I've been lurking for a while and just haven't posted, but now I have a dilemma that I'm hoping the seasoned UA travelers can help me with. So yesterday, 1/20/08, I had the itinerary to fly from LAX to SFO at 3:28 pm. Early in the morning, the text message from UA tells me it's canceled. I decide to rebook onto an earlier flight at 12:45. After delaying this flight (808) again and again, the GA announces that it too is canceled. The next available flight to SFO is at 6 pm. Thus, I scramble to call the 1P line and get myself rebooked onto flight 6519 to SJC. The problem is, I've checked in two pieces of luggage and they're already headed for SFO. I ask the 1P line what to do, I call the baggage line for help, and I ask the available CSRs and GAs to help me route my luggage to SJC. No can do. The bag has its own itinerary and doesn't follow the person I'm told. They will end up at SFO at some time, at which point, I can then file a report to have them shipped to me. Well after exhausting all my options to have my luggage sent on my SJC flight or the next flight to SJC, it seems obvious that I will just have to wait for them to get to SFO and make arrangements to have them delivered to me. So after landing in SJC, I file a report and call the baggage line again. I call almost every hour for an update. They assure me that the bags will be in SFO by night and will be sent to me soon. Doesn't happen. I call early this morning and am told that both bags are in SFO and have not been shipped yet. I tell them to put them on hold so that I can pick them up myself at SFO. When I arrive at baggage claim, only one suitcase is waiting. The other is nowhere to be seen. I see a lone barcode tag with an orange priority flag and pick it up off the ground. Surprisingly, it says, "My name, Ski Equipment." I bring this to the CSR at the baggage claim and she shakes her head. "It looks like someone took your bag by mistake."

I am at my wits end. I feel like I've exhausted all my options in finding this bag. Now with no barcode, it will be even more impossible. What can I do to at least ensure that I receive compensation for this bag? (CSRs would not give me an answer and the baggage line would only give me a $25 travel voucher.)