My passport doesn't state my occupation, and my recollection of when I caried a diplomatic one is that they didn't either. So he's a diplomat. They're a dime a dozen and are accorded immunity from a bunch of local laws, but not assured priveleged treatment on airlines. Again, if he chose to travel incognito, then he deserved to be treated like any other diplomat - which means just like anyone else, except at Immigration and Customs. Even if he had decided to give up his anonymity, I think I'd have been sceptical about an Asian claiming to be president of a South American country. I don't think the airline was disrespectful of his office. I do think they were disrespectful of a paying passenger. In fact, if the president of the US decided to fly commercial, I'd expect him to be treated the same as any other passenger paying the same fare. Peanuts, Bill? No, that's Jimmy.

[This message has been edited by philforest (edited 06-13-1999).]