Originally Posted by cdbrickell

I've flown MIA-LAX-SJC serveral times, arriving in LAX at 10pm'ish, spending the night in a hotel next to LAX and catching a 6am AE to SJC. In MIA I have my bag checked through all the way to SJC.. they won’t check it to just LAX for me.

The first time I did this, I went by the baggage carousel for my flight in LAX, just to make sure it didn't get left there; what I found kind of surprised me. A baggage person brought my bag into the area near the carousel for my flight and added it to a group of bags that were already there, cordoned off by one of those queue keepers, but not being watched by anyone or in an area off limits. Looking at the other tags, some were headed for Pacific connections on other airlines. I went over to the AA baggage office and asked them what the deal was and they said my bag would be collected at some point and would be put through to my connecting flight in the morning. Rescreened as well I’m sure.

Lo and behold, my bag was on the carousel in SJC the next morning. And has been the other three times I've done this. Also, one time it was colder in LA than I expected, so I was able to go down and get a jacket out of my checked bag.

Of course, this may just be at LAX and may not apply to any other airports. And some may find it disconcerting that their luggage is sitting unprotected in LAX T4 baggage claim for a while during transit.