I called Air France to confirm our flights from Lyon to CDG, they could not find our records, I inadvertently did not have my confirmation number, and after much unsuccess, modified my car rental and drove myself to Paris (The drive wasn't too long at 2.5 hours, but I wanted to avoid the result: An intense rental car drive into the heart of Paris on a Friday afternoon at rush hour).

Once I was back home, I realized our tickets were Lyon to Orly, and not CDG. Without the locator and not knowing my destination airport (duh) the agent was unable to find our tickets. A few lessons learned that day.

My other main screw up was checking in at the TAP counter from CDG for a flight to Lisbon - this time I had my confirmation paperwork - only to realize my ticketing was an expired reservation that never got ticketed. Fortunately, the flight had space and the last minute prices weren't too painful.

When things go awry internationally, especially when its your own fault, it can certainly be more stressful, these were in the days before I had an international cell phone, struggling with language barriers and different protocols, customs, etc....