[flyflewflown]

Riggmaster,

Boy do I feel for you after reading your US Airways lost/stolen luggage ordeal! I don't think a professional writer could have dreamed up a more nighmarish scenario (except maybe if you hadn't had a friend in NYC to turn to).

However...the massive lesson to be learned by anyone reading it is a simple one that I took to heart during years of both domestic and international travel as an airline employee: ANYTHING vital to you must be carried on your person, or at least in something that doesn't go further than a few feet from you. That means your wallet, passport, prescription meds, cash, costly jewelry, etc. I wouldn't even put those things in a tote bag and store them a few overhead bins away from my own seat; I have heard about too much inflight pilfering.

Whenever an airline employee says last-minute "We'll have to check this", stop and ensure that all important things are removed. Yes, it can be a pain to suddenly have fistfulls and/or pocketfulls of crap...but that's preferable to having them disappear prior to arriving at your destination.

Again, I feel your pain, but as I read your account, I needed go no further than seeing that you placed all those valuables and cash in a checked bag before I knew how the story would end.

Hopefully your nightmare will prompt readers on this site to take care and avoid a repeat!