Originally Posted by
kitkat77
This is true if you are on a direct flight from origin to destination, and the flight actually makes it to the destination without diversion.
Those of us who have to connect, do have other reasons for wanting to keep the bag other than the minimal extra time at baggage claim.
Once you check your bag, if you want to SDC or need to change flights at the gate due to IRROPS, you have lost the flexibility of getting to your destination with a good chance of your bag making it there too.
I've also seen a diversion where 2 coworkers had carried on and 1 checked. The 2 without checked baggage drove from the diversion airport to our destination (2.5-3 hrs) and arrived there *before* our coworker got his bag back.
Even if I don't have to connect, I don't check a bag unless I absolutely have to.
Even if you don't need to make a connection, if a flight goes into irrops there are situations where you need/want your bag. There have been a couple times this year due to bad weather my flights have cancelled and I'm not able to get out until the next morning. By having my bag with me I can head right to the hotel and not have to wait for it to be pulled, IF it will even be pulled.
It can be a real headache to have a checked bag if your flight is irrops and they interline you on another carrier.
And skypriority tags don't always mean your luggage will come out first, and even if it does mean priority handling of your luggage, there are so many people with SP at MSP, it can still be a decent wait. I flew with someone two weeks ago to LAX and he checked a bag and I didn't. I was already in my rental car and had gone through the drive through at in n out and was on the 405 when he called to tell me the bags had just started coming out on the belt.
Same in cities where I am taking a cab. There are times at LAS where there is a long wait for a cab, and the quicker I can get to the queue the better.