-ticket plane by 22 minutes.