Sorry I cant find anything on this anywhere else and travel safety/security issues seemed reasonable enough but my question is why did airlines stop having people standing at the exits of baggage claim to check that your bags matched up to the sticker/ticket you had from when you checked in? I never get why this was stopped because now anyone can go and steal your bag or even put something in your bag (maybe you are getting your bags and then headed to check in for onward destination (i.e. non sterile transit in the US). Someone could just come into Arrivals and swipe bags any time they want. Also, how long has it been since there hasnt been people checking bags? I couldnt quite remember and it was bothering me. I feel like 12-13 years or so its been.

In the last 35 years, I can�t remember ever having anybody checking bags against receipts.

Def 100% in the US was a thing all the time and well sooner than 35 years. Actually I'm 35 and i know for sure in college days of travelling it happened. I cant remember if maybe it happened into my early 20's but not since then.

You used to have to show the sticker thing for the bags.

More I think about it maybe its been 17-18 years but def not 35

I believe this happened for a while after 9/11. I don't remember it being everyone all the time, but it was every flight for a decent percentage of the people there. I do remember it happening once in a great while in the 80's and 90's. They'd stop one or two people per flight and check

The last time I remember seeing this was in the mid 1990’s in MIA. It was standard there in the ‘90s due to rampant theft.

Wow mid 90's has it been that long. I know late 90's visiting family on a regular basis quite often it happened every time, at PHX. I can remember it returning to LAX too. I dont think it was a 9-11 thing.

The way it is now there is nothing stopping someone from just swiping a bag, surprised there hasnt been a theft ring related to this type of thing.

Yes! That was so long time ago! I remember I pick up my checks bag at Delta terminal 1. I flew on Delta MCO-FLL. Someone came pick me up at FLL. Because my flight is canceled. I flew on Piedmont. Everybody had to leave the aircraft. I went back to the gate counter. There is another agents to take us to Delta airside. Delta agent gave me a boarding pass. We went inside the aircraft. I sat down in the economy class. When I was kid. It�s been over three decades now.

I may have caused some confusion with my original post/question. All I am referring to is just on the arrivals level, once you are Landside waiting for your bags to come off the carousel and then you had to show the ticket/sticky thing you had on/with your boarding pass to match that against the one on the actual bag you were collecting. This for sure was happening regularly as recently as 2000/2001. Maybe it was just select airports but Lax & Phx for sure. I know now its all electronic, scan/track your bags.

I guess just not worth the extra labor costs to have ppl at every baggage claim exit not to mention for the most part pax would be down to baggage claim before the bags even come.

There have been thefts. A quick Google search lists several articles, most recently were reports out of ATL. I remember a person checking baggage claim numbers with the tags but don't recall when that practice ended. Figure trimming salaries was behind ending the checks.

Bag checking still happens frequently in latin america and in other developing nations, at international arrivals.

Once, flying internationally into a US airport, a bag very similar to mine was the only one left on the carousel from my flight. My bag was returned to the baggage area a few hours later. A tag checker would have detected this mistake.

I have often considered the stolen/mistaken bag issue while standing at carousels in domestic US airports. Clearly the loss rate is so low as to be unworthy of more security. I usually side with the airlines on this. I accept the risk of a stolen bag while enjoying the time not lost no baggage security, especially considering that my bag and its contents are nearly worthless.

I didnt even think of someone taking the wrong bag, just was thinking stolen bags. Another reason the bag checkers were good.

They still do this at LGA in my experience as recent as two months ago. I rarely if ever check bags but noticed them doing this as I was exiting the baggage claim area.

I had it checked around 1998 at the El Paso airport and never again. Anywhere!

Tags have been checked against receipts at DCA, randomly, 2019.

Had this happen to me all the time at almost all major Chinese airports as recently as 2019.