Kudos to Northwest
My flight from LaGuardia to Detroit (NW 1195) was delayed due to bad weather. It was my connecting flight back to Japan, so I ended up missing my flight from Detroit to Tokyo(NW11 or perhaps NW25 - there was some confusion). At Detroit, the Northwest folks got me to an alternate flight, to Nagoya instead of Narita (Tokyo), and the plane was just about to begin rolling along when they opened the door and let me in . I was running all the way, so I didn't even get to ask what sort of options they would be providing, if at all, once I reached Nagoya.
I was supposed to get to Tokyo on the 21st evening, catch a night's sleep in my apartment, and then fly again the very next morning, beginning Sabbatical Leg 3 (Chennai, India). Had they not put me onto the Nagoya-bound flight (NW71), I'd have missed my flight to India for sure. But here I am now, in a train bound for the JR Nagoya station, with a reimbursement-promised Shinkansen (Bullet-train) printed schedule in my hand. They were waiting for me soon as I arrived at Nagoya and informed me that Northwest would pay for my Shinkansen ride back to Tokyo.
So, instead to arriving at Narita and taking a train to Tokyo, I ended up arriving at Nagoya and taking a (slightly faster) train to Tokyo!
Anyway, they were really sweet and efficient about the whole thing. I'm glad to be home.