Originally Posted by SquareDanceGuy

If you don't pick up your luggage from the carousel, it gets locked up in "baggage jail". So you can always choose to leave your luggage at the airport during a stopover. When you arrive back at the airport to continue travel, the first stop is the baggage department where you'll bail out your baggage from baggage jail then check it in for onward travel. It might not be the most convenient thing in the world, but it sure beats retrieving luggage you don't really need and lugging it around all day.