Christopher Elliott Travel columnist • Profile • E-mail

Talk about adding insult to injury.

When a natural disaster strikes — like the recent earthquake in China or Myanmar’s devastating cyclone — travel companies like to play the God card. Unless everyone is looking.

The God card — technically, the Act of God clause, a legal term for, “circumstances beyond our control” — basically means your airline, cruise line or hotel owes you nothing. After all, the tragedy wasn’t their fault.

Miss your flight? Sorry, nothing we can do about that hurricane. Couldn’t get to the port on time because of a wildfire? Hey, don’t look at us — we’re not arsonists. Couldn’t make it to the hotel because your house was flattened by a tornado? Not our problem, and oh, P.S., you still owe us for the room.

That’s what happened to Carol Knight when she prepaid for her hotel in Key Largo, Fla., recently. As it turns out, a hurricane had made similar plans, and the storm forced the resort to cancel her reservation. She believed she would get a refund. “I was given a cancellation number,” she remembers.

But Knight didn’t get her money back, and a dispute with her credit card failed to recover the $721 she’d been billed for a nonexistent vacation. Fortunately, I was able to help her get a refund with an assist from her travel agent.

When a natural disaster strikes, a happy ending like Knight’s is unusual. After having the God card played on them, travelers are often left to fend for themselves. Perhaps the only exception is when everyone is paying attention to the tragedy. During a major disaster, when TV cameras are pointed at the carnage, airlines sometimes issue exceptions to their onerous ticket change rules.

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If it weren’t for the catastrophic loss of life that led to this action, it might be amusing to watch the process unfold. One airline will issue a statement promising to waive certain fees, and then the other carriers will pull a “me-too” by either bending some of their rules or sweetening the offer. And then, the moment the tragedy is out of the public eye, airlines quietly delete these exceptions from their Web sites, lest anyone think they might ever set aside to their strict and customer-hostile policies again. (I should note some prominent exceptions, including American Airlines, which publishes a blanket hurricane policy on its site — permanently.)

Generally, hotels are equally insensitive. No surprise there. They’re in the business of making money from their rooms, and when the inn is closed, they’re earning diddly-squat. They’re going to try to keep your money, and yes, they’ll play the God card if they can.

As a traveler, your goal must be to stop them from invoking the “Act of God” clause and to start acting responsibly. Here’s how to navigate the dangerous and uncertain waters of a natural disaster:

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