CNN || Behave when things don't go your way

Thinking of throwing a tantrum the next time things don't go your way when you travel? Consider what happened to Gary Zeune before you do.

"Dammit!" he overheard the passenger in front of him scream at a Southwest Airlines ticket agent in Columbus, Ohio, "I have to get to Chicago!"

The agent politely asked him to calm down, assured him that profanity wouldn't get him on the flight he wanted, and offered to add him to a standby list. All of which only appeared to make him angrier, unleashing yet another torrent of salty language.

"The ticket agent asked him for his credit card," remembers Zeune. "And he gets a big smile, thinking he's going to get on the flight. Then she says, 'Sir, you're not flying Southwest today. Go fly someone else.' And she refunds his money."

Isn't that what should happen when travelers misbehave? Zeune thinks so, and he should know. He's an expert on white-collar crime, and while his fellow passenger's rant technically isn't illegal, it wasn't without its consequences.

After a recent column about travelers who get special treatment for good behavior, you might conclude that rudeness would always result in some form of punishment. But as I suggested, the truth is complicated.

Yes, in an ideal world, every obnoxious hotel guest would be shown the door, every boorish passenger sent packing.

But not in this world.

Zeune's story is the exception, not the rule. Bad behavior isn't just tolerated in the travel industry. At a time like this, when the travel business is hitting rock bottom, bad behavior can be a means to an end. The passenger in Columbus thought his diatribe against the Southwest agent would result in a seat on his desired flight. And it often does.

There's a difference between a polite but firm request and a shrill demand, of course. Where's the line? Here are six things you should never do when you travel, at least according to these veteran travelers: