Originally Posted by
martin33
if the trip is domestic, single-airline, single-ticket, AA will not short-check the bags. for obvious hidden-city fare reasons.
the only way to do it would be to generate a big enough gap at the connection point so that the computer refuses to check all the way-- e.g. a last-in, first-out "connection", or an all-day stopover, etc.
then again, if the origin is one of those airports that makes you schlep the bag over to TSA, you could always "lose" the end of the tag with the final destination on it...
Interesting discussion, Here's my experience:
I was traveling MKE-ORD-LAX-SYD several years ago on UA. Upon checking in, the GA asked if wanted to check my bag through to SYD or have access to it in LAX. I had booked the MKE-ORD-LAX separately from LAX-SYD, so the reservations were not linked as one. As far as security concerns, I think they're lame, given that I would have had to recheck the bag in LAX, giving TSA another crack at screening it. I do agree that the hidden city ploy is a semi-legit argument.