Checking bag and leaving it at airport on the carousel during layover
 

I have a long 11 hr layover at DFW and I was hoping to explore around the area without my luggage. My layover is with different alliances and seperate tickets so they wont check through. I was thinking if I just left my baggage on the carousel and picked it up on the way back then I wouldnt have to carry it around?

Its this a reasonably safe/smart thing to do???

No, it's an invitation to have your bag stolen or flagged as a suspicious object.

I have no idea if there are on site luggage storage services at DFW, perhaps the experts in the Texas forum know. A possible option is to tip a bellhop at one of the DFW Hyatt hotels to store your luggage during your layover.

While there is always a risk of theft in such situations, if the bag is not stolen, the first carrier will take it off the carousel and hold the bag in its Baggage Services office. This happens with some frequency, as airlines will sometimes put a bag on a domestic flight that departs earlier than the passenger's ticketed flight. (This happened to me once when I was booked on a late afternoon AA JFK-LAX flight. I chose to stand by for the two earlier departures. I did not get on the first one, but did make the second one. When I arrived at LAX, my bag was in the AA Baggage Services office -- having apparently been sent on the first flight that I did not make.)

Could you not give the bag to your other flight before your walkabout? 10-11 hours is probably earlier than most folks drop bags but that would seem to be the easiest if the airline does not have a limit on how early it will accept checked baggage.

I would do the same, just check the bag for the next flight. If asked why checking the bag so early explain you have a long layover.

If that's possible, then sure. But some carriers have policies that prohibit checking bags more than X hours before departure. And if the OP's second flight is on a carrier which only operates one or two flights a day out of DFW, its check-in desk might not even be open when the OP's first flight arrives.

Edited to add: It would be easier to give good advice if the OP identified the second carrier on his itinerary.

OP, you need to first check with the 2nd carrier to find how early they will accept it (if you are going to check it for the 2nd leg as over on reddit you seem to have indicated you might carry it on for the 2nd leg).

Otherwise, the interwebs are your friend, search on "DFW luggage storage" and a plethora of options come up - most for less than $10.

OP, some details would be helpful like what carrier and where you are arriving from vs what carrier and where you are departing. If you are arriving internationally, the answer will be quite different than if you are arriving domestically.

Personally I would prefer not to recheck as the fees are about $50 Cdn domestically, but I think I will have to at this point. It's an outbound Delta flight after arriving internationally from a OW flight.

So that changes things. If you are arriving internationally (assuming not a pre-clearance location as you mention Canadian) you'll arrive at D and will have no choice but to claim your bags before exiting the customs area. Just picking it up on the way back at baggage claim (or even a baggage office) won't be possible. Then you have the added issue that you'll then need to make your way over to E landside to check in with Delta.

Delta has numerous flights departing DFW. Their first flight departs before 6:00 am, so the ticket counter should be open continuously from the early morning hours; however, Delta does not accept checked luggage earlier than 6 hours before departure time. There is a Grand Hyatt hotel attached to Terminal D at DFW, I still think that your best option is to leave your bags with the bellhop at the hotel.

That or use a commercial luggage storage company. The rates are significantly less than checking a bag.