Travel: Distress flair

SHOULD you be obliged to stay overnight at an airport, do not attempt to hide your distress. I was on standby at Atlanta for a succession of flights to Chicago, all of which were full. When the last one disappeared into the night, the gate agent - by now quite a pal - took me aside to advise: 'Go to the ticket desk, tell them you're a Distressed Passenger and they'll find you a cheap room.' I felt a fraud: I was by then a bit cross, but perfectly dry-eyed. However, I was given a card asserting I was a 'D P', entitled to a dollars 30 (pounds 20) motel room - about half the usual rate. Are there similar tricks that do not require bursting into tears?