I admit it: I never thought being a business traveler meant needing expertise in transatlantic wind patterns or vulcanology. I don't speak Icelandic. I can't pronounce Eyjafjallajokull. And I'm annoyed that I couldn't fly to London last Sunday even though folks at British Airways Terminal 7 at New York's Kennedy Airport were boarding an Icelandic flight to Reykjavik.

The cosmic joke that placed Keflavik International Airport to the west of the volcano and thus out of the path of Eyjafjallajokull's engine-killing plume of glass, sand, and ash is one of the many things frequent flyers couldn't control about this extraordinary travel situation. But I reject the notion that we were helpless or that this was an eventuality for which a business traveler logically could have been prepared.

Business flyers could have and should have done better. There is no reason that any of us should be caught off-guard by a volcano, a strike, a snowstorm, or even a single flight cancellation. In fact, the planning you should do—the planning you must do—is within your control. You might not be able to outwit a volcano, but you should be comfortable while you're waiting to outfly it.

So here are strategies for the next time a vowel-challenged magma dispenser, a wonky aircraft, or simply a blown connection disrupts your travel schedule.

Your Phone Is Your Data Center

In a crisis, it's harder to make alternate arrangements if you have to start by finding phone numbers and Web addresses for your preferred travel providers. Instead, make sure the customer service and/or reservation numbers and URLs of your go-to airlines, hotels, car-rental firms, and travel planners are programmed into your mobile device. It takes a few seconds of advance effort, but saves untold hours in a travel emergency.

Do Your Homework Before You Go

I continue to be amazed by how naive even sophisticated travelers can sometimes be. Why are you headed off on a trip without knowing a good deal about your destination? Before you go, make sure you have researched hotel options at the airport, the car-rental firms located there, and whether public transportation options exist. It's not hard. All the information is freely available on the Web or from your travel planner. A few minutes of prep could save you hours or days of discomfort.

Know Your Alternatives

A simple trip between New York and Los Angeles or Dallas and Chicago may not require a Plan B. But the more complicated your flight itinerary, the more you should plot alternate ways to make your journey. A perfect example: When the volcano began spewing ash, one traveler I know had reservations on a Tel Aviv-Amsterdam-Lyons routing operated by KLM. When Amsterdam closed, she switched to Alitalia because she knew she could book a Tel Aviv-Rome-Nice itinerary. She then took a train from Nice to Lyons. If you know alternate ways to travel before a crisis hits, you can move more quickly when and if things go wrong. And you may beat someone else to the last available seat.

Find Your Own Bed and Board

If your travel is disrupted mid-journey, airlines are generally responsible for arranging accommodations until they can get you to the end point of your itinerary. And in fairness to the carriers, they have shelled out untold millions in recent days putting up stranded flyers. But waiting for the airlines to get you a hotel room almost always requires an hours-long wait while they arrange lodging vouchers and ground transportation. I say forget the vouchers and make your own accommodations. Keep your receipts and argue with the airlines later over reimbursement. And I practice what I preach: Several years ago, during a Delta Air Lines flight disruption in Cincinnati, I eschewed the voucher queue, booked a room at a nearby Courtyard by Marriott, and took a cab to the hotel. I showered, relaxed for several hours, and then had a leisurely meal. As I was returning from dinner, I saw several dozen bedraggled flyers arrive in the lobby, Delta-issued vouchers in hand. They'd been waiting in line at the airport while I'd been having a relatively trouble-free afternoon.