Sally4th

On my recent TATL back to Philadelphia I was shocked and delighted to see priority tagged bags actually come out first!!! It was not a mix, it was all red tags. There was somone with a clipboard making notes as the bags came out too.

Has anyone else experienced this wonder of wonders?

senatetalker33

Ehh, it's still hit or miss for me and usually varies by airport. DCA has gotten faster in retrieving but priority bags rarely have inconsistently been delivered first. Other airports have been better.

PWMTrav

It happens to me occasionally. Last return at PWM, 2 of our bags came out first, then the other one with an orange tag came out close to last. And our car seat base (again, orange tag) was actually manually placed on the wrong carousel. So I couldn't find that until I asked the baggage agent. That was fun.

If anyone else has visited our fine airport and its new terminal expansion, you know how infuriating it is. Everything is one level except security, and bag claim is on the far opposite side from the ticket counter. So you can either park near departure or near arrival but not both. If you don't get to your bags in time, which is possible if you have a baby as it's a long walk, they pull your luggage. However, US doesn't have an agent full time in the baggage office so your bags will either be:

1. In the baggage office with an agent there (rare)
2. Locked in the baggage office because the agent went back to the ticket counter
3. At the ticket counter because the agent took it with him, you get paged in this event
4. Your baggage gets put on the wrong belt because the airport has trouble with multiple arrivals (good luck!)

PWMTrav

My favorite system is still the separate US shuttle belt at BOS, the one in the corridor as you walk down to ground/bag claim. I realize most airports can't just throw priority on a separate carousel, though.

GotCalcio4

My priority tagged bag came out dead last in CUN last week

Superguy

IME, US has generally been pretty good about respecting the priority tag. They were much better about it than UA was (UA got better once CO got into the mix).

I did have some of my bags come out as the very first bags in MCO in Sept ... and also the last two were the very last. How they managed to get my bags the very first and very last off is beyond me.

Buffaloflyer

My Bags have been coming out 1st my last few trips dating back to November. Airports involved were PHL, SEA, SAN, LAS and EWR.

At first I thought it was coincedence but it has been consistent for 4 or trips in a row now.

masonuc

I never understood this complaint. I rarely check bags, but when I do they always come out first.

Biggie Fries

I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.

(Sorry -- couldn't resist! Btw, before I saw yours, I was about to write in saying that I have no idea what this thread is about since I don't know what a baggage carrousel is... or checked luggage.)

MikeLaw

I've been checking bags a lot more often in the past year or two. Its liberating to be able to stay in the Club until the last minute and then stroll onto the plane late in the boarding process, avoiding the scrum at the gate and not having to worry about stowing my bags in the overhead. My experience is that it varies depending on the station. In RIC, my priority tagged bags NEVER come out first. I would think that they would randomly come out first at least some of the time. I have sometimes wondered if they are intentionally putting them on the belt late.

GNRMatt

Whenever I check bags with Priority on them and I see non-Priority bags come out first, I always send a note to US Airways about this. I specifically say I don't want any compensation, but I make it clear that they aren't providing one of the published benefits of being a Gold Preferred member. Maybe if more people do this, we'll continue to see the Priority bags come out first.

nccarguy

I'm just happy when it comes out at all in Cancun.

smkidsap

Just yesterday from LAS - CLT - EWR - bags were literally the FIRST ones at baggage claim in EWR - all 3. I was impressed and very grateful as we were trying to coordinate a drive by pick up by my son. Do not check bags often but this could not have been better.

WiscAZ

This is basically my experience too.

tacostuff

In my experience, I would say that the priority tags work only about 25% of the time. And, I shouldn't say "work" since 25% probably isn't any better than the odds of my bags coming out first without any priority tags.

US really should be doing a better job on this as it is one of the marketing points for buying F or being elite (not silver?).