Richard Havers and Chris Tiffney: This is very rare, the fact is that four engine aircraft are built to fly on three engines but four is better! The reason they did that was that it was closer to fly on than to turn back.

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Cleveland, Ohio: If you fly a route frequently, is it ever appropriate to give gifts to flight attendants you see often--and if so, what might be things to watch out for?

Richard Havers and Chris Tiffney: This is a tricky one, but here's a nice story....

But one man has taken his appreciation of the airline staff's hard work to entirely new levels. Mr. Ogg who has been flying regularly for thirty years has spent the time compiling a database of the flight attendants who he has flown with. He checks whether he has flown with them previously and reviews his prior rating of their service. On several occasions when he has been particularly impressed he has sent their airline a letter of commendation and a certificate to recognise their performance. During the 3.2million miles he has flown to date he has encountered many cases of exemplary service and been pleased to dispatch many certificates.

Not content with that, Mr. Ogg always makes sure he carries 4 dozen muffins with him when he travels. One dozen for the skycaps, a dozen for the check in staff, a dozen for the ground crew and the final twelve for the flight crew. Mr. Ogg generally enjoys very, very good service.

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Poughkeepsie, N.Y.: What is the best day and time window to shop for airfare? Or does it matter? Thank you in advance for your time.

Richard Havers and Chris Tiffney: The best day is when the airlines release new offers! However, on a slightly more serious note there is no real rule on this. It varies from route to route and airline to airline.

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New York, N.Y.: Is Heathrow going to get better for Americans to travel to and through next spring?

Richard Havers and Chris Tiffney: We hope it's going to get better for us Brits too! The opening of Terminal 5 will bring about huge improvements, although with all things new there's bound to be teething problems. The fact is Heathrow has for years been squeezing a quart into a pint pot and to some extent the problems of runway capacity will continue to be an issue.

Whenever I fly from edinburgh to Heathrow these days I'm convinced that the aircraft is parked at least twenty miles away in Hampshire and the complex system of tunnels and walkways have me heading for the terminal via the longest route.

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Portland, Ore.: What's the unreported (or under-covered) part of the carbon emissions fees/taxes for airplanes story, for European airlines and/or American airlines?