Phil, have you thought of asking the ground staff to check whether your bags have been loaded, before you board the aircraft? It is a very simple procedure for them and only takes a couple of minutes. My heart goes out to you on the missing bags - this has happened to me in Cairo once, and it was a miserable experience. Although, and I know that this will only add to your grief, it was QR that was responsible on that occasion...

As I read your post I had just started on a CAI-AMM-CDG and back trip, and it scared the hell out of me - because we were planning to return with two suitcases of French food delicacies for Christmas, and if the bags got lost/delayed at the least a €100+ capon among other things was going to arrive green and rotted!

As it happens all went well, and we boarded each flight with the assurance that the bags had boarded before us. I had got J tickets for $846, (AF was over $1250) and the only downside was that we flew in an A319 with recliners rather than lie-flats. But actually they were very comfortable for a daylight flight. The service was impeccable, and the catering quite up to scratch - and most importantly for Mrs mtdd, the champagne never ran out!