(CNN) -- The arctic weather just keeps pounding people on the move.

Here are some tips to ease the trip home, but above all else, patience -- and caution -- will be key.

Rebook your flight for free. Airlines rolled out their customary winter weather waivers this week, so most passengers traveling to, from or through affected areas can make one itinerary change without paying a change fee. Delta, American, US Airways, United, Southwest/AirTran and JetBlue have all posted weather policies on their websites.

Act quickly. Rebook your itinerary as soon as possible. Other passengers are snapping up open seats as you mull over a new itinerary. Be sure that your airline has your e-mail address and phone number, advises Rick Seaney, CEO of airfare tracker FareCompare.com. If you didn't provide this information when you purchased the ticket, go online and add it.

Follow your airline and airport on social media. Many airlines and airports post the speediest updates to their Twitter feeds, so start following them now. Sign up for airline alerts to get flight updates e-mailed to your smartphone.

If you're stranded, multitask. Get online, get on the phone and get in the ticketing line (if you're already at the airport). With thousands of flights delayed or canceled, competition will be fierce for seats when operations start humming again. Get airline apps for your phone and try to contact your airline on Twitter, Seaney suggests.

Elite fliers should use their loyalty program hot lines and head to frequent flier lounges for better access to airline reps. "This might be the time to spring for a lounge day-pass just to gain access to these folks," Seaney wrote in an e-mail.

Use the Next Flight app and type in your city pair to get the next flights for the major airlines, suggests Benet J. Wilson, Aviation Queen travel blogger. Then, call the airline on your cell phone and give them your preferred options.

Charge your devices. Hopefully, you're not among those travelers stranded at the airport, where jockeying for electrical outlets is inevitable. Charge up before you head out, and keep a car charger and a power pack or a few battery chargers for your portable electronic devices handy.

Check your flight, no matter where you're going. Think you don't have to worry about bad weather because you're flying from sunny California to sunny Florida? Not so fast.

"Because airlines operate networks, a storm affects not only flights in its immediate location but even those in far-removed locations not affected by the storm," said Cynthia Barnhart, an MIT engineering professor who teaches airline schedule planning.

Check your aircraft's journey on your airline website or with an app like Flight view.

Don't be a jerk. "The airline representatives did not make it snow," Seaney reminds travelers. "We've heard many anecdotal stories over the years from airline representatives who tell us it's a lot easier to find a good flight for a pleasant passenger than for one who is screaming at you."

Use common sense: Don't drive into a storm. It's treacherous out there. Monitor your local and regional forecasts, and don't drive if you don't have to.

AAA advises motorists to check tire pressure and make sure car batteries, cooling systems and antifreeze levels are in order. Keep gas tanks close to full, the automobile association advises, so that you'll be able to run the engine for heat in case you get stranded.

AAA suggests keeping the following items in your car: a shovel and a bag of sand, a snowbrush and ice scraper, jumper cables, a spare tire, windshield wiper fluid, a cell phone and car charger and blankets, gloves, hats and food, water and essential medication.

http://www.skynews.com.au/businessnews/article.aspx?id=912230

Tokyo investors will stay focused on the US government shutdown next week, as fears grow it could lead to a devastating debt default and strike a huge blow to the global economy.

The Nikkei's 0.94 per cent slip on Friday to a one-month low ended a week that saw the benchmark index lose 4.98 per cent, or 735.76 points, to 14,024.31, as the political deadlock in Washington dominated headlines.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares fell 4.41 per cent, or 53.70 points, over the week to 1,163.82.

'Players will keep an eye on the US budget stand-off next week,' said Kenzaburo Suwa, strategist with Okasan Securities.

'But we may see an early end to the impasse as (President Barack) Obama appears serious by cancelling key conferences overseas,' Suwa added.

Obama axed plans to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bali and the East Asia Summit in Brunei next week, blaming political paralysis in Washington for the cancellation.

While the shutdown has fuelled jitters among investors, analysts have generally expressed even deeper concerns about the October 17 deadline to raise the US debt ceiling.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde warned on Thursday that a US failure to raise the borrowing limit could wreak havoc on the global economy, while the Treasury Department said a default could have a 'catastrophic' effect.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended 0.90 per cent lower on Thursday.

'The deleterious effects of the US government shutdown are already being felt,' SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi told Dow Jones Newswires.

'The deadlock looks as intractable as ever, and investors are continuing to pull funds out of the dollar and risk assets as a precaution,' he said.

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso on Friday urged Washington to resolve the budget crisis, warning it could seriously damage the global economy.

'My feeling is ... the debt limit will have an internationally significant impact. Unless it is resolved swiftly, we will see various consequences,' he told reporters in Tokyo.

The situation was likely to stoke more buying of the safe-haven yen, Aso added, pushing up the unit's value. A strong yen is bad for Japanese exporters as it makes them less competitive overseas and shrinks the value of their repatriated overseas income.

On Friday, the US dollar was at Y97.12, down from Y97.27 in New York, where the greenback temporarily fell below the Y97 mark on Thursday.

'Market players will also focus on foreign exchange rates next week as the current risk-averse sentiment is likely to shift fund flows to the yen,' said Suwa at Okasan Securities.

In Tokyo share trading on Friday, Toyota fell 1.12 per cent to Y6,180 from the previous day, while Sony lost 1.75 per cent to Y2,017.

Tokyo Electric Power dropped 4.34 per cent to Y528 after Japan's atomic watchdog summoned its boss for a public dressing down over sloppy standards at its crippled Fukushima plant.

Mobile carrier SoftBank was down 3.45 per cent at Y7,270 on profit-taking after a 15 per cent rally in the past week.