At baggage check-in for a flight on United from Newark airport in November ’06, the agent was being “efficient” by printing out two or three sets of baggage tags at once, then summoning the travelers one by one. She asked for picture I.D. of the person next to us, looked at the I.D. (a passport) and then proceeded to attach our luggage tags to that person’s bag, thumping it down on the moving belt.

My wife, watching closely, said, “Is that our bag?”

The agent turned around,...

We flew out of San Francisco on Oct. 11, 2006, destined to board the Pacific Princess in Cape Town, South Africa, for a 29-day voyage across the Indian Ocean ending in Australia. After arriving in Frankfurt, Germany, for the last leg of our flight, with Lufthansa, the airline ramp agent denied us entry onto the plane because we each did not have one completely blank visa page in our passports.

We were informed that South African Immigration requires one whole blank visa page. We had...

My wife, Betty, and I flew Air India from Los Angeles to New Delhi on Jan. 25, 2006, and returned on Feb. 15, 2006. Wanting to apply to their frequent-flyer program so we could get credit for air-miles with Air India and/or their partners, I asked on the plane for an application. They said they didn’t have any but usually do and to ask at their check-in desk when we stopped in Frankfurt, Germany. I did and was told, “Ask on the plane to New Delhi.” Again, they said they had none (though they...