Q: I'm flying into O'Hare the Wednesday before Thanksgiving; my flight lands at 6:53. My husband flies in with our 7- month-old son at 7:50. I'd like to be able to meet him at his gate, but am worried about my luggage. I will be checking one piece of luggage - do you think it'll be fine on the carousel for that hour? Should I mention anything to the airline? A: If you're worried someone might walk off with your suitcase, you should be. You probably heard about the luggage theft arrests in Phoenix earlier this month and understandably, you don't want to become another statistic. Don't let your luggage out of your sight. If possible, don't check any bags. Not only will you save money (unless you're flying on JetBlue or Southwest) but you could also prevent your personal belongings from being stolen. Or getting 'misplaced' as the airline industry likes to euphemistically put it. To quote colleague Peter Greenberg, there are two kinds of bags: carry-on and lost. Q: My husband and I are planning our first visit to Europe next year for our 15th anniversary. We plan to be there about 8 days and would like to go to 2 cities, with one of them being Rome. I know this is highly subjective, but would you suggest Paris and Rome, or Venice and Rome? We will be there the week before Easter, if that makes a difference (especially with respect to crowds and prices in Italy). Thanks for your thoughts! A: Keep it easier and do Venice and Rome. For one thing, you can take the train from one to the other. (Although, you can also do that between Rome and Paris, on a sleeper train, which might be kind of fun.) Save Paris for another time -- you could do a week in Paris and then a weekend in the Loire Valley. ---------------------------------------------- 