I have been through the "delayed bag" scenario on a few occasions, but last year UA lost a bag forever. The bag made it from SFO-ORD, was scanned in ORD, but I think someone snagged it off the belt while I was outside smoking. All of those placards in ORD bagge that say "we have cameras watching you" appear to be for show only, because the agent told me there was no chance of recovery unless the person that took it was honest and returned it. Anyway, following multiple phone calls and forms (and 100 days) UA sent me a check for $1600. They told me it was a good thing that the bag was lost domestically, because if it was lost internationally, I would have been paid $0.42 per pound (or something crazy like that.) I was happy, because $1600 was the full replacement cost, and nothing was depreciated based on age.