warreng24, you are exactly correct. The bag was given a green gate check tag, and she received it back plane side at Chicago. She then carried the bag with her the whole time, including on her connecting flight from Chicago to Denver. It is usually a quick turn around, but at Chicago they stood and waited for several minutes for their bags. We suspect that is when it happened, as this was the only time my mom didn't have her eyes directly on the bag. She came directly from the airport to my house, so there wasn't a chance of a bellman swiping it. When she arrived at my house, she opened the bag to find that her jewelry compartment was unzipped, and everything had been removed.

My mom is definitely not the glitzy type at all, but since I wasn't there I'm not sure if she said anything regarding the contents of her bag. Combined with her expensive camera equipment with multiple lenses, copies of original family photos from the 40s, cash, and everything else she needed for the wedding...she was traveling with a lot of important stuff. But what else can you do? You can't mail all that stuff, it's even more likely to disappear.

Do you recommend we contact Air Wisconsin directly and talk to them? Would we have more luck than with United? My mom has still not received a single response to her emails.

The big problem is you need to be able to prove she had the jewelry. The only proof is your word...and that isn't good enough. Hopefully you had some travel insurance or paid your ticket with a CC that provides any benefits. Other than that pursuing the airline is pretty much useless.

Why wouldn't she take the jewelry out before handing over her bag? Was the camera left behind and they took the jewelry?

What I meant was that a bag large enough to require plane side check in would likely be too large to place under a seat and therefore would likely be placed by passenger in overhead bin when brought on board.

However the OP said that the segment where she did have the bag with her, she kept it with her at all times including taking the bag to the bathroom with her. So it was never unattended.

My suggestion for OP - sue United.

In this case, there is something we know for sure:

1. The OP will definitely not get anything back from United (money or jewelry).

2. United will pull its limitation of liability to "exempt" them from doing anything.

So make your case at court - the most direct and easiest way, sorry to say.

By the way - this is the shareholder speaking...

I am very sorry for the loss of the OP's mother--loss of such things is traumatic far beyond any inherent cash value. Also, I have no special advice regarding the matter of compensation or even apology--the regulations are a byproduct of decades of airline baggage claim practice which was evolved from earlier railroad baggage policies.

However, what this does do is serve to remind us all of the potential problem of travelling by regional jet, regardless of the contracting United Express carrier. With carryon being taken at boarding and returned after landing, there is always a potential problem for either a mixup of bags (you are still exiting the plane and and earlier passenger mistakenly walks off from the jetway with your bag--a lot of 'em do look alike) or of theft or mishandling (recently on a IAD-PIT CRJ flight, we were loaded down the stairs at Dulles Gate 28. A DFW regional flight was also loading and an otherwise helpful employee took my greentag carryon and put it next to the DFW flight!!

So, for all of us the lesson is, if you have to go the green-tag route, do think about moving irreplaceable objects into your pockets or personal bag--I have done this with prescription medicines as well as other valuables. A nuisance no doubt, and probably too cautious, but as long as we are subjected to the ordeal of flying these tincans with windows, an ounce of prevention is priceless.

Flyer 420
contemplating a LAX-SEA flight in a CRJ.

I agree with you Flyer420. It's just hard when everything you are traveling with is important. And who's to say that someone on the flight sees you take out your valuables and then targets you in some other way. It's a hard decision. You have to hope that employees in a secure area will be honest, but I guess that's not always the case.

When was the last time she actually saw the jewelery in the bag?

I'd be more suspicious of security personnel (who can use the xray to discover and locate valuable items) than ramp personnel (humping bags all day doesn't tell you what's in them or where. Plenty of documented cases of the former getting caught.

Still, I'd never gate check anything valuable or irreplaceable.

First off, Air Wisconsin does NOT Ground Handle for UAX in Chicago. It's all UA agents.

Secondly, there is not much time on either end of things to open up a bag and see what's inside. I'm not saying it couldn't have been stolen, but it would be very difficult for an agent to do, on the ramp. Especially since you can't just pocket an iPad like you could a smaller object.

Who said anything about an iPad? The OP never mentioned an iPad. How did you know that an iPad went missing? Where were you on the night of...?

That is me confusing two different threads, so my sincere apologies.


Anyways...to the OP, I'm not sure how United reacts to items in Gate Checked baggage, as it's not considered "Checked" per their CoC...but you're unlikely to get reimbursement for heirlooms.

When did this change occur? During the Air Wisconsin flying draw-down during BK, I thought UA awarded the ground handling contract to Air Wisconsin at ORD. Or is my mind muddling things up again?

You did not say how large the carry on bag was. Would it have been able to be placed under the seat in front of her? If so, there was no excuse for her bag to be taken from her.

I travel a lot and have noticed that with United, getting the aircraft out on time has more importance than passenger comforts or concerns.

I have witnessed United gate agents and sometime flight attendants insist that passengers gate check a bag that will clearly fit under the appropriate seat.

What happened to the OP's mother is inexcusable, assuming the bag was small enough to fit inside the space below the seat.

A few times a gate agent tried to take away my briefcase and "gate check" it but I refused to comply.

I stopped checking a bag more than two years ago after my luggage (a small carry on size bag) was checked then rifled by someone between where I checked the bag until I picked it up at luggage claim. That taught me a lesson to never check a bag anymore.

There really is too much gate checking simply to get the plane out on time. United should rethink this policy.

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Couldn't be anything less useful than suing UA. By the terms of its contract of carriage and the jewelry exlcusion, OP's mother has no case and UA wins a motion to dismiss. OP's mom spends the money to file suit in Illinois (she apparently lives in Pennsylvania) and gets nothing.