[Paladin2]

My rule is :

Never pack anything that you would be disappointed to never see again.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

A good rule; Still, my point is: You probably formulated that rule upon one time losing a bag and having to accept cash compensation or the lack of Bermuda shorts for a day or two while the airline found it. I can accept that. Once in a while, a bag will go missing, and yes, if it happens to be yours, it will suck.

But it's kind of a different story to come to understand that bags held in any kind of storage area during delays (very common) are systematically gone thru by bureaucratically-protected personnel within a regime that tolerates (despite its' BS protests) a de-facto standard practice of brazenly searching for and stealing loose valuables.

You thought you were checking your bags. Checking your bags was an adjunct to traveling, perhaps for biz, perhaps for pleasure. You come to find out you were sailing on the Indian Ocean, 6 miles off the coast of Somalia.