When there is a long line (90+ people), I don't even wait. i go to my hotel, call the appropriate number and speak to someone to put the trace on. They scold me for leaving, but wha't the point? Waiting for an hour only burns up an hour of stressful post-flight time (especially long haul international), and it doen't get your bags back any sooner.

I've lost bags a couple of times in the past couple of years. it is amazing how long it takes a bag to catch up sometimes. 24 hours on a long flight seems reasonalbe, since there might not be another flight from, say, singapore until the next day. But more than tha is outrageous and has happened to me three times in the past two years.

I guess that's what travel insurance is for.