I've never seen it or had anyone check my bags at my home airport of PDX. Maybe 10 years ago they took out the "fence" around the claim areas that made everyone funnel through a single point (where someone could stand and check bags). Now it's just a big open space. I agree with YadiMolina that nothing of any value goes into my bag. At worst it would just be a hassle to go buy some more clothes.

The last and only time I was at LGA, 2017, they did check luggage tags when exiting baggage claim. It was roped off so you were forced to exit in only one or two places. Created some waiting time when exiting, but I didn�t have an issue with it. Never remember seeing it recently at EWR or IAH.
Also seen this at OSL, but that was some time ago, >10 years ago. Now, at OSL, you have to swipe your BP to exit baggage claim in the domestic arrivals area.

I remember baggage claim matching at LAX for quite a few years in the 90s. I think it was done more along the lines of preventing theft than anything else. Sometimes, the lines in those dingy LAX baggage claim halls were quite long. Heaven help you if you left your BP with the claim check on the plane. Heaven help you if the guards thought a carry-on was actually checked.

Baggage theft is a regular and recurring issue for airport police departments. However, similar to bank robbery or hold-ups of cashiers in retail stores, (or even credit card theft) - the value of what is stolen has been deemed to be so far less than the cost of preventing it that most airport operators and/or airlines (because both have responsibility for this) choose to do very little in the way of overt measures. And customers are not complaining (much).

If/when there is a rash of thefts then active surveillance measures are implemented using undercover police officers and airline security personnel, FRT, and decoy bags. Once a bag is reported stolen, frequently the regular surveillance video is reviewed to pinpoint who took the bag and then then trace them out of the airport. I recall a case at DCA about 6 years ago a congresswoman reported her bag was stolen. The airport cops reviewed the video of the baggage claim area, identified the thief, tracked him to a specific taxi, found the taxi driver, determined a hotel the thief was dropped off at, and was then able to find the thief in a hotel room with the bag. When confronted, thief claimed the bag was his. Oh really? Great, please explain the ladies undergarments that are quite clearly many sizes smaller than you and what about these congressional papers - are you a congressperson/staffer?

Checked more than once in LAS, I can't recall when but definitely within the last 35 years as I have only been flying out of here for less than 25.

I would have called up the Congresswoman to see if she felt like talking to on speakerphone to the police and the suspect, reciting the contents of the bag, and asking the suspect, do I have supernormal powers or is there a simpler explanation for why I can list the contents of what you say is your bag?

LGA is the US airport where I've had this happen to me the most times, but it's also the US airport where most of my arrivals with checked luggage never had this -- even before and after LGA was my most frequented airport after DCA.

It didn't bother me all that much; but there are many times where I wouldn't have the luggage claim checks with me since I had put them away or others had them and then what followed would vary. Sometimes I managed to get them without a claim tag by just pulling out a magazine whose name on the tag matched a name on the mailing label on the magazine. Sometimes I purposefully showed the wrong tags and got my bags cleared anyway.

I didn't know this was even a thing in the US before I also experienced it at LGA, dragon was very skeptical about me presenting the bag tag from the AA iPhone app instead of the actual receipt I had stuffed in my bag.

When was the last time anyone got to the carousel BEFORE the bags? (I suppose it must happen occasionally? But i suspect not at big city airports where thefts of ALL types are more common?) Hard to steal bags when the owner is standing right there.. ..

Since reaching elite status and riding in First of Premium Class I'm at the carousel before it starts turning every time. And there's usually a bathroom stop in there too.

Are you being facetious? In order for me to get to the carousel when the bags are on it, I would have to have a loooong bathroom stop after the flight. Never happened to me in IAH (walking from E gates to C baggage claim), DEN, SLC, etc. Usually end up waiting at least 10-15 minutes. On my last Denver trip in May we waited 20-25 minutes.

I happen to get to the carousel before the bags very often — happens to me on most of my arrivals at US airports of entry (including in 2020 and 2021), on most of my arrivals to Schengen ports of entry (including in 2020 and 2021); a lot when arriving at LHR (although not this year); a lot at various Asian airports (although not this year); and even for most of my 2019-2021 domestic US, domestic European, and intra-Schengen flights where I’ve had checked luggage. But there are plenty of times when the bags get out before me, as I may not get to the baggage carousel before the checked bags from my flights start hitting the belt/counter/ground in the baggage claim areas. For other circumstances, it’s more common for the bags to get to the baggage claim belt before a passenger may get to the area.

It happened to us once at the old DEN (Stapleton) in the mid-70s as we headed for a Christmas visit with relatives. We hardly ever flew until we retired so this was a rare experience for us. I remember it well because we had a short transfer time and a long walk to a different airline onward to DRO (I can't recall any details) and I had to walk over and wait at the carousel to claim and then recheck the bags with our onward carrier.

Mrs. Fredd had headed toward the next flight with our two very young children in tow, and she was halfway there before I noticed employees checking everyone's baggage stubs as they left the baggage claim and realized to my horror she was carrying ours in her purse. I ran all the way to her in my ski jacket (she was halfway to the gate by then), grabbed the stubs, and stumbled back as quickly as I could, noticing the altitude even in my youthful 30s.

We made it with the help of a skycap whom I lavishly tipped and I still remember feeling very hot throughout a very bumpy DEN-DRO flight, and relieved to make it without tossing my cookies in front of our kids.

Memories…