Thinking this situation through, our bags had 6 hours on the ground in LAX and 13 hours on the ground in Doha. I can’t imagine this stuff going missing in LAX and strongly believe that the theft likely occurred in Doha. Ultimately, it soured our Qatar experience quite a bit as most of the work that they put into their product was clearly non existent when it came to addressing any after the fact problems.

Flyers please beware...[/QUOTE]

Its frustrating and annoying.

However I have known other pax to have items taken from bags at LAX - particulary if they check in very early - or have a long transit between flights. I know of someone who checked in at 10am for a 2200 departure to Sydney - and items went missing.

Doha - I dont think is that much of a risk.

1. The punishment for theft is either a public whipping or having a limb like a finger removed. (remember Doha operates under Sharia law)

2. A Qatari would have a reasonable standard of living, and a job with Qatar would be valued.

3. If the baggage workers are a migrant worker - from Africa or Asia - they would not steal, as it would mean they would get punished under Sharia law, lose the job ( the income of which they send home to the families) and deportation.

So sorry - as a white caucasian, I think the chances of light fingers are most likely at LAX, and the trolly or the bags are most likely storied away from CCTV where they can be easily accessed.

Also a Qatari woman would not be able to wear the stunning cocktail dresses that your wife looks so fabulous in, and in the Qatari heat - would be too hot to wear under her black niqab.

Long transits are a concern, we did 19 hrs in each direction going to Europe - our bags were in Singapore - but Singapore being a country with a very low crime rate - we collected our bags an LHR and then at SYD without any mishaps