Originally Posted by Gargoyle

You trust the checked baggage system a lot more than I do. The system is overloaded right now, since a much greater volume of stuff is getting checked. For example, last week at SNA three flights at a time were being unloaded onto single carousels, with excess getting stacked in piles against the wall. Lots of baggage misses flights. It's been years since I've seen airport personnel look at baggage claim tags to confirm that people are taking the correct bags...

Just too many ways for bags to be delayed or lost. The baggage lottery is going to get considerably worse in the next few months (just wait till Thanksgiving!)