[AirlinesMustPay]

I also agree that the OP's loss is inflated and I thought that would have been clear from my posts. My analogy about the money under the matress also is about where someone makes an inflated claim. But both cases have this common thread, which is that where someone in authority does an illegal act, the victim, knowing he has the authority on the hook, is tempted to make an inflated claim. If you live in New YOrk I'm surprised you don't know that this often happens. Police sometimes conduct illegal searches and then face all kinds of allegations about things going missing. With regard to my analogy, persons do not have to prove that money in their possession is not from an illegal source. You would be reversing the burden of proof. The burden would be on those who allege illegality to prove it. Again, you can't be living in the United States and not know that someone accused of something has no burden to showing anything. Countries such as the US and England have led the way in establishing the rights of individuals. Lawmakers in other countries have followed your lead in enacting laws to protect rights of individuals, and now to my surprise, I see someone from New York saying that people have to prove that something is not illegal.

Anyway that is really a side issue. In this OP's case, I have seen this happen. People who last enter a crowded flight, find the overhead bins full. They look for space and sometimes go several seats away to find a space in an overhead bin. Before take off the FAs close all the doors on the bins. Sometimes a bag is protruding and the door cant close. It is not that the FA took out one bag and put in another. The FA takes out the bag that is sticking out, asks for the owner and helps the owner store it elsewhere. What seems to have happened here is that the OP did not see or hear when the FA was removing her bag and did not answer when the FA asked whose bag it was.

So the question of liability seems crytal clear based on what the OP says, but I agree that her alleged losses may have been inflated.