Two 99 hands with bad flops. Correct play?

[Fantam]

Both these hands seemed similar in that the flops did not look very encouraging. I had not been at the table for very long (and players kept changing) but most of the players seemed to be quite tight and passive.

Hand #1
Party Poker 0.5/1 Hold'em (10 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. CO posts a blind of $0.5.
UTG calls, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, <font color="#666666">4 folds</font>, CO (poster) calls, Button calls, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, UTG calls.

Flop: (9.50 SB) 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(4 players)</font>
UTG checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero ...?</font>

With this hand, I didnt want to give a free card in case no one else had an A. So I considered betting and calling a flop raise and then check/folding the turn to a bet unimproved. However, I wondered if calling down from the flop might be a better option.

Hand #2
Party Poker 0.5/1 Hold'em (9 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, <font color="#666666">4 folds</font>, BB calls.

Flop: (4.50 SB) A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
BB checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero ...?</font>

I liked this flop even less than the previous hand's one. However this time there was only one other opponent and they had checked to me. So I again considered betting with the intention of calling a flop check-raise, and then folding to a turn bet unimproved.

I would appreciate knowing other players thoughts as to how they might have played these hands.