PPBM: What happens if you check in luggage and then miss the flight?

My partner and I are due to take an international flight together.

For reasons beyond our control, my partner may not be able to make the flight. I've read other questions about this scenario and it seems straightforward. Loss of ticket for not checking in, simple.

There is an outside chance that my partner's ability to make the flight may be decided at the last-minute. Obviously, I should make a decision as to whether I want to go without them before I check my luggage in. But I'm curious, what happens if I check the luggage in and then miss the flight?

This, to me, seems like a classic terrorist opportunity, so there must be a sensible outcome in this scenario. Although, my luggage would not have anything that would flag it as dangerous, obviously. I imagine my particular scenario may not be uncommon, e.g. passenger arrives at the airport sick, checks in, and then doesn't make it to the terminal (stuck in the toilet, etc.)

I've read about Positive Passenger Bag Matching, but they wouldn't know until the boarding closes, which seems quite late and incredibly inconvenient if they decided to remove the bag.

What happens to the luggage?

What would happen to me? Would they give me a fine or arrest me or something?

Obviously international flights make you go through passport control. Is this scenario any different for a domestic flight?

luggage missed-flights

Best Answer

In domestic flights - luggage matching is a bit relaxed.

This means that if your journey had any domestic component - there is a possibility that your luggage went ahead even though you didn't board the plane.

On international flights, however, if the passenger is not on board, their luggage is offloaded without question. This often leads to delays at the gate and is a common occurrence, especially on flights from hub airports where people tend to get lost / delayed in transit.

So, chances are your luggage may reach a transit point - and then no further.

There are no repercussions for you, apart from the fact that you may lose any value of the ticket remaining and of course - be without your luggage for a while until the airline figures out how to get it to you.

There are no passport controls on domestic flights, and in some countries (like the US) there are no exit controls on international flights either (beyond the normal security checks).