They've worked for me with UA on all my 2007 flights. Admittedly, only at SFO, BOS and SIN. SIN was handled by SQ. But SFo and BOS was UA.

For me, it seems to indicate: "Lose this bag, and even once you've found it, don't put it on a flight." I'm steaming because yesterday I flew PVG-ORD, grabbed my bag at baggage claim (it was, in fairness, one of the first 100 or so off the plane :o)...Went through Customs and put it back on the belt to go back into the UA system, with a 4-hour ORD layover. That was 24 hours ago. That's the last I've seen of my bag. It was supposed to be on the 7:30AM ORD-MBS this morning. It wasn't. Then it was supposed to be on the 1:20PM ORD-MBS this afternoon. It wasn't. I'm now HOPING it's on the flight that arrived MBS about 45 minutes ago, but they can't confirm it on the phone right now (called 1K baggage services).

This is the THIRD time this has happened to me this year. NONE of the times was the bag on 'the next flight'...I waited a day and a half once and overnight the second time with similar results as this time.

I HONESTLY believe that UA baggage handlers have some sort of gripe with these 'priority' people, like "I'll show them, they think they're so special!" :td:

So all of your are actually checking luggage? I checked a bag (domestically) for the first time in over a year on Friday on a flight from DFW to DEN. Had to because a client sent another box of papers along and had to check it anyway.

Got the priority tag, and the box and the roller bag were on the bin at DEN by the time I got to it.

Now I'm wondering - why not check everytime and stop boarding early or soon enough - whether in F or Y, so I don't have to worry about finding overhead space. That's the only reason I use the red carpet line - find the space, get seated and relaxed without worrying about overhead space.

Seemed much more civilized.

Generally I have good experiences with the Priority tags. But on my recent trip fron Europe to SFO, our bags came way after the people without tags came out. And even getting into Fresno it took a while.

Agreed. At LAX, once I had to wait 25 minutes between my first and last bag. However, internationally, priority bags normally come off first.

Unfortunately, all of us don't have the luxury of the option. My trips to Asia are usually a minimum of 2 weeks. Even my domestic trips generally run 8-10 days...Underwear, dress/casual shirts, t-shirts, extra shoes, travel kit and in some cases, 3-4 suits...There's no way I could fit it all into an approved carry-on, so I'm checking 95% of the time.

The remaining 5% (weekend getaways and whatnot), I'm carrying on!

I checked my bag at ORD because I flew in standby on an earlier connection, and had a six-hour layover I wanted to kill by going downtown. Without lockers in this "post-9/11 world" (what a cliché), it was either schlep the rollaboard bag around everywhere, or check it.

It was great coming into ORD on 12Jul2007.

All the first bags had the tags.

I'm with the general consensus -- priority tags are mostly a placebo effect. I don't believe UA actually enforces their use. At the end of the day, if United isn't enforcing that priority bags go out first, your response is going to be as good as how the baggage handlers at each end of the segment are. I'm guessing their compensation/bonus isn't tied to "how many priority bags did you properly handle", but rather "how fast did you turn around the bags" and so, if things are running behind (which arguably is when you might need priority handling the most) then chances are you aren't going to get it.

My experience...it's about as good as a roll of the dice on a craps table.

Just my $.02.

Doesn't that also mean they get unloaded first and put at the bottom of the bagagge trolley, thus making them the last bags from the first trolley to get put on the belt?

Even on a same-day return, I have to check a bag. Now that's obnoxious.

That's why I love the software business. I can do two weeks out of a carry-on regardless of business or pleasure travel. The only time I have to check baggage is for dive trips or trips longer than two weeks (only because I don't like doing laundry on the road).

Heh, well it's not because I'm such a diva. :D I have to carry tools with me and for some reason, they don't want pointy things or implements that could disassemble the plane onboard. I can't tell you how many of those TSA slips I've found in my bag.

Unless there is a trolley full of just priority bags, which seems quite possible.

In the last 6 months at LAX on domestic flights, I would say that my priority tagged bags have come off first 80% of the time. Not bad.