I was checking in for a flight the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and was carrying a bottle of wine that I had just bought in Australia to give to my parents as an early Christmas present. The agent refused to check my bag as it was "too close to departure" (40 minutes). I had already OLCIed hours before and just wanted to drop the bag. I inquired about sending the bag on the next flight, but she said that was a no-go.

The preferred-line check-in agent told me to just carry it on. After explaining about the bottle of wine, she graciously offered to hold it "in the locked supervisor's area" until my return three days later. She confirmed my information and double-checked my return date/time/flight number. I wrote my name, address, telephone number, and flight information on a bag tag which was wrapped around the bottle.

Thinking nothing more about it, I left the wine bottle with her, thanked her for her help, and went to board my flight.

Of course when I returned three days later, no one knew anything about the wine and the supervisors who had worked Tuesday night weren't there. A very nice agent (Mary) tried to help me, even going so far as to call me personally four times to keep me aprised of her search (which was ultimately fruitless).

Suffice it to say I'm not pleased - that wine survived 11 flights and more than 10,000 miles in the air only to be lost by US in PHX despite having my info scribbled all over it and being hand-delivered into the custody of a US agent. It wasn't a high-end bottle of wine, but it was something unique that can't be purchased over here.

Is there any hope of me getting my wine back? Is there anyone in PHX I can contact who would be able to see who checked me in or who was working that evening?

I filed a report with US Airways lost and found a little over a week ago but haven't heard anything back.