I am writing to issue a complaint regarding American Airlines mishandling our baggage on our flight (2002) scheduled from BDL to CLT connecting (473) to DEN. Not only were we without nearly all our belongings for 5 whole days, but we were continually given information by American Airlines that was incorrect and so forced to continuously call throughout our vacation to make sure the situation was being handled (not to mention time spent afterward to file this complaint). This egregious mishandling of our baggage took significant time from our vacation to resolve, and resulted in considerable stress and discomfort from having to wear the same clothes for 5 days, including during an important event which we had traveled across country to attend. A detailed account of this mishandling is below. We purchased our tickets to Denver in early June and paid extra to get a flight that arrived in Denver early the evening of Friday, July 19. The first leg of the flight, from Hartford to Charlotte, was delayed. This was partially due to weather and partially due to computer/fuel problems, as we were told. This delay caused us to miss our connection in Charlotte, so we were rebooked on a later flight that would arrive in Denver at midnight. After sitting on that plane for 2.5 hours, that flight was cancelled due to weather and we were stuck in the Charlotte airport all night, waiting in several lines to rebook our flight. We had to be in Rapid City, South Dakota by the evening of July 20, so our flight was rebooked direct to Rapid City (AA Flight 5050). We were assured that my checked bag would arrive in Rapid City with us on Saturday July 20. It did not. We filed a claim and were told that the bag went to its original destination, Denver. There were several flights scheduled from Denver to Rapid City yet that day, so we were assured it would arrive and be delivered to our remote location by that evening. It did not arrive that night, but we waited patiently for it until the next morning. We had no convenient access to any clothing stores, and we had an important event to attend on July 21. When the bag didn't arrive on the morning of July 21, we called and were told that the bag was out for delivery. It did not arrive that day either, so we called again that evening. When we pressed for details, they discovered that my bag never left Denver!!! The customer service rep wasn't able to reach either of the airports (DEN or RAP) but assured us that my bag would be on an early flight from Denver on Monday morning. We called Monday morning July 22 and were told that it was on United Airlines flight 4674 that was scheduled to arrive in Rapid City at 10:40 a.m. When the bag wasn't delivered by mid-afternoon on Monday, we called again. The customer service rep couldn't locate the bag nor could they reach the Rapid City airport to confirm anything. When we called Monday evening at approximately 6 PM, the customer service rep confirmed after much searching that the bag had arrived at the Rapid City airport but was NOT out for delivery. On day 5, Tuesday July 23 we were scheduled to leave Rapid City by car for another destination before noon. When we called that morning, the customer service rep suggested that we drive to the airport to assure that we were able to get my bag for the rest of our trip. Not long after that, "Mary" called me from the airport to say my bag was there and that it could be delivered express to our location. I got my bag around a half hour later. (Note: this was almost 24 hours after the bag arrived at the Rapid City airport!!!). I had everything in that bag. All changes of clothes, toiletries, makeup, shoes. As noted above, I had to wear the same clothing for 5 days straight. It would have been difficult to purchase replacement clothes and personal items as we were in a remote location and had many activities planned. I believe we deserve some generous compensation for the frustration, the many phone calls, the constant problem hanging over our heads for those 5 days of what was supposed to be a relaxing and enjoyable vacation, let alone the delay that wasn't totally weather related. Note that I filed an official complaint on the AA website on July 30, and that complaint form only allowed 2000 characters to explain. Not only did I have to spend time recounting and filing that claim, I basically had to redact all important information to file it! And...I still haven't heard back from them!!! This is totally unacceptable and deserves some recognition.