Q: I am flying through Philadelphia on my way to Europe on US Air. The problem is that I discovered after booking that my inbound flight to Philadelphia is chronically late, often by up to 50 or 60 minutes, and I only have an hour to connect to my Europe flight. I’ve been checking every day for the last few weeks and the flight that I’m booked on to Philadelphia was late about 80 percent of the time. I’ve asked USAir to reschedule me on an earlier inbound flight so that I can make my connection, but they refuse to do so without charging me a $100 change fee. Since it’s their fault that they can’t seem to run their airline on time, this doesn’t seem fair to me. Does it to you?

A: No it does not. I’m not sure who you spoke to at USAir (probably a harried reservations agent) but you might try getting in touch with the station manager at your local airport (the one you’re flying out of to reach Philadelphia) and explain the situation to him or her. Perhaps they’ll be more sympathetic. And here’s some advice to everyone who uses connecting flights: every flight is “ranked” from 1 to 10 by its historic on-time performance. A “1” means the flight is late from 90 to 100 percent of the time (and there are indeed many flights that are this late all the time); a “10” means the flight is on time from 90 to 100% of the time. You can ask for this information from your travel agent or the airline reservation agent. If you absolutely must fly on a chronically late flight, then build in a longer layover between connecting flights. Chances are that you won’t be able to do this easily if you book your flight online, so try using a travel agent or see if the airline reservation agent will do it for you (of course, you’ll have to pay extra to book using a real live person, but at least you’ll make your connection).

Q: I hate checking my bags when I fly, but now I suppose I’ll have to since I don’t want to buy new shampoo, hair gel, contact lens solution, and other expensive toiletries each time I arrive in a different city. Do you think these new carry on restrictions are here to stay?

A: I have a feeling that the recent ban on liquids and gels in carry on luggage will be with us for a while, although we may see some modifications from time to time. There’s good and bad in this. Most likely, people will be checking more luggage, which means longer lines and waits at the check in desks before you get to security. But travelers are reporting that with fewer people bringing bags into the cabin, getting onto the plane is faster and easier, and security personnel have fewer bags to examine, so that process may go more smoothly as well. On the negative side, airlines will have to hire more personnel at check in desks and in baggage handling, and travelers who normally breeze off the plane with their rolling suitcases now must add 30-45 minutes or even longer waiting for their bags at the carousel. If you still want to carry on your luggage but don’t want to buy new liquids and gels each time you arrive in a new city, then simply use FedEx (air or ground), UPS, or the US Post Office and send these items ahead to your hotel, grandma’s house, or branch office; send whatever is left back home the same way when your trip is done. USPS priority mail shipping is especially economical, and is usually pretty fast and reliable. But if you’re old enough, you remember that in the old days of travel, back when 707’s and Lockheed Constellations ruled the sky, before laptops and Blackberries and iPods were essential tools, all you brought on board was a little cabin bag emblazoned with the airline’s logo (I collect them on eBay as a matter of fact). Inside, there’d be some chewing gum perhaps, your Instamatic and some film, a paperback, sunglasses, that sort of stuff. Perhaps that’s what we’re reverting back to. No nasty fights to grab space in the overhead bin. And maybe it’s not such a bad thing.