Recently I had my luggage opened and my black suit jacket STOLEN from my suitcase. American Airlines sent me an email and said if I did not report the loss within 24 hours, TOO BAD. What a crock flying American, part of my trip was also the infamous American Eagle in Texas.

British Airways lost my luggage last year for six weeks. The worst thing about it was the several hours waiting in line at the airport waiting for them to tell me it was okay to go to my hotel. I was so tired and dispirited by that evening that it didn't even register that the bed and breakfast had lost my reservation.

the USAIRways hub in Philly used to be an absolute black hole of delayed luggage -- I once had a connecting flight from Philly to Baltimore, with about 2 hours between flights, and when the flight got into Baltimore, the only bags that were on it were the two that had been loaded when the flight originated in Aruba. they apparently just didn't feel like putting any bags on that flight, and the baggage agents in Baltimore said that wasn't unusual at all for Philly. Does anyone know if this has improved in the past year or two?

Comair? How about ComCASTair!

I flew from Newark to Paris last summer, changed planes in Rome. My luggage didn't make it to Paris until 11pm on the last night of my vacation (6 days later). When my bags were finally delivered to the hotel the concierge knew without even asking; he said "ah, you flew through Rome..."

Fortunately, I got Air France to reimburse me every bit of what I had to spend on clothes and toiletries during my stay. WELL over their arbitrary (and unrealistically low) 100-euro limit.

Can't remember if it was technically a Comair flight or one operated by Delta proper, but I recently had a bag lost for almost two days. The kicker: It was lost on a non-stop flight from Miami to Tallahassee that I arrived 2 hours early for in Miami.

How do you lose a bag on a single, connectionless flight between 2 cities in the same damn state?

Here's a pic of the damage: [i259.photobucket.com]

I never check my luggage. Why wait in line when I can pack up to 2 weeks worth of clothes and have it with me the whole time? Plus after landing you can get on with your trip whil everyone else waits for their bags.

Haha...stupid Atlantic Southeast (ASA)...They have lost/misplaced/damaged my luggage more times than I would like to count, and that is just between Atlanta and Gainesville...

I can't wait until next year when I'm based in Atlanta, traveling a lot in the southeast...everything will be ASA...super...

Speaking of Delta, they're apparently "close" to a merger with Northwest.

Handy airline tip -- When one mixes a crappy airline with an even crappier airline, a good airline does not emerge. Nor does a mediocre airline.

[www.ft.com]

I also learned something really useful:
If you get to the boarding gate early enough and the line is not too long, you can ask the attendant to verify that your luggage has indeed been loaded on the plane by having them look at your luggage claim sticker and call down to the luggage people. I did it, with British Airways no less, and felt much better about things afterwards.

As always it helps to be nice.

Alaska Air lost a lot of my respect when they laid off their own baggage handlers and outsourced to minimum wage mongoloids who specialize in crashing their luggage carts into the plane and not reporting it... until after the plane loses cabin pressure and makes and emergency landing. [www.usatoday.com]

Then, and if, I actually find it on the baggage turnstile undamaged, after my flight, I experience an overwhelming feeling of joy that makes my day.

Exactly. My family and I no longer check luggage either.

4/5 are delta. HMM

The problem isn't that the luggage is lost, the problem is that when the plane is full, not all of the luggage fits in the luggage compartment. The last time this happened, I saw two of our suitcases still sitting in the luggage dolly on the tarmac as we pulled away from the gate!

Unfortunately, I just plan it happening now, and we distribute our necessities accordingly. Now way to avoid American Eagle when going to BJX.

But one thing that stuck out at me was the fact that the ratings were based on complaints...I know that unless I'm meticulous about my packing, I can't generally tell whether someone's rifled through my items (without putting that paper in there that says the airport people rifled through your things). And all the jostling bags get going to and from the plane probably mean you wouldn't be able to tell anyway. So I suppose these complaints have to be lost luggage complaints, not complaints of airline employees going through your stuff.

Maybe other people enjoy hanging out at the airport, I for one do not.

Sometimes the tags that the agents put on the bags come off as they travel down miles of belts to reach the bagroom. When that tag comes off, there is no way to identify the owner of the bag unless it has a NAME TAG on it... You would be surprised at how often this happens. In addition to attaching one to the outside of your bag, make sure to stick one to the inside as well...

Also most of the parent airlines are notorious for sucking. That should also tell us something.

This is GREAT to hear considering I have a flight on friday. :P

Honestly though, I've flown a good bit over the past few years, and I've never had any luggage lost. Here's hoping that continues this weekend.

@trecool95: When I flew to Rome from Heathrow, B.A. left the whole plane's luggage behind.

This is why i've stopped checking luggage.

I'm Flying from CT to Orance GOunty in March via Delta. I hope they don't "misplace" my luggage.

Does this fall under lost luggage, or overall complaints?

If overall, I'm surprised Continental isn't on the list. Most times I ride with them, they completely obliterate my baggage, to the point where it comes back in shambles.

If that included international, British Airways would top the list.