Q. Is Heathrow the only international airport that prohibits you from carrying more than one bag onto a plane? Even if your one piece of carry-on luggage is accompanied by nothing more than a tiny purse (let alone a normal-sized briefcase) they make you check your bag. It seems outrageous.  

A. London's Heathrow Airport does not have a rule limiting carry-on bags to one item per person, although it did at one time as a result of heightened security measures. However, your airline can impose its own limits (both on the number of items and on their size and weight) and perhaps that is what you experienced. Many airlines now weigh carry-on bags at check in (or even at the gate) and have maximum weight restrictions as little as 10 or 12 kilograms (or 25 pounds or less). I recently flew on an Airbus A380 and noticed a warning on the overhead bin that the maximum weight for the bin was 50 kg, so perhaps that's the reason for weight limits (maybe the overhead bin would break or fail to operate properly if there were too many heavy bags).

Q. I read that I could get 50,000 frequent flyer miles for opening a new Fidelity Investments account of $100,000 but I cannot find that deal mentioned anywhere online. Do other banks have similar deals?

A. United, American and Delta Airlines offer up to 50,000 frequent flyer miles when you open and fund a nonretirement account at Fidelity Investments of $100,000 or more; or 25,000 miles for an account worth $50,000 or more; or 15,000 miles for an account worth $25,000 or more. US Airways offers up to 25,000 miles for investing $50,000 or more in a TD Ameritrade brokerage account. To find links to these offers, simply web-search "[airline] + Fidelity Investments" or "US Airways Dividend Miles + TD Ameritrade."

Q. If traveling with a small pet under the seat in a pet container are there any charges for the pet and, if not, is the pet and its container considered your carry on or are you allowed one carry on along with the pet?

A. Airlines do indeed charge a fee for pets carried in the cabin, and the fee varies between airlines. United Airlines, for example, charges $125 each way. Southwest charges $75 each way. You can easily find the fee for your airline by web-searching "[airline] + pet fee." Airlines limit the number of pets per cabin, so you should reserve a spot for your little buddy by phone at the same time you book your own flight. Make sure that your pet's container is small enough to fit in the seat in front of you (and that you don't book a bulk head seat, which won't have under seat storage). And unfortunately, your pet's container does count as your one carry on piece. The above information applies to domestic U.S. flights; fees and regulations may vary for international travel so check with your airline before booking your trip, and these fees and policies are subject change without notice.

Q. I noticed that CheapAir.com scrapped their "my dates are flexible" search feature. Do you recommend another site that is similar to CheapAir with a flex date search? Why would CheapAir.com get rid of their flex search? Please advise.

A. CheapAir says they will re-launch their 360 flexible date search in the next few weeks. No other site currently does a full year's flexible date search. Travelocity used to, but owing to new DOT tax-included rules they disabled it. Hopefully they'll re-introduce it soon.

Q. I plan to fly with my 16-month-old twins. Do they need a reservation? How do I make sure they can fly with me when I reserve a ticket for my husband and myself?

A. If traveling domestically, your infants, because they're under two years old, do not need to buy a separate fare and you don't need to inform your airline beforehand that they'll be traveling with you. They can be considered lap children, which means they must sit in your laps for the entire flight. While this is "legal," you should consider that modern jetliners take off and land at high speeds (80-100 miles per hour or more), and they can decelerate just as quickly. You wouldn't put a baby in your lap while driving your own car, even if traveling just 15 or 20 miles per hour (in fact, it's illegal); you'd put them in a car seat. So I really don't recommend seating your children in a speeding jet airplane in any other way. If the plane stops suddenly, your child will become a projectile, and infants have indeed been injured in such circumstances, and also during extreme turbulence. Also, it's incredibly uncomfortable having a baby in your lap on a long flight. Keep in mind that if you're traveling internationally, you'll generally be required to pay ten percent of the applicable adult fare for your lap children (even if you're flying on a frequent flyer ticket), so you'll need to inform your airline that they'll be flying with you when you buy your own fare.

Q. I believe Virgin America is on a slippery slope right now. Since switching their reservations system, service has been, awful. It's been some time now since the switch and yet the problems are apparently not resolving. My personal experience: It took me three tries to book a one-way reward flight, including intervention by customer service when the website hung up at "pending". The first call I made I had to abandon 20 minutes into waiting, the second attempt was met with an automated "we're sorry but we can't accept your call because we're so busy; please try later," and the third reached a person after roughly 30 minutes. What's going on here?

A. Virgin America acknowledges that their reservation system has had some messy problems and they're working on it. Hopefully it'll be fixed by the time you read this. But if not, or even if it is fixed, unless you're booking award travel, you might consider calling a travel agent next time--Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity or a local agency. Hold time, most likely, will be far less. Agents can ticket flights, change flights, rebook you if there's a cancelation or delay, and assign seats. Although many people now prefer booking directly with the airlines, real live travel agents have survived, in the age of the Internet, for a reason.

Q. I'm thinking of flying from Toronto to Italy. I live in Michigan, about a six-hour drive from Toronto, but the fare from Michigan is $1,450 round-trip whereas it's $887 departing from Toronto.  I've been across the Canadian border many times and never had a problem. Is their something that I should be concerned about that I'm not considering?

A. Wow, that's pretty unusual, because normally fares to Europe from Canada are more expensive than from the U.S. However, there are a couple of discount Canadian airlines, such as Air Transat that do sometimes offer amazing bargains, especially at the last minute. It really depends on when you're flying. Checking fares from Toronto to Rome for February travel (I used a departure of Feb. 5 returning Feb. 15), there's not much price difference compared to flying from Detroit, Flint and other Michigan airports (even from Iron Mountain, MI, which isn't known for low fares). However, checking fares for June travel, you're absolutely right—there's a huge difference. The fare from Toronto to Rome on Air Canada in US dollars is $883 round-trip including taxes compared to $1,443 on the same dates from Detroit. So I'd look again at fares leaving from Michigan if you're flying in winter, but definitely it's worth driving to Toronto if flying in June. If you do fly from Toronto, be sure to leave time for the occasional unexpected border crossing delay.

Q. In November, I flew Kingfisher Airlines from Varanasi to Delhi. When I picked up my suitcase, both handles were ripped off at one end, and a wheel housing was shattered.  They first offered me $6 to repair it. Their final offer was $10. Dr. Vijay Mallya, chairman of Kingfisher, says if the airline has “fallen short of meeting your expectations”, to contact him directly, and he gives his email address. So, I emailed him about this matter. I got a response from someone in “Guest Commitment” that said they considered this normal wear and tear, but as a gesture they had compensated me for it. He also said that despite my “present sentiments” he hoped I would view this as an “aberration”, and give them another chance. What can you do when this kind of thing happens in a foreign country, with a foreign airline?

A. There really isn't much you can do, whether it's a foreign country or not. Here's a little secret: on most types of jet aircraft, airline baggage handlers, in order to load bags quickly, really do throw your bags into and down the length of the cargo hold. They don't carry them or coddle them or pay attention to the "fragile" stickers. So wheels and handles do get damaged; in fact, they're the most likely parts of your suitcase to break. As such, airlines, even though they shouldn't, call this normal wear and tear. (By the way, a 4-wheeled "spinner" suitcase is less likely to get damaged because it's easier for the bag handlers to roll it down the cargo hold rather than to throw it.) Whatever. One defense is to buy a quality suitcase. Or one with an iron clad guarantee. Briggs and Riley, uniquely as far as I know, will repair your suitcase for free, wheels, handles, and all, for the life of the bag, whether or not an overzealous airline employee was at fault. The other solution is not to check bags in the first place and whenever possible send your belongings in a sturdy cardboard box ahead of your arrival, via FedEx Ground, UPS or the post office.