Are there no customer protection laws in the US? I'm pretty sure that in most of Europe, it doesn't work that way, and for a good reason.

And if it really is like that, is that prominently advertised, or is that in fine print written in 8pt in light grey font on white background? From the customer's perspective, that makes a huge difference.

I for one (though mostly travelling from and to Germany, not the US) have never been told "we might lose your bag, and you'll get $20 in that case).

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/consumer_topics/air_travel...

> If your registered luggage is lost, damaged or delayed, you may be entitled to compensation from the airline, up to about €1,220

Far higher than $20.

others not even close: moving departure times by two hours (forward) and not bothering to call, email or text to inform. closing the door then sitting at the gate for 3 hours so that you can say we departed "on time". Twice. fun and games around rescheduling people on delayed flights: no, it's not acceptable to wait 39 hours for a flight between a major focus city and your home hub because you have mechanical issues with your aircraft.

The incident I refer above was a ridiculous delay. The 762 they had for my SFO-JFK flight was broken in some way that made the plane flyable, but only fixable in LAX. They didn't tell us this, and loaded us on and taxied us out to the runway. There they told us we would be going to LAX, where there may be a new plane. Two hours later, we're in LAX, and waiting for a new plane. 6 hours after the scheduled arrival time, we're finally in JFK. Just fucking incompetent. Fly the good plane to SFO and board us there.

(Incidentally, I flew this route today, and sure enough, mechanical problem! We had to downgrade from a 763 to a 762, which was not appreciated, but at least we didn't have to fly all over the country looking for a better plane. And since I hadn't actually flown first class on a 762 before, it was nice to check it off my list. The seat was fine. Looking forward to the A321 on this route, though.)

As for flying to Japan, AA is a lot cheaper than JAL or Cathay. You get what you pay for. (AA is about $3000-$5000, Cathay is always $10,000+. JAL floats between the two extremes.)

Plus I think you're missing the larger issue. The airline is charging for this service, and they didn't deliver. Just because their terms of service are crappy doesn't mean that the OP should have to endure bad service like this.

I had considered this but eliminated it as a dependable method because I assume that most countries have their own customs procedures for items shipped via FedEx/UPS and in some cases items might be tied up for days or weeks.

[1] http://www.luggageforward.com/

Disclaimer: no affiliation at all with them. In the end I never tried them because I now travel with carry-on only.

Taxes - personal items? They DGAF, you'll probably pay more in taxes than your items cost;

Proof of local address - y'see, they can't release your items without you having proof of your local address where you reside, WTF.

AND if they lose your stuff you're just as f'ed (yeah, waiting 3 months to get your insurance is fun)...

So, no, shipping your stuff separately via international post is not a good option.

Yes, Ground is now guaranteed time-in-transit for both FedEx and UPS and they both have 1, 2, 3 day options.

Shipping an actual suitcase, however, is not financially viable.

Getting an account or using an association like USAA can cut your costs substantially for expedited but ground rates don't move as much.